#Obviously Strickler tried to 'kill Jim' but not really | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

magic-and-moonlit-wings · 3 years

Text

Trollhunters: “the book” versus “the books”

The Book

Trollhunters, a standalone horror-suspense novel by Daniel Krauss and Guillermo del Toro. It inspired the animated series produced by Dreamworks.

This is the story people are usually referring to in Trollhunters fanfiction when they say they got an idea from the novel, or, the original novel.

A general and spoiler-tastic summary:

In San Bernardino, California, Jim Sturges Junior and his best friend Tobias ‘Tub’ Dershowitz discover trolls are real, and that Jim’s dad had legit reason for his paranoia because James Senior’s older brother Jack really had gotten stolen by monsters when they were kids. Jack works with the trolls, fighting Gunmar alongside Johanna M. ARRRGH!!! and Blinky, and has not aged since disappearing.

Now they’re recruiting Jim because being a Trollhunter is a matter of genetic predisposition - the amulet is solely a translation device - and it looks like Gunmar’s going to escape from where Jack imprisoned him and they’re going to have to actually kill Gunmar this time, so they need all hands on deck.

Jim’s crush, Claire Fontaine, is one of several kids who go missing in the next few weeks. Those kids are luckily rescued before they can be eaten, and it turns out Claire has the same genetic predisposition for Trollhunting.

Gunmar spawns many unnamed babies on the football field during his attack on the surface. Jim’s dad acts as a cavalry in that scene, mowing them down with a landscaping vehicle. Steve Jorgensen-Warner, the school bully, is exposed as a Changeling when forced to touch a football helmet for the rival team, who use a horseshoe logo. We never do learn exactly what was up with Professor Lempke, but he was involved in the rebuilding of Killaheed Bridge (respelled as Killahead in the show) and implied to also be a Changeling.

The Books

Dreamworks Trollhunters Tales of Arcadia, a series of six novels by Richard Ashley Hamilton written as supplementary material to the animated series.

These are the stories people are usually referring to in Trollhunters fanfiction when they say they got an idea from the novels, plural.

A general and spoiler-tastic summary:

The Adventure Begins: overlaps the first couple of episodes, Jim discovering the Amulet and becoming the Trollhunter. Also has some bonus scenes, like Kanjigar pleading with the Amulet not to pick Draal as Kanjigar falls to his death, and Jim’s knife-spinning trick being to dry the blade after cleaning it, and Barbara meeting Claire and Claire revealing Jim got the part of Romeo but learning Barbara didn’t know he was auditioning and Barbara promising to act surprised when Jim tells her.

Welcome to the Darklands: in the start of the gap between Seasons 1 and 2, showing what the kids told Barbara had happened to her house, how they got the Glamour Mask, what Jim’s first few days in the Darklands were like and some interesting characters he met there, and why Nomura ended up in Gunmar’s dungeon.

The Book of Ga-Huel: some time in mid-Season 2, a Changeling polymorph tries to assassinate the main characters and Blinky has to thwart a prophecy that implies he will die. Uhl is allergic to iron and thus mistaken for said Changeling.

Age of the Amulet: early Season 3, a broken Kairosect results in Jim, Blinky, AAARRRGGHH, Toby, and Claire getting sent back in time and fighting a Trollhunter who cracked under the pressure of the job and joined Gunmar. In the present, Vendel’s grandfather has been brought forward in time and wants to eat humans, and Eli attacks Gunmar while under the influence of a grit-shaka. (Previously misremembered in this post as Gravesand - thank you @goodfish-bowl for the correction.)

The Way of the Wizard: Merlin, despite supposedly having almost no power, tampers with the Shadow Staff so they can’t portal from his tomb back to Arcadia, and the cast meets Draal’s mom while walking home, but Draal’s body gets exploded (possibly to justify why he can’t be revived with the Creeper’s Sun antidote they used on AAARRRGGHH) and his soul ends up in the Void. Somehow this is supposed to show Merlin being nice? Porgon the Trickster, who appears in 3Below, is also in this novel.

Angor Reborn: Jim turning into a troll was a gradual process after the bathtub teleported him to a lake in the forest. During this, he meets troll versions of Romeo and Juliet, befriends a wolf cub, considers running away to live in the wilderness because he can’t fit in among humans anymore, and fights Angor Rot. Meanwhile, Barbara yanks Merlin around by the beard searching for Jim.

The Other Books

Yes, there’s more. There were a few “bonus content” books released. These are less likely to be referred to by writers, but handy for artists.

Jim Lake Jr.’s Survival Guide: A journal written by Jim about the events of Season 1, added to here and there by other characters. (Unlike most of the Tales of Arcadia spin-off books, this one is credited to Cala Spinner instead of Richard Ashley Hamilton.)

A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore: Volume 48: A glossy book with screenshots and descriptions of key moments and artifacts in Trollhunters Season 1. Has a framing device implying it was somehow put together in the, what, twelve hours?, between Strickler leaving Arcadia and Jim going into the Darklands. There are a few pull-out pages.

The Art of Trollhunters: A coffee table book with production notes and concept art from the show’s development. This one goes all the way through Season 3.

The Comics

You know, while we’re here. The comics disconnect from what was established in the show in jarring ways sometimes (like Draal joining Kanjigar on Trollhunting missions in the comics, when the show says their relationship suffered because Kanjigar started avoiding Draal after being called as Trollhunter), but they’ve got some fun ideas in them.

The comics were written before Wizards aired and do not share a continuity. In the comics, there were Trollhunters before Deya, Deya herself was Trollhunter for at least a hundred years before the Battle of Killahead took place, and Kanjigar was Deya’s immediate successor.

These, obviously, are the stories people are usually referring to in Trollhunters fanfiction when they say they got an idea from the comics.

The Secret History of Trollkind: Blinky tells Jim, Toby, and Claire about the Battle of Killahead Bridge, the trolls’ decision to leave Europe for the Americas, Deya the Deliverer’s death, Kanjigar’s first few centuries as a Trollhunter, with sidenotes about Blinky and AAARRRGGHH’s slow journey from enemies to acquaintances to friends.

The Felled: After the events of ‘Hero With A Thousand Faces’, Jim returns the Aspectus Stone to Vendel, who tells Jim and Toby some stories about various past Trollhunters: Spar the Spiteful (who met an Akiridion, which I was expecting to come up in 3Below but did not), Maddrux the Many, Araknak the Agile (mentioned here as being one of Blinky’s ancestors), Unkar the Unfortunate, Deya the Deliverer (on a quest to punch Merlin in the face), and Kanjigar the Courageous. Jim then goes to fight goblins with Claire.

#TOA novels and comics #Trollhunters #Tales of Arcadia #books #summary #spoilers

60 notes · View notes

misssilencewritewell · 4 years

Text

Overall review of wizards. Spoiler warning. This is just my opinion. If you enjoyed it, I’m happy for you. I think it was far too rushed.

Five episodes in we finally started to get introduced to interesting characters. But the pace never slowed down long enough to understand their role, their personalities, purpose, etc. It was a quick flash of ‘Oh that’s cool-and they’re gone...but I wanted to see more and understand...’ The quick glimpse of Angor Rot (my boy 😭) Why did he fish Morgana from the river? He hates humans...I’m confused??? He has magic. Did he learn from the evil magic squad?

The graphics are incredible. It looks amazing but I feel like for me to have a connection to this part of the story it had to have been longer. Another ten episodes of us getting to know Douxie in Arcadia would’ve been nice. When you dump as much information and new things on viewers it’s just too much for us to handle. I was so distracted by going “the heck is happening” to ever bond with Douxie. This makes me sad because I was enamored with him in Trollhunters. Also, he went from super suave bad boy to derpy bard boy. Not necessarily bad...but personally, I enjoyed his confidence in Trollhunters. Straight up hit a gum gum with a guitar. Not a magic one...just a regular guitar. Chad move. But this...felt weird. I personally think it would’ve been a much better plot twist had he been Mordred. Would’ve given him a darker edge, a vendetta, an interesting character arc. His goal to be to avenge his mother Morgana and kill Merlin/Trollhunters. Instead we find out that he’s basically a edgy, awkward bard. Which isn’t bad but not enough character development for me to be excited about any apparent growth or newly discovered powers.

Steve Palchuk (while I love his character) was unnecessary to this plot. I would’ve preferred Eli. His brains would have been helpful and I think his comedic relief would’ve fit better than Steves. Steve’s jokes just didn’t seem to land. The comedy relief was not timed right. Again, I absolutely loved Trollhunters and 3 Below...but there was never a moment to stop and catch your breath to know the world and characters which made it difficult to enjoy.

I still don’t fully understand how magic works. Douxie taught Claire for a minute and that was it and now he’s her teacher? Morgana and Merlin walk to the other side and say that sorcery dies with them but Claire and Douxie are left. Magic is...emotion? Kinda? Idk they never explained. 🤷‍♀️

Arthur’s character was...confusing to say the least. He misses his love and hates “dark” creatures because they killed her. But he comes back from the dead...to atone for his sins...by being evil? That didn’t make sense to me. Same with Morgana coming back and him being like sup sis! Know I tried to kill you but we are blood family! His super quick switch to asking for trolls help and loving his sister again was unexplained and made 0 sense. Just make him a dislikeable character and leave it at that. Sometimes it’s better to keep things simple. Over complicated plots can be messy and unenjoyable.

Morgana going from villain to hero was expected but executed poorly. She would flip like a switch and I just couldn’t sympathize with her as much as I did when she was a villain. I enjoyed her passion while being dark. Her redemption arc could’ve been handled so much better. Her having a romantic thing with Merlin and Merlin betraying her becoming the true villain while she is thirsty for revenge would’ve been top tier world building. We got butt jokes from Steve instead.

Strickler and Nomura. I want to see them. Especially back then? Oh they would be so evil and dark and I LIVE FOR IT. Especially since we love them now. It’d be cool to be reminded of their past. Back to the Jim smelling of human without being a changeling. Could’ve seen more on that and an interaction with him. They’d be fascinated I’m sure. Morgana created changelings but that could’ve easily been explained that she was working behind Arthur’s back the whole time. Working with Gunmar and creating changelings to infiltrate the castle while pretending to be submissive in court to Arthur and Merlin. It would explain why Changelings value cunning even more so and it would’ve been more believable than her talking to Claire one time and saying “yes! I’ll just tell my bro he crazy and needs to stop! Thank you kindly foreign hand maiden with dark magic!” Like there’s no reason for Morgana to trust her. Use her...sure. She would want Claire power, but Morgana’s character was far too rushed to make sense. I miss it when she was just a villain.

Also...Jim gets stabbed by a blade and they don’t call his mom? They don’t let her know her son could be dying? She’s a doctor. She doesn’t know much about the dark Magicks but she’s so smart and Strickler is her boyfriend. She should’ve been told. She should’ve shown up. I love her character and she adds a lot to the dynamic. Steve was the focal point far too often.

Bular. (Inhaled deeply). I missed him so much. It was cool to see Gunmar and Bular again. Bular I feel could’ve been interesting to build more too and I’m grateful for what we received. He obviously was more impressionable than his father. Morgana saved him and he immediately vouched for her while touching his fathers shoulder saying softly “she spared my life.” Like...Bular is an excellent character because even when fighting Jim in his final moments, Jim talks to him about dad issues and you can see Bular think about it and ultimately decide his fate. Just...ugh yes I missed the angry tall charcoal man.

Confusing part though...Gunmar and Bular declare that forest their own. Jim and Deya are there and watch as they scare off Arthur. You’re telling me they just let them go??? When they’re trying to recruit trolls for the war? They just go welp...see ya. Nah. There should’ve been dialogue there. The strange troll that smells of human but isn’t an impure. Cue the changelings. Could’ve been an awesome Segway into the life of the gum gums because honestly...Arthur was a douche and I sided with the Gum gums. Like yeah they eat people but Arthur was so...weird and uncomfortable to watch that I’d rather see the Gum gums who make no qualms over what they want or who they are.

The...giant dragon that’s the familiars dad. No reason for him at all. An attempt at a quirky dad character that landed flat. He went from oh lemme get you a cup of tea to DONT ChALlenge Me BoY I KnOw KaRAte!!! And I was like...ummmmm excuse me??? And then he went on to give a lesson on grief and show pictures of his son and I was like Soooooo we aren’t burning Douxie to a crisp? We are just going to throw in a quick ill timed lesson on grief?

The fight between Krel, Claire and the gang vs evil Jack Frost, eye ball raven, and evil Arthur electric boogaloo. Instead of showing the fight they did a recap. That fight would’ve been so awesome to watch and instead we got a recap of them getting their booties kicked. It’s an effective time saver but lazy story telling.

The fawn earth bender woman is important because she was part of the secret magic club and decided she didn’t want to kill people anymore...or something. As if her club ever lied to her about what they were about to do. Like Oh we are killing people? I thought you were joking for millions of years.

They all need her back to do...something evil that I can’t remember which I assume the movie will be about. I want more lore on evil Jack Frost and eyeball raven. They just were like “Congrats Morgana! We are the cool super old magic squad. We are the dopest thing in this show and we won’t say anything about ourselves besides a vague description in under 3 secs that leave our viewers confused and disappointed because they want more.”

Like seriously. They were the best part. Their intro was on a flying castle and I kinda hate that their intro was Merlin yelling “Oh no! Them!” Like we are supposed to know what and who they are. Build up is so important for an aundieces understanding. Like who they are? What they want? What they are? I spent the first half of the show mostly confused and the last half moderately confused and bewildered.

In conclusion, not my fave. It lacked the charm and quirkiness of 3 below and the depth and character development of Trollhunters to deliver a mediocre segway to a film. I really want this film to do well...but they will be on a time crunch and I was not impressed with how they handled this one in ten episodes. Fingers crossed the movie does better.

53 notes · View notes

akozuheiwa · 4 years

Note

What do you think would be angstier: Trollhunter!Aja and Changeling!Krel or Changeling!Aja and Trollhunter!Krel? (This assumes that Fialkov and Coranda are normal humans, btw)

Bold of you to assume, first of all, that I couldn't make both of them equally, horribly, beautifully angsty. There are SO MANY WAYS both of these could be played. Both of these will be assuming that the changeling sibling is aware that they're a changeling and an active part of the Janus Order. It got hella long so it’s under a read more to hopefully save your dashes.

I'll start with Trollhunter Aja and changeling Krel. Aja is, in true Aja fashion, thrilled to have been selected for this awesome, sacred duty, and if Krel wasn’t there for the finding of the amulet he’s immediately told. Krel, meanwhile, is quite horrified, because like it or not he's gotten quite attached to his familiar's sister. He'd had this whole plan; get far enough into Gunmar's good graces that he could get Aja and the parents spared. No amount of being in Gunmar's good graces is going to get her spared if she's the Trollhunter, though. No, now he needs a back-up plan and fast, before Aja figures out about changelings and before anyone figures out that Aja's the Trollhunter. That goes about as well as expected, because Bular sees them together and then it's all over.

So, obviously Bular's like, well, you're in the perfect spot to kill her and take the amulet. There are a couple of problems here. First of all, Krel knows that, changeling or not, he could not take on Aja in a fight. Problem two – the main one, the one preventing him from killing her in her sleep or something – Krel likes Aja. Krel doesn't want to kill Aja. He's broken all the rules in the changeling book and gotten woefully attached to his familiar's family. As far as he’s concerned, she’s his sister and he can’t kill her.

So he starts fabricating all sorts of failed “attempts” to kill Aja, which makes him look incredibly useless but keeps her alive. He also does his best to get in the way of Bular and his fellow changelings. He claims most of the time that he’s trying to keep his cover, and all of that, and he’s smart enough to be able to have believable excuses most of the time – and then his cover is blown. Like in canon with Strickler, when Gunmar doubts his loyalties, Bular finds a way to reveal him to Aja.

The fall-out is – bad. Aja is crushed by the fact that the person who she thought was her brother is actually a changeling and betrayed her. Krel’s stuck with a choice – tell Aja he’s been on her side this whole time or let her believe he’s a traitor. If he wants to keep protecting her, he has to let her believe they’re on opposite sides. He can only protect her in secret, because in his mind he’s not strong enough to do so out in the open. So he runs away, lets her think he’s one of the bad guys, lets the bad guys think he’s one of them.

Of course, since it’d be me writing, it would all go terribly horribly wrong. Krel wouldn’t be able to keep his double-crossing a secret for too long. I think Gunmar might end up giving him a task that there’s no way he could fail – not sure what – so he’d be forced to give up his charade. Or maybe Bular, upon finding out, would simply try to kill him. In that case, I think Strickler, maybe, would get him out under Bular’s nose and bring him to Aja.

Aja is initially wary, and maybe she thinks it’s a trick, but ultimately this is still the Krel she grew up with and now she’s hearing that he’s been protecting her all this time. She’s tried to kill him and he’s been protecting her. Once he gets better, Krel will rejoin Team Trollhunters (which at the moment may… just be Aja and Blinky and Aaarrrgghh!!! to be honest) and instead of working from the shadows, he’ll use his intelligence to help. Trollmarket is wary to trust him, so that’s rough, but Aaarrrgghh!!! and Blinky trust him if Aja does.

Now since that’s gotten long I’m gonna switch to Trollhunter Krel and changeling Aja. I had a lot of fun thinking of this one especially. To, you know, up the angst in this one, Krel does not immediately tell Aja. Because it’s me, we’re going to go ahead and say that a Krel raised on Earth has been friends with Seamus for a while, so it’s actually Seamus who’s with him when he finds the amulet. Krel decides pretty quickly not to tell Aja and makes Seamus swear not to tell her also.

Aja, meanwhile, finds out that the amulet has chosen a human. She does not know which human. She does notice Krel and Seamus acting strangely, but after some careful thought she determines the obvious explanation: they’re dating and don’t want it getting out to Seamus’s father. That settles her mind, because there’s no way Krel could be the Trollhunter. It’s Krel! So she keeps an eye on the rest of her classmates even though she kind of doubts it’s a teenager.

So Aja’s busy being convinced Krel can’t possibly be the Trollhunter, and Krel’s busy actually being the Trollhunter with Seamus’s help. It goes… surprisingly smoothly. Krel’s able to use his tech skills and intelligence to his advantage. Now, of course, you might be wondering about the whole Not-Enrique plot that I forgot to think about in the Trollhunter Aja part. Well, the way I’ve envisioned this AU, Coach and Steve’s mom got together a good it earlier. And Steve just became a big brother. So baby Palchuk-Lawrence gets taken and replaced with a changeling.

Krel, like Jim in canon, catches them taking the baby and finds a little stuffed bear and brings it to school. Seamus immediately recognises it, and he’s like, “Oh, yeah, that was Steve’s when he was little but he gave it to – oh, no.” So, much like Claire, Steve gets dragged into the Trollhunter business because of his little brother. We’d probably get a beautifully ironic comment from Krel about how he can’t imagine finding out his sibling was secretly a changeling.

Okay, so, anyway! Cut to that fun battle of Killahead! Aja still doesn’t know about Krel, but she obviously is supposed to be there to open the bridge and welcome Gunmar. She knows the Trollhunter will be showing up. Krel knows it’s a trap, and much like in canon, he has his backup ready to join him. So Krel gets there. And Aja is in human form. So that’s how they both find out, Aja that Krel is the Trollhunter, Krel that his sister is actually a changeling. He’s understandably shaken and betrayed. Aja is incredibly alarmed to find out her brother is her enemy.

The fight… happens. Similar to in canon. Aja probably really doesn’t want to hurt Krel, but Krel – I mean, we saw Krel after it came out that Varvatos betrayed him. He doesn’t take to kindly to betrayal. Anyway, the Trollhunters win. But, instead of Nomura getting sucked into the Darklands, it’s Aja. Krel is understandably cut up about this. They have to find an excuse for his parents, and Krel’s really not sure what to say. I’m thinking Steve gets the war-hammer and Seamus gets the shadow-staff, so that would also be really fun when we get to the Morgana stuff. But, anyway, ultimately, when it comes to the season one finale, a lot of Krel’s motivation to go into the Darklands is to save Aja.

This got really long but I love both of these ideas so I got carried anyway. Hope this is the sort of answer you were hoping for, and sorry it took so long to get to! <3

#tales of arcadia #trollhunters #3below #krel tarron #aja tarron #au #steve palchuk #seamus johnson #i had a lot of fun with this if you can't tell #it's very rambly but oh well #sorry again it took so long #yeet!#Anonymous

33 notes · View notes

elizabethemerald · 5 years

Text

Dreams of Drowning: Chap 6

Please reblog if you like!

AO3

It turns out, much to Jim’s disappointment discovering he has a magical destiny does not immediately absolve him of all his responsibilities. He had not yet figured out a way for the fire that flowed under his skin to pay rent. He also didn’t have a foolproof plan to break Claire out of 49B that wouldn’t end up with all of them in prison.

So Jim found himself morosely returning to work in the kitchen at the research facility that was keeping the woman he had fallen in love with in prison. He kept the stone that had granted his magic in his pocket however, and the whole time he tried to see if there was some way he could free Claire.

He determined very quickly, that being a cook didn’t not afford him many opportunities for breakouts or clandestine research. The kitchen was still short handed though they had hired one more cook, and he spent the entirety of each day running around trying to keep up with demand. Plus he had to train the new cook.

[[MORE]]

At least at night he felt he was making progress on his desire to free Claire. He and Toby drove to the outskirts of town almost every night so he could try and practice with the strange stone. He felt he was getting better and better at controlling the armor and the powerful blasts he had come to call Daylight.

Jim could now make the armor change to suit his needs, including forming a helmet and a shield. He also could shape Daylight into whatever weapon he wanted. He usually picked a massive sword, feeling it matched the aesthetic of the rest of his armor.

Despite his growing magic his work continued to feel like a drain. The only thing he took pleasure in was making Claire’s food. He had completely abandoned any pretense of sticking to the recipe, only trying to make something that she would find delicious. He would occasionally feel her joy when she was fed, as he could still feel her power at the edge of his mind. She still hadn’t returned to his dreams since helping him save his mom. He hated to admit how much he missed seeing her, and he hoped she was recovering from the strain.

Now that he was learning his own magic he realised how much energy it took out of him, leaving him constantly fatigued. What had the amazing magic Claire had done to save his mom cost her? Speaking of his mom, Jim remembered he needed to call her.

Jim quietly excused himself from the kitchen during one of the rare slow moments and dialed her number. She answered on the second ring.

“Hey Jim!” His mom said brightly.

He was overjoyed to hear that she sounded better at least, the night Bular had come after her she had sounded terrible from her broken nose and crushed ribs.

“Hey mom. How are you feeling?”

“I feel amazing actually. I already feel almost like… that… never happened. I would have sworn I had at least two broken ribs, but the x-rays didn’t show anything. Zelda says I look better every day.”

Despite how series this call was he couldn’t help but laugh. “Zelda always thinks you look better every day.”

“That’s true, but I specifically asked her to be honest with me! And she would never compliment me when she didn’t mean it.” Barbara said very seriously, with just a hint of a chuckle in her voice. Then she started to laugh as well.

Jim laughed with his mom for a moment. “I’m glad you are healing quickly.” Very glad. Apparently Claire could do some amazing things. He wondered if he could possibly heal with his own magic as well. “But how are you feeling?”

Barbara hesitated in responding. “I’m scared. I haven’t experienced something like that since your father left and even he was never as bad as that.” Jim’s heart tore as her voice shook. “Zelda is helping a lot and so is Walter. We have a new security system at the house, and Zelda said she would make some calls to make sure that it never happens again.”

At that statement Jim was reminded of Toby’s ascertain that Zelda Lake-Nomura had killed people professionally before. He wondered if that was true. In the middle of that thought the ground started shaking. Another earthquake? His mom continued speaking.

“Zelda and Walter apparently have some contacts, some people they know who can help make sure that the house is safe. It really means a lot that they are working so hard to make sure I feel safe again.”

Jim braced himself near a door as the room rumbled softly. Barbara was talking like she hadn’t noticed there was an earthquake.

“I’m glad you have them around you. Hey, are you experiencing an earthquake right now?”

“Uh, no?” Jim could almost hear his mom looking around her house. There was no way an earthquake could be this strong and this localized that she wouldn’t be able to feel it just across town. Unless…

“Hmm, I may need to go. But I love you so much mom and if you ever need me I’ll drop everything to be there.”

“O-OK, Jim. I love you too.”

“I’ll call you tonight, by mom.”

As Jim hung up the phone the floor stilled. Now he felt foolish. He wanted to make sure his mom felt safe in her house after what Bular did to her. He might drop by later and see what security precautions Zelda and Walter were taking. They had some weirdly specific knowledge, he was sure they could turn the house into Fort Knox if they wanted to.

That thought blared loud in his mind. If they could turn his mom’s house into Fort Knox, could they also break into Fort Knox? Those two had a strange history that went way back. Who knows what else they got up to? Maybe he should give Strickler a call this week.

Before Jim could think more about that he felt the floor start rumbling again. Now that he was off the phone with his mom and paying attention he could also hear the distant scream that he had heard during the first tremor. He looked around but none of the other researchers or security personnel around him seemed to react to the scream, though they obviously felt the tremor.

Jim realized that with the scream echoing in his head he couldn’t feel Claire’s warmth. Her power usually flowed around the edges of his mind, but he couldn’t sense her at all. He focused for a second on the fire that burned inside him then reached out with his mind.

Chains. Screaming. Electricity. Pain.

He doubled over sweat pouring from his forehead. It felt like someone had hit him in the chest with a stun gun. Pain raced through his body, making his muscles seize. Several of the people around him turned to him as he fell to his knees, crying out as more pain flooded his mind.

Screaming. Shocks. Pain. Fear. Screaming.

“Claire.” He whispered.

A researcher, in a white lab coat approached concern on their face. Jim pushed himself to his feet and forced himself forward. He stumbled into the researcher, then passed him. He could hardly focus on his surroundings as he raced to the elevator.

Claire’s full power filled and dulled his senses. Her screams deafening him. The water that surrounded her filling his vision. Jim was barely able to push the elevator call button. By the time it arrived the tremors had stilled and he was able to stand up right, sweat still pouring off his head. He punched the button for the top floor.

Jim shoved his hand into his pocket and wrapped it around the stone. The stone he had gotten his powers from. It had lived in his pocket, never leaving his side. As he held it he felt his fire burn hotter through him.

He straightened his back, even as the tremors started again. The elevator door opened and he jogged out. He hammered on the door to one of the offices, drawing the attention of several other folks in the space. Only a moment later Toby opened the door, looking annoyed. His expression changed to surprise, then joy at seeing his friend, then fear at seeing the state Jim was in.

Jim pushed his friend into his office and closed the door behind him. Though this was the first time he had actually been inside his best friend’s office it was exactly what he would have guessed. The office was a bit cluttered, with papers, rocks and mineral cases scattered all over. There were some tools that surely had no place in an office leaning against one of the walls. And on every available surface there were pictures of Darci. Jim was surprised to see the number of pictures that were of him, but now wasn’t the time to discuss that.

“What’s going on Jimbo? You look like you’re going to have a fit or something!” Toby said pulling Jim to his desk.

“Toby these earthquakes aren’t natural.” It wasn’t a question. The tremor was continuing, Jim bent over, sweating again, as pain charged through him.

Pain. Fear. Rage. Pain. Screaming.

“You think it has something do with Claire?” Toby asked. Jim was barely able to manage as another wave of pain flooded him.

“I need to fall asleep right now. I have to talk to her. I have to try to protect her!” Jim pulled his fist out of his pocket, the stone of Daylight in his hand.

“Ok, dude. I have a sure fire way for you to fall asleep instantly. Lay down and get comfortable.”

Jim laid down on the office floor as well as he was able to with the pain still coursing through him. Toby fussed for a few seconds, folding up a jacket and putting it under his head before glancing at the door.

“What’s next Tobes?” Jim said past gritted teeth.

“I’m sorry Jimbo.”

Jim wanted to ask what Toby was apologizing for when his best friend cocked his arm back and punched him in the face.

He opened his eyes under water.

The water was a torrent racing around him, dragging his hair every which way. The chains that were bound to Claire’s wrists were stretched taut, holding her arms out straight from her body. She hung her head, her hair being pulled and swirled by the whirlpool of water.

Jim reached a hand out towards her and realized he was wearing his armor. The silver armor covered his whole body, it had even generated his helmet as well. On top of that, his whole body was covered in blue flames. The flames didn’t seem bothered at all by the crushing weight of the water around him.

As he tried to swim towards her through the current, Claire raised her head. Her shining white eyes grew wide as she saw him. She shook her head causing her hair to flow even more wildly.

“You-shouldn’t-be here.” Claire panted each word out, her arms straining against the chains that held her. “They’ll-hurt-you.”

She collapsed against the chains, letting her head loll down.

“I can’t just let them hurt you. I have to protect you somehow!”

“There’s-nothing-” Her words were stopped as another scream dragged itself from her lips. Jim’s heart broke at the sound. He could feel the electricity coursing through the water and pain filled his body. His screams joined her’s.

It took several years of shooting pain that may have only been a few seconds for Jim to realize that the pain he was feeling wasn’t his. It was Claire’s. She was broadcasting her pain into his mind. The electricity was still arching through the water, Claire strained against her chains as her body convulsed, the glow that normally flowed under skin reacting to the charge. However Jim couldn’t feel any of it.

He held up his hands and saw that the blue fire that surrounded him had increased into an inferno. The fire roared around him, racing over his entire body. His magic was protecting him he realized.

Jim focused on the fire inside him. The fire that burned in him since touching the Daylight rock. He pushed the fire out just he had breathed out onto the Drained Heartstone. The wild blaze burned brighter and larger moving through the water, extending around his body. Jim forced the fire within him out and pushed his arms out to the sides.

A wave of blue fire raced through the water away from him. As it passed over and through Claire her screaming stopped. Jim watched as the flood of cerulean flames bounced off the chains, highlighting them in the water. They also bounced off the walls of the tank they were in. Jim had never seen the walls of this place before, everytime Claire’s purple water obscured his vision. The tank she was being held in was barely large enough to hold her, with the chains tight her outstretched hands could almost touch either wall of the tank.

Claire gasped as blue flames danced around her body. She turned her head this way and that to watch the fires. Then she turned to Jim with a tired smile on her face. Jim swam towards her and put a hand on her face. He was miniscule compared to her, but he wanted to comfort her somehow.

The chains that held her loosened suddenly. As the slack allowed she pulled her arms into her chest and let herself sink to the bottom of the tank. She held Jim softly in one hand as she sank.

“Thank you.” Claire whispered. She pulled her legs up to her chest as if she was trying to make herself as small as possible. “I’m happy to see you come into your own magic.”

“Well you gave me this so I should be thanking you.” Jim said rubbing the back of his head while she carried him to the bottom of the tank. She shook her head at his statement.

“I didn’t give you anything.”

“Wait, the stone then?”

Claire shook her head again. Her dark hair billowed out, creating a halo around her. She tapped him on the chest, his flames leaped from his body to circle her hands and entwine with her fingers. “This power is from you.”

She sighed heavily. Jim felt a hundred questions pressing themselves into his head.

“You should go. You will be tired.”

Claire freed him and he felt himself drifting away.

“I will find a way to free you! I promise!” Jim said as he disappeared.

“Jeez dude! Are you ok?” Jim looked up in confusion at Toby’s face. His friend had obviously been mid panic attack when Jim woke up. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I hit you harder than I thought. I didn’t mean it, you just said you needed to be unconscious as quickly as possible. That’s all I could think to do! And then you started shouting in your sleep, like you were in pain.”

“It’s ok Tobes. I’m ok.” Jim sat up and wearily rubbed his face. He winced as his fingers touched the spot where Toby had hit him. “I was able to help her.”

Toby stilled at that. “They were hurting her?”

“Yeah. Electrocuting her. I don’t know why. I didn’t get a chance to ask. But I was able to use my magic to protect her.”

Toby sat down heavily on the floor next to Jim. His mouth was open a little. “That’s amazing dude. Like we might actually have the chance to get her out of here at some point if you can do that.”

Jim nodded. His head felt heavy. He stood and looked at himself in the reflection of one of the picture frames. He was going to have a black eye from Toby’s punch. He thought for a moment then let blue flames race down his arm to his palm. He took the flames and wiped them across his face.

Toby’s jaw dropped even further as Jim wiped the mark away like it was a stain on a plate in his kitchen. Jim knew without knowing how that he had completely healed the damage. Though even that small amount of magic on top of his exhaustion weighed on him.

“I think I’m going to call out for the rest of the day. I’m so tired.”

Toby could only nod and let Jim out of his office. Jim sagged against the wall for a moment then pushed off it to walk to the elevator. Every step took effort.

Just as Jim reached the elevator it opened and two people walked out. He recognized them as the head of research and the head of security.

The woman who was the head of the research department was a slight woman with curly red hair down her back. She had emerald green eyes and multiple gold necklaces and bangles. Her green dress matched and accented her eyes perfectly.

The head of security was a giant. Jim remembered Toby saying that Bular was this man’s son and the brute had been massive. Somehow his dad was even larger. He had to duck to get in and out of the elevator and was as broad as two normal people.

They had been deep in conversation as they stepped out of the elevator and almost ran right into Jim. She looked surprised when she saw him, then her face lit up.

“Ah! And what brings one of our cooks up here to the top floor?” She asked her voice cheery.

“Uh, the soup of the day today was clam chowder.” He said. Then continued his lie as smoothly as possible. “Mr. Domzalski is allergic to clams you see. But he said he desperately wanted a soup for lunch, so I told him I would whip something up without clams and bring it up for him.”

She smiled broadly and nudged her companion who had so far only glared at Jim. “If only everyone had such dedication to their work.”

She took Jim by the elbow and steered him away from the elevator back towards her office.

“My name is Dr. Le Fay. I usually try and get around to introduce myself to new staff but we’ve been so busy. And what is your name?”

“Uh, James Lake Jr. You can call me Jim though.”

“Ah Jim. The new cook who is breathing such a reinvigorating life into the menu. You can call me Morgan if you want.”

Jim couldn’t help but smile at this woman. She had a way of commanding attention without trying. They entered her office. Here there was more green and gold scattered around in the accents. Jim sat down heavily in one chair while she sat lightly in her own chair. The man stood with his arms crossed behind her. Dr. Morgan noticed Jim glance at him and nudged the massive man.

“Don’t be rude! Introduce yourself.”

“My name is Gunmar Black. You may call me Mr. Black.”

Jim tried for a half hearted wave, but Mr. Black didn’t move. Dr. Morgan gathered his attention with a delicately cleared throat.

“I’m always kept informed when we have new staff on hand. I apologize for not coming around to see how you are sooner. Since your arrival I look forward to each day’s lunch. I’m always excited to see what you come up with next.”

“Thank you. I’ve loved cooking since I was a little kid, cooking for my mom. Now it’s something I get to do every day.” Jim decided against mentioning the fact that the kitchen was severely understaffed or that he didn’t have nearly the amount of control over the menu as she seemed to think.

“How fantastic is that? Well I won’t keep you from it.” Dr. Morgan said, a clear dismissal.

As Jim dragged his body out of the comfortable chair Mr. Black glared at him. He blanched, the man recognized him. Bular must have told him about what happened at his mom’s place. He hurried out of the office.

Jim sat down heavily around the corner from her office. He was so bone weary. He just needed a moment before he went back downstairs to clock out.

A door slamming open almost made him fall out of his seat. Dr. Morgan angrily walked past her cell phone pressed to her ear as she put on a lab coat one handed.

“What do you mean, you don’t know how it broke? The entity has never been able to damage our equipment like that before! I’m coming down. You had better get my machinery back up and running, we cannot get behind schedule! I will not tolerate delays!”

The elevator finally came and Gunmar followed her into it. Jim’s hands were shaking. He couldn’t tell if it was because of fear or rage. Morgan was responsible for Claire’s torture! She had been right there.

Jim focused on his breathing as he tried to rein in his anger. He knew he couldn't have done anything, not with Mr. Black there. But she was the one in charge of hurting Claire.

He waited there in that seat in the corner. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep, but he wasn't going to let them hurt Claire any more. Regardless of how tired he was if the tremors started again he would have Toby knock him out again, as many times as necessary to keep her safe.

Instead of more shaking and phantom screams of pain he watched as Dr. Morgan stormed out of the elevator a few minutes later. She stomped into her office and slammed the door.

Whatever machinery he had broken when his magic protect Claire was clearly still broken. He dragged himself out of the chair and eventually out of the building with only a cursory excuse for his boss. Claire was going to be safe. At least for today. And he desperately needed to rest.

#toby domzalski #jim lake junior #claire nuñez #trollhunters #tales of arcadia #dreams of drowning #sorry if the read more doesn't work #as always send me any asks you hage about this story!

9 notes · View notes

justanothertrollhuntersblog-blog · 5 years

Text

I Feel People Misinterpret Strickler in Season 3 (Including His Fans)

“I didn’t come here to train you, I came to protect her!”

“My life is not worth the world!”

“It is to me.”

“May the world forgive me, for without you, there is no world!”

The many months following Trollhunters’ season 3 release, I have seen both positive and negative reception to Strickler’s character development, as well as his current relationship positions with Jim and Barbara. From some fellow Stricklake fans, the reception was a bit more positive: “He loves her so much and would do anything for her!”

From those who are not so much fans of him and his romance with Barbara, I’ve seen quite the opposite reaction: “He couldn’t care less about Jim and how everything turns out; only Barbara matters to him!” “He’d let everyone die for her!”

In my opinion, however, I don’t feel as if either of these conclusions are the correct interpretation of Strickler’s character motivations, nor his relationships with the Lakes.

In this post, I will be defending season 3 Strickler using past actions and scenes in previous seasons as examples that I feel helped shape him into the way he is now.

First of all, I’m pretty sure if Walter only came back to Arcadia solely to protect Barbara, he wouldn’t have presented himself so freely to Jim and asked for his permission to train and help him; actually following through as best as he could on his offer. In both parts of The Eternal Knight, you see him out in the battlefield risking his life instead of hovering over Barbara in the hospital.

The line in Bad Coffee where he states that he returned to protect Barbara I feel was more him revealing the main motivation of his return instead of his main purpose. This is not because he doesn’t want too much to do with Jim; I believe it’s more because he thought Jim didn’t want anything to do with him.

“The other trolls don’t trust fighting alongside you. And honestly, neither do I.”

In that very same scene in Something Rotten This Way Comes, it’s pretty obvious Strickler doesn’t believe in himself, even after Jim - one of the people he’s negatively affected the most - reveals that he could change if he tried. The reason why Nomura’s character arc was significantly quicker was that she had no previous positive relationship with any of the Lake family, so her forming a new bond with Jim didn’t come with any guilt, regret, hesitation due to past, personal rivalries, or longing for what may have been before.

Even before Jim sent Strickler away, Walter asked if there was anything more that he could do; all of this happening before the prospect of Barbara even being in danger due to Gunmar’s release. He wished him luck, and expressed a genuine desire to see him again.

Barbara is more of a motivation for Strickler’s redemption than the sole reason for his redemption. There are multiple examples throughout the series of Strickler hesitating time and time again before helping Jim in some way, but also before harming him in another way. This is simply because of circumstance; more them being in opposing positions rather than out of real, deep abhorrence for each other. This short thread about his alternate self in Unbecoming sort of explains it best: https://genalovestoons.tumblr.com/post/180185249712/magic-and-moonlit-wings-whammy5-having-watched

He didn’t stab Jim immediately in the episode; even when he had him pinned to his desk with a dagger to his throat, he still hesitated. He had no actual proof that Jim was correct, and yet he still didn’t go through with injuring or killing him.

He has never been a pure evil threat.

Strickler could have easily still kept Gunmar’s eye after freeing Barbara from the binding spell “for her,” or kept himself hidden when he came back to Arcadia and stalked the doctor instead of presenting himself to her son to help him.

“Jim, I understand that I wronged you. I was once your teacher and - I’d like to think - your friend. Clearly, I broke that trust, but I want to make it up to you...I know I have hurt you. Your friends. Your family,” Strickler said in quiet apology, “But at least consider what I said, Jim.”

Another reason for him mainly returning for Barbara’s protection I feel, is that he also didn’t believe Jim had what it took to defeat Gunmar initially; with or without training from him. Walter knows a lot more than most about Gunmar and his ways, and so Jim showing him compassion in season 1 may have also helped caused doubts to rise about his success over the Gumm-Gumm king, alongside the shock and appreciation of the Trollhunter’s honor and humanity.

Even Nomura, who was the one to rally Strickler up to return to Jim in the first place, also clearly had her doubts that she withheld about the warrior and him winning in the end:

“He’s not ready, his humanity will get him killed!”

Following this, the two changelings resort to more dirty methods to help hasten Jim’s abilities because - deep down - they secretly believed him to be too weak to bring about the world’s salvation.

In the eventual grave sand confrontation scene, it’s clear that Strickler really was frustrated with Jim’s lack of progress; he truly was angry that Jim wasn’t improving in the ways he though he should be in battle.

“I want to teach you, help you, but you’re so blind to the truth...the weakness is you!”

To say that Strickler didn’t actually have the desire to train Jim and only cared about Barbara’s well-being is false.

From this point on, Jim now trusts Strickler more and accepts his and Barbara’s love because he knows that the Changeling really does want to help him; just as much as he wants to protect the woman he loves. He doesn’t feel upset that Strickler’s main motivation for returning was for Barbara, because they both understand how their relationship fell in season 1; Walter didn’t trust Jim, and neither did Jim trust Walter for the longest time. They both still held a bit of affection for one another, but were also reluctant to try repairing the relationship after everything. Jim also does truly at last see Strickler’s point of view; the one that he (at first) held about him: that he was too weak (in a human body) to stop Gunmar. This thought, as well as Merlin’s encouragement, are what pushed him to eventually make the ultimate personal sacrifice for the world.

In conclusion for this argument: Strickler did legitimately have the desire to return to train Jim, but his doubt in himself and in Jim are what caused his hesitation in returning, which most likely led to him - as a last resort - concluding the decision with the thought of at the very least coming back to protect Barbara through it all; not because he didn’t care enough about Jim or the well-being of the world.

Even if Jim fails in the end or turns me and my offer of help away, at the very least I can try to protect Barbara.

(Besides, if Jim hadn’t had mentioned Barbara at all during this scene, the two could have bonded over the fact that they still do have a working “student” and “teacher” relationship (and enjoy it to a certain extent), so it’s not as if they didn’t actually have nothing to bond over).

The second scene/s I would like to defend Strickler in is him claiming that he would free Morgana to destroy the world in order to protect Barbara. What I find funny about this is that he was so obviously not serious when he said he would sacrifice the world for her freedom.

If you give the Trollmarket scenes with him and Barbara in A House Divided another watch, notice how when Walter says all of the lines where he eludes to thinking the world is worth her life he sounds like he’s “acting.” His voice didn’t sound at all vulnerable, pleading, or weak as if he was trying to justify his would-be actions for love, or that he felt bad that he was about to do something horrible.

If you also watch Walter’s face during and after the line: “None of your games, Stricklander,” he seems to be upset over these words while contemplating something (an escape plan) at the same time. He most likely said that there was no world without Barbara to put Gunmar in a false sense of control and accomplishment at the belief that he would not play any tricks, and would fully bend to his will for Barbara without a fight.

The lines were written to sound cheesy and over-the-top (as well as the way Strickler said them), because they were supposed to appear fake/suspicious to the viewers, but real enough to Gunmar and Angor Rot so that they wouldn’t think he was planning any sort of schemes to escape.

After he activates the Staff of Avalon and the beam to free Morgana is projected, very quickly does Walter tell Barbara to close her eyes and he subsequently blast Gunmar and Angor Rot; it didn’t appear as if he were suddenly surprised to see the beam, so he must have at some point prior thought up the plan to temporarily disable their captors. Obviously the plan backfired (maybe he believed the beam would soon go out if he weren’t there to hold the staff, or that Gunmar wouldn’t be able to move it back into the correct position to free Morgana because he wasn’t a Changeling), but to say that Strickler was ever so willing to sacrifice the world for Barbara and only thought of the plan as soon as the beam was activated isn’t that plausible an interpretation to me after viewing the scenes my way instead. Strickler is not an idiot, and is shown to have come to understand the consequences of his emotionally-based actions at that point. I’m sure if it was Jim and Barbara in the scene instead, Jim would have done something similar to protect his mother too. And if you’re still upset at Strickler for possibly putting the world in danger for Barbara, then you should also be upset with Jim in season 1 doing something similar for Blinky, and the rest of the team for doing something similar as well in season 2 for Jim with Killahead Bridge.

All in all, I know that my interpretations of Strickler in season 3 are not concrete correct or confirmed by the writers, but to me, they make a lot of sense. I spent quite a bit of time gathering information and re-watching scenes from the entire series multiple times for this, because I do feel that people are too hard on Strickler. Walter sacrificing the world for Barbara and only returning for her sole “benefit” is not romantic, but believing him to be an irredeemable antagonist who would put Barbara before anything and everything isn’t right either, in my opinion.

I was mainly inspired to spend as much time as I did putting this together after seeing certain people in this fandom (specifically Barbmura shippers) write multiple fics where an OOC Villain!Strickler will sexually assault an OOC Damsel in Distress!Barbara because they felt as if they were making an important statement. I really hope that if you are among these people and have read this, that I have possibly put an end to your negative feelings towards Strickler and his relationship with Barbara; I don’t understand why you would choose to specifically write so many times about a sickening subject just to make up for the fact that you aren’t personally satisfied with the endgame romances and redemptions of the show.

3 notes · View notes

quietpagan · 7 years

Text

More notes upon the second viewing, Trollhunters Season 2:

- According to Strickler’s orientation video, the Pale Lady created Changelings

- “Oh! And we also have the Skullcrusher’s heir right here! Bular, would you care to give a few words to...” HE MADE BULAR ACT IN THE ORIENTATION VIDEO!

- If Usurna was working for Gunmar, why did she dump the pieces of Killahead Bridge into the ocean? Without the Bridge, Gunmar could not return, which was her goal???

- Otto if you are a polymorph and can change your appearance at will, whyyyy do you stick with the creepiest form you can find??? YO HE WAS THE DUDE SPRAYPAINTING IN THE ALLEY!

- Otto has one of Dictatious’s very distinct-looking books. Should have been your first clue, Blinky.

- the Gumm-Gumm mourning the giant snake monster Jim killed, like...

- The Peer Gynt music by Edvard Grieg opened February 24, 1876, so if Nomura was a young girl at that time she’s over 140 years old. Also the wiki says her first name is Zelda. It’s either Yiddish or German. Zelda. Lord.

- Kanjigar is SHADY AS FUCK GUYS! “Trust in yourselves. And me!” I know they’re out of time and he doesn’t have time to be polite, but being deliberately vague and unhelpful is a real dick move.

- y’all Blinky and Dicky are the same size, have the exact same tattoos...I’m not certain that they’re not twins. I know it’s easier to animate with a model you already have, but if they could add scars to Dictatious they could have changed the tattoos. The Darklands obviously physically changes anybody who is there for too long, since Dickbutt’s tatts are more angular and jagged than Blinky’s (as are AAARRRGGHH’s tattoos), but they still have them in the same places and in the same patterns. Unless Blinky admired his older bro so much that he got tatts to match, they’re twins.

- Alright so I just got off the wiki page and apparently Despicable Maxipads is the eldest brother, but the twins idea would have been SO COOL

- kay but Eclipse Sword is really pretty

- okay so they: broke a stalkling’s neck onscreen, stabbed a goblin through the hand with a pencil, stabbed Draal in the back, tore his prosthetic arm off, had Gumm-Gumms stalking through the hospital like damn velociraptors while Dr L hid in terror and prolly got eaten,

- Toby’s intense love of The Mole Mascot Outfit is slightly disturbing. I do not need f*rries in this show. And go Darcy for being honest to Toby about taking things slow instead of leading him on and making them both uncomfortable.

- the burning-the-library scene is really nice. It’s quite but intense and highlights that there’s a lot more going on than the surface conflicts and fart jokes.

- Blinky is pulling out all the stops on hating Stinktatious. He doesn’t hesitate, there is no love lost. As soon as he accepted Dicktit’s betrayal he immediately stopped loving his brother. As someone who finds it easy to stop caring about people and who has never met anyone else like this, this was something that I could relate to. Most people would think, “But he used to be such a good guy! Such a wonderful brother.” But his past goodness doesn’t negate or lessen his willful and gleeful betrayal, and Blinky accepts that without a single shred of remorse for what was lost.

- I’m glad they get on Jim for going into the Darklands alone but he immediately turned it around so that they felt guilty for making him feel guilty. I don’t think it was deliberate manipulation on his part, I think he’s just doing a classic Harry Potter teenage woe-fest, but I would liked to have seen him at least apologize.

- Dictatious and Gunmar come stumbling into the 21st century like a pair of blind and unsteady and crotchety old geezers, helped along by the nursing-home staff.

You see these demons in the second circle of Hell

- my headcanon that Bagdewella flirts with any and everything has finally come true. Look at that predatory smile. That is a woman who’d pretend to twist her ankle so that she could ask the dashing Trollhunter Kanjigar to carry her home. She even eyes Draal up and down.

Sorry, lady, Draal doesn’t have impure thoughts so much as thoughts for an Impure.

- Gunmar seems to gain power from gemstones (the blue gems in the DL, the Heartstone, etc) so what exactly does he need to eat humans for?? Dessert??

- AAARRRGGHH picking up the phone call from Jim about his doubles and is like NOPE, NOPE, THIS IS A BLINKY PROBLEM

- Every. Single. Move. that Trollhunter!Jim makes is accompanied by a dramatic whoosh sound. gLORYYYYYY!

AAARRRGGHH’s not the only one to have some really good moments.

- Is Eli from a younger grade and he just skipped a few? He’s tiny and has the squeakiest voice in the entire show. He’s less mature than even Steve and I’m not entirely certain he’s old enough to drive yet, because why would Steve be the one to drive Eli’s mom’s car?

- Usurna claims that trolls don’t use glasses yet Blinky has requested a pair numerous times. where is the lie.

- It’s not Barbara’s car, guys. Her car is green/teal and the car Gunmar dumped in a tree after (presumably) eating the woman who drove it was white.

- quietly concerned with the weird blue light that came out of controlled!Draal’s mouth + the light flicker, + Gunmar using his body to say ‘Your friend is gone.’

- Jimbo sounds so broken, pleading with Gunmar to release Draal from his control.

- Gunmar’s ‘I want to kill the Trollhunter with my own hands’ is the worst thing a villain can do. He literally has Jim down and defenseless several times, but doesn’t strike because he wants to be picky.

- “Unkar the Unfortunate?! I was hoping for Unkar the Ultimate! INCONCEIVABLE!”

- Even after Strickler’s turn of heart at the end of season 2, during Unbecoming Jim is still like yo stay away from my mom! Jim be like ‘I know you’re a CHangeling’ and Strickler immediately tries to kill him, favorite student or not. And then he wants to help??

- who is Nomura talking about, Mr. Stubborn and Works Alone that she knows well, hmmmmm

Ya just couldn’t pass up on making Draal die in the same pose that AAARRRGGHH died in, huh? Ya couldn’t pass on the anguished screaming, huh?

- lowkey kinda annoyed that Jim kneeled before Merlin, even though despite the whole picking-a-fifteen-year-old-to-be-a-legendary-champion thing Merlin has yet to be an actual douchebag

I honestly think Blinky only claimed these things were rare so that he could hoard them himself.

#trollhunters #trollhunters season 2 #spoilers

141 notes · View notes

drawingsdrawingseverywhere · 7 years

Text

Trollhunters Dadswap AU part 17

Here it is guys. The day has come.

it’s time for the grit-shaka madness to begin

Strickler, growing more concerned about the Bridge and it’s construction, takes the day off from school and gets Nomura to help him with research. With Strickler out of the classroom, however, that leaves Jim, Toby, Claire, and the rest of the class stuck with a movie day. Not so bad since it’s Gun Robot 3, but terrible since it gives everyone the opportunity to gossip about the upcoming rehearsal.

Jim and Toby are just talking about it when Toby notices the Grit-Shaka in Jim’s bag.

“Dude you’re not really going to wear that, are you?”

“Of course not! I just.... have it for backup! Is it cool if we don’t talk about this? I’m nervous enough as it is.”

“You wouldn’t be so nervous if you ever actually talked to Claire.”

“Pff, as if. I don’t want to risk her hating me again.”

“rule number 1, Jim my man.”

Jim gives him a look and Toby backs off.

“Ok ok, fine. What do you wanna talk about?”

“I don’t know.... how about your new roomie?”

“You mean AAARRRGGHH!!! ? He’s doing fine! We uh... had a little incident with the power washer, but everything’s going great! He’s adapted pretty well to my room, and he hasn’t scared Nana at all!”

“An incident with the power washer?’ what happened?”

“well, it turns out those things are REALLY strong. When I got knocked off of my feet, he didn’t know what to do to turn it off, so he just bit down on the hose nozzle. Needless to say, that didn’t end well.”

“was everyone ok?”

“yeah don’t worry. We both got pretty soaked, but no one got hurt. Think I’m gonna ask Draal if he and his dad have any suggestions. There’s no way I’m gonna wash that guy by hand. I don’t think he’d be willing to sit in a kiddie pool long enough for me to do so either.”

“surprised he hasn’t eaten all your Nana’s cats yet.”

“He tried, but after I told him that humans keep em as pets, he backed off. I have a suspicion my missing VHS tapes are what he chose to eat as an alternative.”

“Well, here’s hoping Angor Rot can convince Vendel to get that mark off him soon.”

“yeah. Maybe i can start giving him some lessons in troll manners. It could help his case, after all.”

“Troll manners,’ Toby?”

“Yeah! Like I ask him what he does in a certain situation, and teach him the proper response! Like ‘if someone is standing in your way, what do you do?’ kinda stuff. Who knows, he might be a fast learner.”

It’s then that Mary accuses Jim of taking her seat, forcing him to sit beside Claire. Jim looks desperately over at Toby, who simply shrugs and mouths ‘talk to her.’ Of course Jim sits there in silent panic for a few moments before looking down in his bag again.

reluctantly, Jim puts on the grit-shaka. Surely it couldn’t hurt to have a little confidence boost, right?

Cue the worst day ever, in which Jim uses the word ‘crispy’ to a cringing degree, ruins rehearsals, and even goes so far as to try to break into the school cafeteria and take all the ice cream sandwiches. All that madness and more.

So of course Toby goes to get help from Strickler and Angor Rot.

Strickler is hard at work researching any clues he can decipher to locate the bridge when Toby runs in. Nomura looks up from her own book, and Angor Rot skides down the ladder.

“Strickler! It’s Jim!”

Strickler is instantly up.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Is it Heimdrel?”

“No no no, he got this totem thing from Bular, and he’s been acting crazy all day! He keeps using the word ‘Crispy,’ and doesn’t care about others, and has just overall been a really big turd!”

Strickler glances over at Nomura and Angor Rot before looking back at Toby.

“This totem Jim got from Bular, it wouldn’t happen to be called a ‘Grit-Shaka,’ would it??”

“yeah that’s it!”

Strickler runs out.

“Nomura, keep looking! I’m sure we’ll find a lead soon! Angor, Toby, let’s go!”

By the time they find him, Jim is about to let a troll tattoo artist hammer into his arm.

“make it weep.”

Strickler snatches the chisel from the troll.

“have you lost your mind?” he turns to the artist, speaking respectfully, “my apologies, if you could give us just a moment.”

“hey guys! You’re here! Are you getting a tattoo too? *gasp* LET’S ALL GET MATCHING TATTOOS”

“We are doing no such thing, Jim!”

“Strickler, my man, chill. It’s just a tattoo!”

“That is not the problem here! You are wearing a troll artifact, and you don’t even know what affects it could be having on your delicate psyche!”

“My delicate Psyche? Oh you mean this? Pretty cool right? I’ve never felt better in all my life! I gotta see what other cool jewelry Bular’s people make!”

“They are not jewlers, Jim! They are a vicious war band, who use artifacts such as the one on your neck to become literal killing machines! It is not for human use!”

“killing machines, huh? Well now I really need to talk to Bular about getting me some more totems! Think of how much more effective I could be if I didn’t fear anything!”

“That goes directly against rule number one of being the trollhunter and I will not just sta-”

Jim grabs Strickler’s shoulder and makes him lean down.

“Strickler, Strickler listen. I don’t care. Ok? What are you gonna do? Fail me in Trollhunters class?”

Angor Rot tries to fix the situation.

“Jim, it is important to be afraid when facing trolls. A warrior who is over confident, or lacks any and all fear, often die very quickly. Trolls have no pity for the arrogant.”

Strickler holds out his hand.

“Jim, I demand that you hand over the Grit-shaka.”

Jm backs up

“no way, man! I already told you! I have never felt better! I’m fine! What are you afraid I wont be able to handle being a killing machine?”

“Jim, as your trainer, I insist that you hand it over.”

“no!”

Jim makes a run for it. Summoning the amulet and narrowly evading capture by his friends.

“I’ll show you!” Jim summons his sword. “I’ll show all of you! I’m gonna take down Heimdrel! Then you’ll see! I don’t need your stinking training when I got this baby on my side!”

Before anyone can catch him, Jim disappears into the market.

“where could he have gone?”

“well obviously he’s going after Heimdrel, didn’t you hear him?”

Strickler looks down at Toby, eyes narrowed and clearly not in the mood for sass.

“Sorry.”

“He does not know where Heimdrel is,” Angor Rot folds his arms, “how does he intend to find him?”

Toby thinks it over.

“I think I know where he’s going.”

Toby runs to Claire’s house and gets the attention of Notenrique.

“Ey! You’re gonna blow my cover!”

“Did you tell Jim where to find Heimdrel?!”

“Sure did.”

“WHY?!”

“If he wants to kill himself, who am I to stop him?”

“Where is he going?”

“And why should I tell you? you gonna run down there and try to stop him? Good luck Chubby-Chaser!”

“just tell me where he is!”

“no! Now get outta here before someone notices!”

“I’ll give you yesterday’s gym socks if you’ll tell me where to find him!”

Meanwhile down in the sewers, Jim is gallantly marching through. Making all kinds of noise. Throwing threats to the air. all that horrible stuff. He of course gets a Goblin’s attention, who scurries off to inform Heimdrel of the situation.

Back up top Toby is running through the town, checking every sewer drain he can to find Jim.

Down below, Toby told Strickler and Angor Rot where Notenrique sent Jim. Strickler is running through checking every hall he can, and Angor Rot is using his staff to check all the hidden places he can think of.

Jim spots a goblin and runs after it, turning a corner and seeing another. It says something in their goblin language and then laughs. Jim prepares his sword to strike when he hears the sound of metal against stone. Heimdrel turns the corner- his sword digging into the sewer wall and making a clear mark.

“There you are, you big ugly brute!”

Heimdrel eyes Jim a moment, locking his gaze on the Grit-Shaka.

“A Gumm-Gumm totem.... Now i see why you so foolishly came down here.”

“That’s right, Heimdrel. It’s the end for you!”

Heimdrel laughs darkly.

“You are just a whelp.”

“No, Heimdrel, I am your doom!”

With that Jim charges forward, swinging his sword wildly. Heimdrel parries and Overpowers Jim’s attack. Jim lands one hit on Heimdrel’s arm and let’s out a triumphant laugh as the much larger Troll backs away for a moment.

“had enough?”

Heimdrel looks up at Jim, the wound caused by the sword suddenly healing and crystallizing over.

“Far from it.”

“you can regenerate????”

“I can do so much more than just that, boy.”

Heimdrel charges back forward and the fight continues.

Jim goes for a low blow and swings at Heimdrel’s legs, But that’s when Heimdrel does a quick spin, his drape of feathers confusing and breaking Jim’s focus. it’s then that when Heimdrel completes his turn that Jim sees Heimdrel has using his cape to hide the fact he was preparing to kick.

Before Jim can dodge or block, Heimdrel’s foot slams directly into him, sending him flying and causing his sword to dig into the sewer floor a few feet off. Jim looks up to find the grit-shaka missing from his neck. He looks up to see it between him and Heimdrel.

“oh no!”

Heimdrel crushes it beneath his foot, breaking it’s effects on Jim. He laughs darkly, raising his sword in the process.

“oh yes”

Jim makes a run for his sword. Heimdrel leaps after him. Jim rolls and grabs his sword, just barely having enough time to spin around and block Heimdrel’s strike. Jim backs away fearfully and Heimdrel’s smile grows more wicked as he walks towards Jim like a predator.

“you know, I’ve seen someone look at me like that before. The last surviving Tyreta besides myself. I saved him for last.”

Heimdrel raises his sword and narrows his eye in delight.

“His screams will be nowhere near as delicious as yours.”

Just as Heimdrel swings his hand down, the manhole above them swings open. Heimdrel’s actual arm hits the sun ray and he backs away with a howl of agony. Toby looks into the scene.

“Jim!”

“Toby! Where on earth am I? How did I get here???”

Heimdrel growls as his arm heals and he begins to circle the ray of light Jim is now trapped in.

“Afraid, Trollhunter? Good. It will make my victory all the sweeter when the amulet is finally mine.”

It’s then that Strickler and Angor Rot find the chamber Heimdrel and Jim are currently in. They run forward to help when a swarm of goblins strike them- one opening another manhole so Angor Rot cannot safely pass through. Toby reaches in.

“Jim! Take my hand!”

Jim of course tries to jump high enough to reach but the armor of daylight is too heavy. Heimdrel drags his sword across the ground, sharpening it and preparing to strike.

"A shame we did not face each other on a true battlefield, but perhaps a coward’s death is all that you deserve.”

Jim looks up at Heimdrel’s sword as he raises it once more to deliver a final blow, and the wheels in his head begin to turn. From behind Heimdrel he can see Strickler has made it through and is drawing knives from his mantle.

Heimdrel swings his arm to strike, when At the same time a handful of Strickler’s knives dig into his back. The troll howls in anger and pain, his posture shifting and turning to face his attacker. Jim dodges the attack and watches the situation carefully. Heimdrel tries to turn to face Strickler, but realizes his sword is stuck in the cement. The Executioner roars and pulls at his arm to try and un wedge it from the ground. Jim and Strickler seem to have a silent conversation, and the second Heimdrel is about to free his sword Strickler and Jim both run towards it.

Jim lands on the sword and uses Heimdrel’s strength to catapult himself up to reach Toby’s hand, and Strickler uses his own strength to jump high enough to reach the street above. As Strickler climbs out, he returns to his human disguise before anyone sees him, and Toby begins to pull Jim up as fast as he can, soon having Strickler available to help.

Heimdrel yells something in a trollish language furiously as they pull him out, and moments after they escape and cover the manhole Heimdrel’s fist punches it open one time before it’s finally over.

“Tobes, what happened today? All I can remember is being in History class and watching Gun Robot.”

“it’s uh... it’s been a long day for all of us. Why don’t we... talk about it later... but just know.... you’ve been a giant turd all freaking day.”

Jim smiles at Toby and Toby smiles at Jim and Strickler helps the two exhausted teens onto their feet before a car honks at the trio.

“Promise me you’ll never do this again, you hear me? That goes for you as well, Toby.”

“Promise. No more Gumm-Gumm totems for me.”

“And I don’t plan on ever trying one. Today has been proof enough for me.”

“Good. Now, let’s get out of the street and back to Trollmarket. I’m certain Angor Rot is already waiting for us there.”

Later on at the Hospital, Barbra is preparing to head home when she is stopped by another Doctor.

“Hey Barbra, do you have a minute to speak with me?”

“Certainly, doctor. What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to thank you for all the hard work you’ve been doing as of late. Things have been pretty crazy around here, and I’m glad we have someone like you on staff.”

“it’s the least I can do. Helping people is what Doctors are supposed to do, after all.”

“of course. Since you’ve been so active lately, I wanted to inform you of a new addition to our staff. It’s taken us months to convince him to finally transfer here, but I hope you get along with him. Do you have time for me to introduce you to each other before you head out?”

Barbra puts her coat on but smiles.

“I’m sure I have some time on my way out.”

“perfect.”

Barbra and her associate head towards the elevators and stop at the help desk where a rather large man with a metal cane is speaking to one of the Nurses on staff. He turns his head when he notices the pair approach- a warm smile appearing on his face. The head doctor holds his hand out to the man in presentation.

“Barbra, I’d like you to meet Bhaltair McLaine. He just transferred in from Scotland and will be taking over this department. Bhaltair, meet Barbra Lake. She’s one of the best we have here.”

Bhaltair smiles and holds his hand out to Barbra, and when she returns the gesture his handshake is firm but gentle.

“Pleasure to meet you, Bhaltair.” Barbra smiles. “I look forward to working with you.”

“No no, miss,” Bhaltair’s smile grows even wider as the two finish their handshake, and he gently adds his other hand to the gesture and lightly pats her hand in a comforting manner. “the pleasure is all mine. I’ve heard many things about you and your son.”

He finally frees her hand and lightly taps his cane on the ground. “I have a feeling you and I are going to be very good friends.”

#Dadswap AU #Trollhunters #IT'S HERE #AND IT'S LONG AS HELL

38 notes · View notes

magic-and-moonlit-wings · 5 years

Note

Hi, what are your thoughts on Strickler/Barbara? How would Claire get the Decimar Blade to break it's hold on Gunmar's army? Also, due to a string of days where my mum and dad get mad at me, I feel emotionally worn out and stressed. It's nothing too serious, and I love my family but I'm tired of always keeping my head down and letting them walk all over me, I'm 20, and this shit needs to stop. I'm not asking that you play psychiatrist, but do you have any advice or encouragement for me?

Stricklake:

I ship it, partially because I was first introduced to the show via some pro-Stricklake content and so it became a key aspect of my understanding of how the show worked before I’d even seen a single episode, and partially because I find the character dynamics really interesting.

(That first point, learning the ship before the show, also influenced me regarding Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The first episode I saw in it’s entirety was Something Blue, where Buffy and Spike are magically compelled to get engaged for most of the episode. Seeing that with no knowledge that the characters actually hated each other at the time, and then discovering later episodes where Spike was in love/obsessed with Buffy, meant I accepted them eventually getting together as a given.

That episode also left me under the impression that Buffy was a comedy series in a horror-style setting, so … that was a learning curve.

Interestingly, the same concept of ship-before-show had the opposite effect in my watching of Voltron: Legendary Defender.

I had seen so much Lance/Keith shipping content before I got around to watching the show that I began under the impression they were an established couple. Therefore, it was really confusing when the first episodes had Lance viewing Keith as his rival and Keith barely noticing Lance’s existence.

I never was able to see their supposed chemistry in canon sources, only in fic and fan art. Of course, I also quit watching after Season Six - I was starting to lose interest in the show by then and decided to stop while I was still having fun.)

In Season One of Trollhunters, there’s a lot of dramatic irony in Strickler and Barbara’s interactions, because the audience knows he’s a Changeling and can catch the double-speak, which makes their scenes interesting to watch. (Except for some people, whose past experience being manipulated meant those scenes were triggering instead and drove them away from the show. Shipping is very subjective that way.)

Barbara is obviously drawn to Walter. Literally moments after she meets him, she asks Jim whether he knows if his teacher is single. Walter, I don’t think, ever intended specifically to flirt with Barbara - the charm and charisma is just a Changeling thing, “yes, human, you should like me, you should trust me,” - and initially him dating her was taking an opportunity to put the Trollhunter in a vulnerable position. Developing actual feelings for Barbara caught him off-guard.

Barbara had a lot more agency and took more initiative in their relationship in the first season, both in starting their relationship (“Coffee? Dinner? Appendix removal?”) and in ending it. (“Don’t talk to me. You’re the one thing I’m looking forward to forgetting.”)

Yeah, while we’re on this subject: from my perspective, they broke up at the end of Season One, and whatever’s going on as of Season Three is a new relationship.

When they meet again in the third season, Barbara’s mostly reactionary, and Walter stumbles a lot because the writers seemed to be treating him like he was already finished his redemption arc by the time they met again in Parental Guidance, rather than still midway through it.

I’ve written before, I believe, that their Season Three dynamic would be much improved by the following two things:

1) If Walter actually apologized at some point; and

2) If Barbara had contacted him after getting her memories back in Parental Guidance, rather than him showing up at her house uninvited after the events of Bad Coffee. This would give him the chance to confess and apologize for his past misdeeds while confirming the truth of her recovered memories.

He could then either back her up when she contacts Nana and the Nuñezes, or convince her to approach the Trollhunter team first, which would give the kids a safe human adult to go to about troll stuff. Forcing the reveals had potential to go a lot worse than it did.

Having Barbara and Walter’s next contact be on her terms would have also balanced out their power dynamic a little. It’s always been skewed in his favour because he has more information than she does. Having him demonstrate basic respect for her boundaries, by not approaching her after the last thing she said to him was basically that she never wanted to see him again, would be more palatable as well as making her more proactive in their Season Three interactions.

So in my opinion, canon portrayal of this ship started strong but ended clumsily, which is where fanfiction comes in.

Trollhunter Claire and the Decimaar Blade:

I had assumed, or rather guessed, that the Eclipse Armour would let the Trollhunter steal and use the Decimaar Blade, which seems to be magically tied to Gunmar similarly to how Daylight is tied to the Trollhunter. (See: Gunmar conjuring his sword; Daylight vanishing when Draal tried to wield it.)

The spinoff novels Welcome to the Darklands and Age of the Amulet state that the Decimaar Blade used to belong to Orlagk the Oppressor, who was the Gumm-Gumm Warlord before Gunmar killed him and took his position. Therefore, we can conclude the sword is tied to the position of Gumm-Gumm ruler, and that rulership of the Gumm-Gumms is passed down by right of conquest.

I figured Gunmar would be killed by his own sword and the Trollhunter would get full control of the Decimaar Blade automatically. (I guess the Trollhunter could’ve still gotten the sword even with Gunmar killed by Eclipse if the writers had gone for this option.)

I don’t know how controlling the Decimaar Blade would work, but I assume it’s at least semi-intuitive.

It might be a burst where the Trollhunter frees every mind-controlled troll all at once, or Claire might have to go through all the Gumm-Gumms freeing their minds one-by-one and … dealing with any that weren’t actually mind-controlled.

Regarding family stuff:

That sounds like it sucks a lot and I’m sorry you’re going through it.

I don’t know how reasonable or unreasonable your parents and other family members are, so I don’t know how well it would go over if you were to say, “The way you’re treating me is exhausting and stressful and I need you to stop [doing specific thing that’s distressing me] and try [less hurtful/more constructive thing] instead.”

I also don’t know your job prospects or state of health or financial situation (because those are all facets of personal information you should not be sharing with a stranger on the internet), and so I do not feel able to offer the reassurance “You won’t have to live with them forever,” because for all I know moving out is not a feasible option for you.

However, if that does sound like something you can say to your parents and moving out is in your hypothetical eventual future, those are probably the best reassurances I can offer that are actually relevant, as opposed to abstract comfort like “so long as there is Internet, you can look at pictures of baby penguins whenever you have a connection.”

#ask me anything #Stricklake #Walter Strickler #Dr Barbara Lake #shipping #narrative #Characterization #Trollhunters #Tales of Arcadia #alternate universe #Claire Nuñez #swords #mind control #Anonymous asks about Trollhunter!Claire #also #family #relationships #Penguin

15 notes · View notes

magic-and-moonlit-wings · 6 years

Text

‘Angor Reborn’ synopsis and reactions

I’m glad I managed to get this before 3Below premiered. I mean, I’ve said before how I don’t think the novels mesh well with the show canon, but I still like knowing what’s been written.

Long post, lots of spoilers, so I’m putting in a ‘Read More’. I’ve bolded some useful world-building stuff.

Prologue:

As a previous post attests, I am upset that the writer decided to have Angor’s deal with Morgana take place post-Killahead. Sure, Morgana’s definitely already against Merlin by then, and sure, it means we get some Trollhunters between Deya and Kanjigar, but it throws off a bunch of other concepts I had regarding the show’s timeline.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I mean, this is the same author who has Bular aged at over 5200 years old.

I do like the thing about Angor having a menagerie of animals, which he loved, and having to trade away his animals and pieces of his boat - reduced to a raft by the time we see it - for supplies and information to track Morgana down. The dove he sacrificed to summon her was his last animal, and particularly dear to him, which was why he still had the bird in the first place. I also liked the bit about Angor being “legendary among his tribe for his calm, even temper.” Once he becomes an assassin, he looks back and describes his past self as “a humble gamekeeper”. It’s wild contrast to the troll we see in the show, showing how scarred he is internally.

Angor thought sacrificing his pet dove should have been enough for Morgana, since he had literally nothing else to offer ... except his stone flesh, which was not (as implied with the show) a premeditated decision.

We don’t actually see any of Angor’s fights with Trollhunters, just a summary that he traveled the globe, doing Morgana’s bidding, and the only times he didn’t hear her voice in the back of his mind was while portalling through the Shadow Realm.

The temple in India where Angor was imprisoned was named “the Temple of the Pale One” by the locals in reference to Merlin living there. He’s the one who chained Angor up and trapped him under rubble when Angor tried to trap Merlin in the Shadow Realm in hopes that would get Morgana to end his curse. (Merlin can sense Angor is cursed but doesn’t seem to care.)

This obviously means Merlin had to have lied about going to sleep right after trapping Morgana in the Heartstone, but I’m not going to call that a plot hole because I can believe Merlin would lie about that.

Chapter 1:

Jim has a nightmare about an old man trapping him in a glass bottle and then dumping him into a giant blender. Then he wakes up underwater.

He’s not in the potion, he’s at the bottom of Lake Arcadia Oaks, which he recognizes once he’s on the surface because he and Toby used to go camping there.

Jim takes off his armour to swim for the surface - which is nice, implying the armour being stuck in the show really was because he was panicking and not because it can’t come off. After he drops the amulet, it flies out of the lake and into the air, and he grabs it as it passes him; it drops him in shallower water.

It is established the Trollhunter team knows the Eternal Night is going to be a perpetual eclipse rather than some kind of damage to the sun itself or an adjustment of Earth’s rotation to have perma-night on one side and perma-day on the other.

Jim’s memory is messed up and he can’t remember that his mom isn’t missing anymore or what Merlin’s declaration that the potion will make Jim “both Troll and Hunter” means.

Jim finds and saves a wolf pup that had its legs tangled in some old fishing line. Its reaction to a human is more like I would expect of a dog than a wild wolf, but okay. Jim decides to name it Sir Barks-a-Lot.

The clouds part and the full moon is exposed. Jim doubles over in pain. He sees someone, or possibly two someones, approaching.

Chapter 2:

Everyone but Merlin is freaking out over Jim being gone. Barbara threatens the wizard. Strickler, consulting the Book of Ga-huel, agrees that Barbara does indeed have the knowledge and skill to break bones.

Claire tries to use the Shadow Staff to find Jim. It fails. (Then one would think it wouldn’t come as a surprise to her in the show when it fails again.)

“But how could you be so reckless?” Strickler asked. “How could you expose him to something this unpredictable?”

“That’s a bit like the cauldron calling the kettle black, isn’t it, Changeling?” Merlin said.

... Dude. If you are literally comparing something you did to something that someone you openly scorn has done, this does not make you look good.

Barbara drags Merlin out of the bathroom by his beard, insisting he do something to help them find Jim.

Strickler starts trying to contact Nomura, Claire goes into the Shadow Realm to see if cutting off outside input will help her lock onto Jim’s signal, and Toby jumps out the bathroom window and uses his Warhammer to fly for “aerial surveillance”, wishing Blinky and AAARRRGGHH were there.

Blinky and AAARRRGGHH are fleeing Usurna’s forces. AAARRRGGHH catches a spear that was about to hit Blinky and throws it back at the troll who threw it. They escape, temporarily, by jumping over a ‘fire bog’ ... Do I spy a Princess Bride reference? They take shelter in a cave and find some possibly-enchanted pools of water. Blinky describes himself as “royally cheesed off” at the events of the past week.

Chapter 3:

Jim awakes to a bonfire. He has been found by a River Troll and a Garden Troll, who recognize him as a human. The Garden Troll wants to keep Jim as a pet. Jim interrupts what he thinks is a fight between the two and is told that they are, in fact, in love, and “it’s our courtship dance!”

Jim goes off on a mental tangent about how pretty and wonderful Claire is. He wishes he could be holding her hand, and notices that his hand is surprisingly hairy. (This is probably the hand that got covered by the gauntlet, since the hand that lost a finger didn’t seem to have hair on it at all, or his transformation isn’t over yet.)

The troll couples’ parents show up and try to forcibly separate them. When it becomes a fight, Jim summons the armour of Daylight. He collapses in pain. The wolf is whining and barking. Some of the River and Garden Trolls start attacking Jim as well. Jim roars at them.

Chapter 4:

Angor is awed and discomforted to be physically in Morgana’s presence for the first time. Morgana and Gunmar have a subtle power struggle.

Gunmar possesses three Stalklings with the Decimaar Blade, to track down and kill Jim and his allies. Gunmar sends Angor to let the Stalklings out on the surface, taunting him about how Angor used to keep animals.

Angor wonders if Morgana might reward him if he were to kill Gunmar.

At the entrance to Trollmarket (implied to be the one in the canals), once he’s let the Stalklings out, Angor thinks he catches the Trollhunter’s scent, and leaves with the intent to track and kill him.

Chapter 5:

Jim tries to talk down the Garden and River Trolls, but his words are garbled because his teeth have changed. They get over their surprise and attack him again. Jim wins the fight and demands the star-crossed lovers be released.

Ronagog and Junipra, the Romeo-and-Juliet references, are allowed by their families to be together, but at the cost of each being banished from their tribe.

Jim gets a look at his reflection in the water. He’s got tusks, though he calls them fangs, and shaggier hair. His skin isn’t totally blue yet, but it’s bluish in a way he isn’t quite sure is a trick of the light. No mention of horns, so he probably hasn’t grown them yet. His armour feels too tight, and resizes for his new height and bulk.

Jim has an existential crisis about what his transformation will mean for his relationships with his mom, his friends, and his girlfriend. His angsty rambling about making decisions before thinking them through, and not knowing where you belong anymore, and how maybe sometimes it’s better to separate from someone before you hurt them, convinces the troll couple to break up. Jim is left alone with the wolf cub.

A thunderstorm is rolling in. There is a flash of lightning and Angor Rot appears.

Chapter 6:

Gnome Chompsky and Not Enrique question Fragwa about the missing Trollhunter. Chompsky is the ‘bad cop’.

Fragwa is about to tell them something when the Creepslayerz show up and throw a dwärkstone into the goblin’s mouth. Claire, Toby, and Strickler show up, Claire and Toby in armour, to confirm Eli and Steve were indeed asked to help instead of stumbling onto the scene by accident.

Stalklings attack and grab Claire and Toby. Strickler transforms and flies after them.

Chapter 7:

Angor taunts Jim about Draal.

Angor compares what Merlin did to Jim with what Morgana did to Angor. Jim does not have a good counter-argument to the parallels, although he does deny them. During the fight, Jim’s horns begin to grow out. His hearing, sense of smell, and sight are all enhanced, as are his reflexes.

Jim taunts Angor about the assassin being defeated by Merlin, despite no hint in the show or previous novels or earlier chapters that Jim would know about that.

Angor says once he kills Jim, he’ll move on to Jim’s loved ones, specifically threatening Barbara. Jim responds with primal rage. In the subsequent attack, the pixie cage and a container of Grave Sand that Angor was carrying are shattered. The pixies can’t get through Jim’s helmet, and he covers Sir Barks' nose, mouth and ears. Apparently the wolf cub does not bite him for this.

The pixies leave, carrying off the Grave Sand. Angor also disappears. Jim chases Angor.

Chaper 8:

Detective Scott’s first name is Louis.

A man in the police station is ranting about seeing creatures/people with lots of arms and glowing skin who fell from the sky but could now be disguised as humans.

Barbara is filing a missing person report on Jim. Merlin is with her, wearing an old band T-shirt (Papa Skull Live In Concert ‘92), parachute pants, high top sneakers, a porkpie hat, and sunglasses; some of James Senior’s old clothes, rather than his armour. Detective Scott points out that, statistically, most kidnappees are abducted by someone they knew. Barbara denies that it could’ve been James Senior, since he never even came back to get his stuff after walking out.

Nomura is outside the police station, watching in amusement as Barbara drags Merlin around. Nomura is upset about being attacked on her first day back at her human ‘day job’ - she likes working at the museum - and is mourning for Draal. She’s keeping her distance from the Trollhunter team for now, despite getting Strickler’s texts that Jim is missing, because Nomura is bad at sharing feelings.

Strickler stabs the Stalkling not carrying a human. His knife, which looks more like stone than metal to me, acts as a lightning rod and the Stalkling is zapped and disintegrated, even though the two Stalklings carrying humans in metal armour have not been zapped and the Stalkling Jim killed with a lightning strike only turned to stone, not dust. The shockwave knocks Strickler back. The other two Stalklings are startled into dropping Claire and Toby.

Chapter 9:

Jim chases Angor to Arcadia Oaks Dam. He switches to the Eclipse Armour for better stealth. He is relieved to have a fight to focus on, rather than dwelling on how his loved ones will react to his transformation.

Jim sees a hunched figure through the fog, identifies it as Angor Rot, cannot identify if Angor is alive or dead, and throws his sword at the figure, which shatters on impact. Jim literally does a happy dance. It was a trap. Jim is grabbed by a golem.

The golem is made of wood. The wolf cub bites it, which buys Jim time to summon his glaives. After they beat the golem and destroy the totem (called a fetish, referring to the archaic definition ‘a charm imbued with magical powers’), Sir Barks pees on the pile of sticks.

Angor nearly drowns Jim inside a Water Golem. Sir Barks nearly gets hit by a thrown knife and runs away.

The Eclipse Armour fades out. Angor takes the amulet. Jim snaps the totem animating the golem with his bare hands. Angor steals the Triumbric Stones, and presumably his eye but that isn’t mentioned in the narrative, and tosses the amulet over the waterfall. Angor knees Jim in the crotch and is about to stab him when Jim throws himself over the waterfall instead.

Chapter 10:

Claire summons her Shadow Staff, which flies to them and carries Toby’s Warhammer as well, saving them both from falling to their deaths. Toby chooses to fly back while Claire portals to the alley they were snatched out of.

Steve and Eli are hiding in the dumpster, which Steve excuses by claiming they were searching for Jim in there. Strickler and Toby show up. Strickler warns that Gunmar may have been watching through the Stalklings’ eyes.

Barbara and Merlin show up because Toby texted Barbara where they were. Merlin calls Eli “the inadequate one” even as he agrees with something Eli said. They agree they should take a break and eat.

The pixies show up. Eli recognizes them from the time Angor Rot set them loose on the school. Everyone blocks their ears and noses with packing peanuts from a box by the dumpster. The pixies begin huffing Grave Sand. Literally. “Huffing” is the word the book uses to describe it.

The Grave Sand appears to be inducing a Zen state in the pixies.

“Sounds like the medication they give hyperactive kids,” added Steve. “Lotsa people think it calms ‘em down, but it’s actually a stimulant to improve concentration. Uh, I mean, so I’ve heard other people who are not me say ...”

Unfortunately the Grave Sand also amplifies the pixies’ abilities so they can show people their fears without literally getting into their heads.

Chapter 11:

Jim has been washed downriver to the Arcadia canal system. Sir Barks-a-Lot has followed him, tracking his scent. The wolf cub pulls him out of the water. Jim is unconscious. His skin is bluer than before.

Sir Barks-a-Lot sees the amulet in the water nearby and brings it to Jim, dropping it on his chest and howling. The amulet zaps Jim. Jim wakes up. It is implied he was dead - “The Trollhunter gasped alive, his eyes wide with amazement, his blood pumping again” - but that could just be exaggeration of how people seem to come to life when regaining consciousness.

Jim, carrying the wolf cub, climbs out of the canal. He dislikes the sound of traffic and wonders if he belongs “in the wild with other animals” now.

Jim looks into the water and imagines seeing the faces of the people he’d be leaving behind if he abandoned civilization - wow, you can tell this kid is sixteen, he seriously thinks this is a feasible thing to do on impulse - until Blinky and AAARRRGGHH’s reflections appear, and do not fade, and start talking to him.

The cave they are hiding in holds ‘the Plunder Pools’. Over generations, various trolls hid treasures in the deep wells to keep anyone from stealing them, and the buildup of magical artifacts in particular has imbued the water with magical properties. Blinky and AAARRRGGHH can see Jim, but the image is very blurry, explaining why they don’t know he’s a troll when they return.

Jim does not bring up his transformation, but their conversation gives Jim new resolve to go back and protect his friends - especially when the talk ends abruptly, with Blinky and AAARRRGGHH discovered and captured. But first Jim has to get the Triumbric Stones back from Angor.

He spots a brochure for the museum in the various debris in the canal and gets an idea, or possibly is reminded of his past success in the Second Battle of Killahead even if that was ultimately a temporary victory.

Chapter 12:

The pixies’ fear inducing power affects everyone present.

Claire is in the Shadow Realm, calling out for Jim. Her staff can’t open a portal. She’s stuck there forever.

Toby remembers visiting his parents graves with Nana and Jim when he was six, which then time-cuts to the present except Nana and Jim are both gone. He backs into Jim’s tombstone.

Strickler proposes to Barbara, who reveals she is a Changeling too and she was also lying about having feelings for him, except in her case it never stopped being a lie.

Not Enrique is stuck in a pet carrier. Original Enrique blows a raspberry at him. The Nuñez family is leaving Not Enrique at an orphanage. He begs them for a second chance, to prove he can be good and deserve their love. None of them speak to him. Javier wonders if ‘returning’ him to the orphanage is alright; Ophelia dismissively says she can rewrite the law, and anyway, who would ever adopt him? Claire says nothing. (This one kind of cheeses me off because I had a plan involving Not Enrique and a cat carrier for Becoming The Mask and now that scene is going to look like a book reference even though it wasn’t meant to be one.)

Gnome Chompsky is cradling Sally-Go-Back, the doll irreparably damaged, in the ruins of the smashed dollhouse.

Eli’s mother informs him there was a news report, saying all the paranormal things he’s been investigating were a hoax. Mrs Pepperjack says Eli was the only one to ever fall for it, but now that it’s over he can stop pretending to be important and go back to being a perpetual understudy in the drama club. Eli screams.

Steve is in Arcadia Oaks High School. He thinks he hears Eli scream from inside a locker but doesn’t investigate - he’s chasing after his father. Steve finally collapses in exhaustion, begging his father to come back, promising to score more points in the next game and make him proud.

Barbara seems to be unaffected by the pixies - I guess maybe her worst fear is Jim being missing, which is already true? We don’t see Merlin’s fear but he tells Barbara that dolls have haunted his nightmares for centuries.

“Not just any dolls!” Merlin exclaimed hoarsely. “Little porcelain girl dolls, with their chipped faces, strange eyes, and horrible little voices that repeat the word ‘papa’ -”

“PAPA!” Steve shrieked randomly behind Barbara.

“Always ‘papa’ ... until the end of time!” Merlin finished.

“This ... explains a lot,” Barbara said as she released the wizard and watched him collapse on the alley floor.

Chapter 13:

Jim climbs onto the museum. Narration comments that the alley where everyone but Barbara is suffering pixie-power is only a block away. Jim jokes that he needs to stop breaking into the museum. College AU writers, make a note: There is, apparently, an ‘Arcadia U’ - probably a community college but maybe a university like the name implies? Seriously, what size is this town?

Jim carefully extracts a bunch of mineral samples from their cases without setting off the alarms, and starts cleaving them with his talons. The minerals in question are vivianite, amethyst, fire opal, wulfenite, peacock coal, and obsidian. I don’t offhand know any trivia about these beyond obsidian being volcanic glass historically used for knives because it has such a sharp edge, and amethyst being the birthstone for February.

Jim asks Vendel’s spirit to guide his hand in the stone cleaving. He remembers what Vendel said about cleaving stones to unlock their powers and wonders if cutting away ties to the human world with unlock new powers in Jim.

There are six slots in the back of the amulet, so Jim fills them all here. The amulet’s incantation changes to, “For the pursuit of Angor, Moonlight is mine to command”. The lights out of the amulet are black and white and the armour is two-tone grey.

Jim and Sir Barks are nearly caught by museum security, but the Moonlight Armour adjusts Jim’s boots to have something like jogging stilts, which, combined with his new troll strength, allow him to jump out of the skylight they came in through while carrying the wolf.

Chapter 14:

Barbara reminds herself she knows how to treat fever dreams, telling herself to forget the supernatural element and just deal with the pixie hallucinations like she would that. They also remind her of virtual reality - apparently the hospital where she works uses VR to help anxiety patients? The more worldbuilding is done, the more Arcadia sounds like a big city rather than a small town.

Barbara took a college semester abroad and studied painting in Rome.

Barbara traps one of the pixies in the Grave Sand container until it eats all the Grave Sand, then moves it to the densest part of the pixie swarm. When it explodes, it sets off a chain reaction and kills off all the other pixies. She likens this to an antivirus.

Merlin expresses amazement that a “mere mortal woman”, his exact words, could defeat the pixies when he, “the world’s mightiest wizard”, again his exact words, couldn’t. Claire, Toby, Not Enrique, and Chompsky immediately call him out on talking down to her.

Dialogue between Barbara and Strickler confirms my theory that Barbara’s already dealing with her worst fear and that’s why the pixies didn’t affect her. (Although, really, they could’ve just shown her Jim’s dead body or something - I guess if you get cerebral about it, ‘not knowing’ is scarier than having closure?)

More Stalklings show up.

Chapter 15:

Angor paints his face with mud. “This was tradition. This was ritual. This was what hunters of old did before they claimed their final kill”. It is implied he does not expect to survive fighting Jim but could be interpreted to mean he intends to ‘retire’ after winning.

Jim uses Sir Barks for misdirection and successfully gets the jump on Angor.

In addition to ‘spring stilts’, Jim can summon a longbow and arrows, his shield can adapt to armour a companion (in this case, Sir Barks-a-Lot), and swap out the stilts for cleats which let him grip any terrain, even letting him climb a tree at a run.

Angor, outnumbered once his golems are destroyed, retreats. Jim and Sir Barks-a-Lot give chase.

Angor has captured Ronagog and Junipra (the Romeo and Juliet parallels from earlier) in a stasis trap. He sets himself up so that if Jim shoots him down with a bow and arrow, the shot will also go through the two harmless, helpless trolls.

Chapter 16:

Gunmar speaks through the Stalklings. Toby calls Claire ‘Claire-bear’ while suggesting she make a portal for them to escape through. She can’t - she’s emotionally exhausted after pixie exposure. Gunmar laughs.

Barbara tells Gunmar to “put a cork in it!” and throws a trash can lid at one of the Stalklings, making it choke and giving the humans, Changelings, and gnome an opening to run.

Merlin calls Eli “the bespectacled, socially-awkward one”. Steve calls Merlin “fuzz face” and tells him to lay off Eli.

Claire, Toby and Chompsky temporarily pin one of the Stalklings. Barbara offers praise and encouragement.

Strickler, Merlin, and Not Enrique fight the other Stalkling. Strickler offers Merlin the chance to deliver the killing blow. Merlin explodes the Stalkling, not caring that Not Enrique was in the line of fire and barely dodged.

The pinned Stalkling gets loose and attacks Steve and Eli. Barbara shields them. The Stalkling falls ... zapped by Detective Scott’s Taser.

Claire wishes they could take the fight to Gunmar. Eli reveals he captured some of the surviving pixies and was planning to keep them as evidence of Arcadia’s supernatural activity, but he’ll sacrifice them for the good of the world.

Merlin actually offers praise ... right before erasing Eli’s, Steve’s and Detective Scott’s memories of that evening’s events. Like the terrible, terrible, arrogant, selfish, terrible person he is. But at least it didn’t leave open the plothole of Detective Scott knowing about trolls in the books but not the show, so it’s only rage-inducing for the character’s actions, not for the writer’s slip-ups.

Chapter 17:

Angor wants Jim to kill the innocents in order to kill Angor so that Jim will (metaphorically) sacrifice his soul and Angor won’t be the only one. Jim, instead, breaks the stasis trap.

The subsequent “What kind of troll are you?!” “I’m not a troll. Or at least, not one like you.” exchange reminds me of the Disney confrontation between Tarzan and Clayton where Clayton tries to goad Tarzan into shooting him. (”Go ahead, shoot me. Be a man.” “Not a man like you!”) I’m also a sucker for the “I didn’t miss” trope.

Jim gives Angor this weird speech about almost feeling sorry for him and how Angor tried and failed to take Jim’s humanity away - no, kiddo, that was Merlin that did that - and how he thinks Angor always regretted giving up his soul. Okay, that part’s true, but there’s still no explanation for how Jim knew that. Everything the characters know about Angor in the show suggests Angor and Morgana are the only ones who know Angor didn’t give up his soul on purpose.

Now freed of the stasis trap, the two trolls group-hug Jim and Sir Barks, and renew their relationship.

Angor’s dialogue when trying to stab Jim - “Now there’s enough troll in you for me to turn to stone!” - implies Creeper’s Sun is a troll-only toxin, even though it’s also seen turning trees and a metal shackle to stone in the show.

Jim claims that, although bad things do happen that no one asks for or expects, everything bad that’s happened to Angor since trading his soul away was a direct result of Angor’s own actions. He pins Angor to a tree with an arrow through the wrist and refuses to kill him. Somehow this wins him Angor’s respect.

Angor acknowledges Jim as the better troll and hunter, and then escapes using a smoke bomb, but leaves behind the Triumbric Stones. (And possibly his eye? That never gets mentioned at all in this novel.)

Epilogue:

Draal and Kanigar watch Junipra and Ronagog’s wedding from the Void. The couple exchange nose rings, which were fashioned out of Moonlight’s arrows, implying an expectation that these won’t just vanish when Jim dispels the armour.

Draal asks about his parents’ wedding. Kanjigar says he and Draal’s mother, Ballustra, had a more traditional wedding: a trial-by-combat cage match followed by reciting their vows. He then goes on to reminisce about Draal’s infancy, embarrassing his son.

Claire portals the last Stalkling, blindfolded, into Trollmarket. It knocks over a bunch of Gumm-Gumms and coughs up the pixies.

A pixie goes in through Gunmar’s gouged-out eye socket. He sees Bular, as reanimated-but-still-crumbling stone, blaming Gunmar for Bular’s death and saying that if Bular, a warrior in his prime, could be beaten by a human Trollhunter, what chance does old half-blind Gunmar have against a whole Trollhunter team?

In the swamp, Usurna reveals she plans to take over herself eventually, and is only biding her time allying with Gunmar. AAARRRGGHH notes she treats trolls like pawns and she agrees. In the Void, Kanjigar notes that the other Krubera are starting to turn against her, and if Blinky and AAARRRGGHH can keep her talking, Usurna will be taken care of soon enough.

The Void’s viewing window shifts focus to the Arcadia canals. Nomura is confronting Angor Rot over killing Draal. She wonders, rhetorically, how many of those he’s killed he actually remembers, and which of the deaths he’s caused haunt him most. Coincidentally, a dove coos just after she says this, which freaks Angor out. Seeing his panic, Nomura decides to walk away and let him suffer rather than killing him. She presumably meets and fights some Gumm-Gumms between then and when she shows up at Jim’s house, because there is no mention of her shoulder being dislocated.

Draal is extremely touched Nomura wanted to avenge him. It is Kanjigar’s turn to feel embarrassed and flustered when Draal caresses the ‘window’ between the Void and the living world and tells Nomura, “Never change, my Changeling.”

Jim is back by the lake. It’s sunrise; it would seem he spends the day walking, under the cover of the trees, and gets home after dark the next night, somehow without ever getting any sunlight exposure? He takes off the Moonlight armour, which also dissipates Sir Barks-a-Lot’s armour (and maybe Ronagog’s and Junipra’s wedding rings but they aren’t in the scene so we don’t know).

Jim swaps out the ‘on loan’ museum crystals for “the gems from Angor Rot’s pouch, including the Triumbric Stones”, which implies he does have Angor’s eye again but that’s left unclear, and opening the possibility there’s one or two other stones in the pouch that might come into play in a later novel.

A mother wolf and three more cubs are nearby. Jim sends Sir Barks-a-Lot back to his family. I expect they will “see each other again someday”, because that animal acted way more like a well-trained dog than a young and wild wolf, but on the other hand that’s animals in fiction for you.

Jim plans to stick to the safety of the shadows while walking back to town, presumably to avoid being seen since he isn’t supposed to know he’s vulnerable to sunlight yet.

Kanjigar expresses confidence Jim will be able to save the world.

In Conclusion:

Angor Reborn still jars against animated canon in several places but is not as much of a mess as some of the other novels. There are a number of bits and pieces worth keeping.

87 notes · View notes

magic-and-moonlit-wings · 6 years

Text

Chapter 20: Saving Face

Becoming the Mask

Text that is both bolded and italicized indicates trollish.

"How're you holding up, Jim?" Toby opened up his half-made sandwich to put the vegetables on it.

Lunches by Chef Jimbo that required a final, in-cafeteria step to assemble weren't that odd, but usually they were more complicated than cold cuts and veggie slices. This was Jim's 'day off' lunch, for days when something was stressing him out to the point where he didn't even feel like cooking, or didn't have the time.

"Not great," Jim admitted. "… Did you talk to Draal this morning?"

"I've met that guy, like, twice. Plus, don't trolls sleep during the day?"

"We had a fight."

Toby gasped. "But – you don't look smushed."

"More of a 'hurt feelings' fight." Jim's hands tightened on his sandwich. He put it down without taking a bite. "He said I was unworthy of the Amulet. Then I said it still picked me, so I was obviously more worthy than him. And, considering his dad was the Trollhunter before me and Draal really wanted the job …"

"Ouch. Like in The Book Of Life, when Manolo told Joaquin he'd never be as great a hero as his father. What the heck set all that off?"

Jim grimaced and shook his head. Toby could respect that.

"Got a plan for apologizing?"

Jim hated having anyone mad at him. The very few times he and Toby fought, Jim was usually first to try and make amends.

"Wait for tonight, so he's had some time to cool down, then say sorry and see if he's ready to hear that. If he's not … I dunno. Go into the Void and ask his dad's ghost for advice, maybe."

"If you need to avoid him for a bit, you can crash with me and Chompsky."

Jim half-smiled and started eating, which meant he wasn't tensed up with nerves anymore. Toby patted himself on the back.

Barbara parked, neatened her hair in the rear view mirror, and sighed over her steering wheel. She wanted to go home, wolf down some food, take a hot, soothing shower, and collapse into bed. Instead, she'd agreed to meet her son's teacher for lunch.

"For Jim," she reminded her reflection. Her child needed his remaining parent to be involved in his life.

There were a few tables set up outside the café. Seated at one of them was a man in a brown jacket and blue turtleneck. She didn't notice him until he stood when she walked past.

"Dr Lake?" Barbara jumped a bit.

"Yes–? Oh." She recognized his accent from the phone. He probably guessed by her teal scrubs. "You must be Mr Strickler." She put on a smile and held out her hand to shake. He kissed it instead, making her blush.

"Indeed. Lovely to meet you at last." He pulled out the chair opposite him and she sat. It was so nice to be off her feet.

A waiter appeared, or perhaps Mr Strickler had signalled them now that she'd arrived, and asked if they wanted drinks to start. Barbara ordered a coffee. Mr Strickler asked for something she assumed was a blend of tea.

"I'll start by repeating that Jim's not in trouble." He folded his hands on the table. "I've noticed he occasionally has trouble staying awake, or that his focus seems to drift, snapping back to attention when called upon but wandering again soon after."

"That sounds like he's tired. He's always up early … I'll talk to him about when he's going to bed." Barbara had heard, and seen evidence at the hospital, that a lot of teenagers were sleep-deprived. With the way Jim tried to take care of her …

"He also has a habit of, shall we say, overstretching himself," said Mr Strickler, following the same train of thought as Barbara. "Taking on more than his share of responsibilities."

The waiter returned with their drinks. Barbara hadn't even looked at the menu's lunch options. She took a gulp of coffee and ordered the first thing she spotted with 'sandwich' in the description; a 'croque monsieur'. Mr Strickler ordered the same thing.

Maybe it was the hunger or the exhaustion talking but it actually sounded more appetizing when he said it.

"With all respect," continued Mr Strickler, once the waiter left, "Jim's behaviour is not uncommon among children whose parents have demanding careers; they seek to ease the pressure on their parents by being helpful –"

Barbara nodded; that certainly sounded like Jim.

"– Or they see the sheer number responsibilities their parents hold, and conclude this is a normal level of activity for anyone. Or, in some cases, are encouraged to be perfect because their reputation reflects back on their family, but I don't believe that's the case with Jim."

Barbara fidgeted with a napkin. "I've never meant to put him under pressure … But I have, ah, encouraged some of his habits."

Like the cooking, or cleaning the house, or doing yard work, or helping her budget the utilities …

She'd viewed it as practical, teaching Jim things like how to operate a washing machine or handle money so he'd know how to do it when he was living on his own, but, was she interfering with his academic education, letting him take on – praising him for taking on – so many responsibilities at home?

Mr Strickler touched her hand, lightly, briefly, bringing her back to the present.

"Jim is a kind boy," he said. "He wants to help people. But it's impossible to help everyone, and Jim," the teacher steepled his fingers and contemplated his words, "Jim is young enough to not necessarily recognize his limits."

Over lunch – croque monsieur turned out to be a ham and cheese sandwich fried in white sauce – they discussed ways to encourage Jim to cut back without making it sound like his helpfulness was being rejected or like he was being criticized for not being able to do enough.

They didn't come to any solid conclusions. Barbara could encourage Jim to sleep or ease up on his chores; both adults could remind Jim of the importance of taking care of himself; but Barbara didn't want to ground him from extracurriculars or socialization to force him to rest. It hadn't gotten to that point, and hopefully it never would.

"I should be getting back to the school," said Mr Strickler, checking his watch. He uncapped the pen he'd toyed with off and on during their conversation and scribbled onto a sticky note from one of his jacket's inside pockets. "My phone, Dr Lake."

"Please, call me Barbara."

She took the phone number and he kissed her hand again.

"Barbara." Her name sounded lovely with his accent. "Walter. Do call if there's anything you'd like to discuss."

He summoned the waiter and paid their cheque and then he was gone, and Barbara was left feeling unsure if she'd just had an unorthodox parent-teacher conference or an even more unorthodox first date.

She went home and had the relaxing shower and nap she'd been craving.

Draal was conflicted. He was unaccustomed to that feeling. He did not care for it.

He wanted to believe he had done the right thing, not killing the Changeling immediately upon discovery.

He wanted to believe the Amulet of Merlin knew what it was doing when it chose … one of them … to be the Trollhunter.

He wanted to believe Jim's oath to turn against Gunmar was genuine, and not yet another act.

There was a pipe in the centre of the basement, and if Draal stood by it, he could hear nearly everything from the main story of the house. He'd heard Jim quietly threatening Nomura over Barbara's safety last night.

He should've been listening at the pipe when Nomura first came to the house; he might've learned more about what the Changelings were up to –

Draal's failings aside; the exchange he had eavesdropped on suggested Jim had been truthful about Barbara still being human instead of another Changeling collaborator, and that he felt a certain level of protectiveness for her, matching his explanation of why he'd let Draal move in.

As Blinky and AAARRRGGHH had each independently pointed out, Jim could have simply, easily, killed Draal that night, instead of agreeing to expose himself as a Changeling.

Or Jim could have stayed out of the fight, rather than exposing himself as the Trollhunter to protect Nomura.

If the helmet materialized with a faceplate, Draal still wouldn't know what Jim really was.

They hadn't spoken on the return journey from Trollmarket. Jim hadn't come downstairs before leaving the house that morning, either. Draal had gone upstairs midmorning to scavenge some food. A pile of cans waited for him in the blue box in the kitchen.

He brought them back to his living space and sat behind the furnace, on the blanket Jim had given him when he moved in, now somewhat ragged after a few encounters with Draal's spikes. He slowly snacked his way through cans and coal, and stared at the little Heartstone piece.

Why had Jim given him that? It wasn't like Draal had been expecting one. The Changeling could've kept it for himself. Jim had, by his own confession, been working for Gunmar up until last night, and that was assuming he really had changed sides.

That was what made Changelings dangerous, Draal supposed. They thought differently than normal trolls. You never knew what they were thinking. And even when you knew that, you still found yourself wanting to trust them.

Draal really hoped he had done the right thing.

Barbara woke up when Jim got home from school.

"Hey, Mom." He hugged her hello. Jim had never outgrown how affectionate he'd been as a small boy. Barbara hoped he never decided he was 'too old' to hug his mother. "How was your day?"

"I had lunch with your history teacher."

Jim's shoulders tensed, just slightly, under her hands – typical teenaged surprise and alarm over unforewarned parent-teacher interaction? Or, wait, with how Barbara phrased it, did Jim think she meant she'd gone on a date? Well, she was uncertain herself, but never mind that now.

"He's worried you aren't getting enough sleep."

"Oh, that." He relaxed in her arms. "Yeah, he's asked me if I'm sleeping okay. My eyes just bag up really easily, I guess."

Barbara held Jim out a short ways from her, examining him for signs of fatigue. Noticeable bags under his eyes, yes, he'd started getting those when he was twelve, but his pediatrician hadn't been concerned when Barbara mentioned it. Jim wasn't swaying on his feet, and his eyes were focused, and he wasn't jittery like he'd been using caffeine or sugar to compensate for exhaustion.

"Jim … if you ever need a break. A mental health day? One less chore on the roster? I get it, okay? You're a kid. A very responsible, considerate kid, but still a kid, and you need time to be a kid. And I'm your mom. It's my job to take care of you. So if you need anything, you know you can tell me, right?"

"Do what's good for you, or you're no good to anybody," Jim recited.

Mr Strickler – Walter – had shared the same quote at lunch when he asked Barbara when she'd last had time off, and gently suggested taking some might demonstrate to Jim that it was okay to prioritize oneself once in a while. Adolescents, whatever they may claim of their near-adulthood and independence, do look to actual adults for guidance, approval, and example.

"I know, Mom," said Jim. "I don't feel like I need anything right now, but I'll give it some thought and get back to you, okay? We could … revisit the topic this weekend?"

What books were on those packed shelves of his? Sometimes Jim talked like he was an office manager or something. He hadn't picked it up from her.

It was a good idea, though, so Barbara agreed.

"If you and Mr S met for lunch, then the three-bean salad's been marinating all day, not just for the morning. We can have that for dinner. Maybe a light soup and some rolls. I think we still have some frozen from last time."

"Mr Strickler seems very nice," said Barbara. "And he really likes you. I've never seen a teacher take such an interest before."

Jim, now rummaging in the freezer, made a vague affirmative noise.

"Is he single?"

Jim bumped his head on the ice cube tray.

"Um, I think so? His office has a bunch of curios but no family photos." Which implied the lack of them wasn't because he didn't care to personalize his workspace.

Jim had no confirmation Stricklander was on board with the plan yet, but Barbara spending time with Stricklander and getting him attached to her seemed to be off to a good start. That would be a good backup to keep her alive if Gunmar won anyway and Jim was exposed as a traitor.

Once his mother was asleep, he went downstairs to update Draal before going to Trollmarket.

"I've been working on our cover story. If any of the humans ask, we had a sparring match last night. I lost. You got mad and accused me of slacking off in training and said I was unworthy of the Amulet. I got mad and said I was still more worthy than you since it picked me. You took that as an insult to your father, and I apologized for that but we're both still upset; that's why things are awkward between us now."

"You didn't tell them what you really are?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm in enough trouble that Nomura knows you know; I'd be dead meat if it got out Blinky and AAARRRGGHH know, and the humans'd be dead meat with me if they knew, too."

"Hello, Trollhunter."

"… Blinky?"

"I know you speak this language. Did I actually teach you anything in our lessons?" Blinky asked bitterly.

"Blinky …" Jim scuffed his foot on the floor. "I'm sorry I … lied to you, about how much I knew. But you really did teach me a lot. I knew … keywords, before; every Changeling does, in case we overhear something about Killahead or Gunmar. I knew directions and distances and quantities. I understood … many words I heard you say. But the syntax and grammar and etiquette and culture were all new to me. That first thing you taught me, that greeting? It is my honour to meet you. I had never heard that before. I was barely literate. I … I faked how much I needed to learn, but, yes, I did learn from you."

"You don't actually know our verb for 'to deceive', do you? I'm fairly certain that comes under the heading of irony."

"Um, only as a noun. It's deception, right?"

Blinky rummaged in his pockets and got out a notebook. "Deception. Deceiving. To deceive. It's a regular verb, following the same rules as to see. Now, I have a number of questions about my brother I'd like you to answer."

"Okay. Deception, deceiving, to deceive, same rules as to see," Jim muttered. "I don't exactly know Dictatious well, but we've met."

"Describe him. I want to be sure we really are talking about the same troll."

"Okay. He mostly looks like you, except green instead of blue, nose is dark grey instead of orange, and … his horns point more up than back?"

Jim made an upward-sweeping gesture from his own head.

"Hair sticks up, too. It's got a couple of white streaks that might not've been there when you last saw him. And … I don't know if you know who Mark Hamill is, but he's a human actor and I've seen some of his movies and they sound alike. Like, uncannily alike."

Blinky slumped and sighed into his list of questions. "That's him. Next question. When and how and why did he join Gunmar?!"

Jim recoiled from the shouted inquiry.

"Survival? Maybe? I wasn't there. I'm not old enough to remember anything before Killahead closed. But either he was a double-agent already who got stuck in the Darklands with us, or he was too close and got pulled in by accident and offered the Underlord his services in order to not get killed."

Previous Chapter (Jim is convinced to turn against Gunmar)

Table of Contents

Next Chapter (A breather episode after all this drama!)

The Book Of Life is a movie that canonically exists in the world of this show. Mary is giving a report on it during her Spanish Comprehension exam in the episode that introduces Gnome Chompsky. Guillermo del Toro was involved in both that movie and this show.

HannaVictoria from AO3 jokingly suggested Jim mention to Blinky that Dictatious sounds like Mark Hamill, his voice actor. I went for it.

In English, 'see' is an irregular verb. But trollish grammar is different, so I decided it would be a regular verb (one that conjugates based on consistent rules) in their language.

#Becoming The Mask chapters #trollhunters #Changeling Jim #fanfiction #Tobias Domzalski #Book of Life #Draal #parallels #Dr Barbara Lake #Walter Strickler #Stricklake #foods and beverages #conversation #Blinkous Galadrigal #Dictatious Maximus Galadrigal #Monday is fanfic day!

22 notes · View notes