#anyway trixie is very protective of erica and erica is very protective of trixie and those things should both be focused on

[redheadedbrunette]

Any headcannons on the hale sisters? Or any of the spy school characters?

they're both incredibly jealous each other for the upbringing they got. trixie is jealous that erica got to be a part of the family legacy and be a hale in a way that, even if she were allowed to start training as a spy, she would never get to be. erica is jealous of trixie because she gets to forge her own identity outside of the spy business. because even though she's good at espionage and doesn't want that sense of identity taken away, she wishes that it could have been a choice, and more and more she's realizing the toll that it takes on her personal relationships and is wondering if it's really worth it.

erica was homeschooled for the entirety of her time leading up to her entrance at the academy, aside from the two weeks she attended second grade when trixie started kindergarten. it was around the time catherine and alexander's marriage was starting to fray at the edges, and they were hoping that if both girls were going to school, then catherine could spend more time working around the world because she felt obliged to stay at home with them when they were young. it went kind of horribly, and while erica herself didn't get into any fights (because she had been warned explicitly not to hurt any of her classmates), it was going pretty bad for her socially speaking and trixie had received no such warnings and was completely willing to release all of her feral energy and bite seven year olds who were being mean to her big sister. erica was pulled out almost right away and went back to homeschooling, and after her suspension was over, trixie went back and finished the year and started going to boarding school the next year. meanwhile, erica was just taken around with catherine most of the time and dropped back with alexander when catherine went on more involved missions and just did her schoolwork there.

[redheadedbrunette]

OoO plz talk ab your trixie ideas -t1sb

Okay, so this is predicated on Trixie and Erica working closely together in SSPX, because we as the audience have the most connection to Erica (as opposed to Alexander or Catherine), and we've also established how Erica feels about Trixie (namely, very protective) and that she really thinks that Trixie can't be a spy and that it would be dangerous for her to be a spy. I'd establish that Erica thinks it really sucks that Trixie isn't capable of being a spy, but that's just the way it has to be. I've also said that I want a big Hale family talk about the lies, but this happens before that, but Trixie knows that everyone is a spy, they know she knows, and she knows they know she knows. Basically, all the information is there, they just haven't dealt with it because Project X (whatever it is) is going on and it's kind of a big deal.

Anyway, Trixie and Erica are working together. Trixie is convinced that everything has changed (she's privy to actual spy business! How could it not be?), and Erica is convinced that, on a fundamental level nothing has (yes, Trixie knows that they're spies, but she doesn't know how to be a spy herself, and it's still her job to protect her). Trixie keeps asking about spy stuff, and her questions are super basic, about stuff Erica's known for years, so Erica thinks that it just proves that Trixie isn't ready to be a spy. Anyway, Erica agrees to teach her something really small and quick (not saying that it is small and quick), and Trixie is thrilled because finally Erica trusts her and also her cool older sister is teaching her how to be a spy and this is just the coolest thing ever. Then something happens and Erica doesn't tell Trixie to stay back (because Trixie doesn't get involved in this stuff, that's the way it's always been and the was it's supposed to be, so much a given she doesn't even think about it) and Trixie doesn't get the memo tries to help because clearly she can help, and everything ends up fine, but for whatever reason, she kind of messes Erica up.

And Erica's like, "just because Ben told you that we're spies doesn't mean that you get to be a spy. Things aren't changing nearly as much as you think they are." Trixie gets mad because Erica doesn't trust her, Erica gets mad because Trixie doesn't understand that she's just trying to keep her safe. It's a whole thing and they're at odds until the climax (ideally this happens a couple chapters before). In the climax, Trixie handles herself well, uses the things Erica taught her, and does something small (saving the day is still ultimately Ben's thing) but critical. Erica then realizes that Trixie is capable of being a spy and that it is going to be safer for her to learn how to be a spy, because this is the world she lives in now and there's no going back to the way things were before.

Anyway, this kind of necessitates that the big talk about all the lies happen either off page or in book 11, but this way mostly covers Trixie's reaction to this in terms of Erica and how Erica feels about all this, which is mostly what I care about. It wouldn't necessaily end with "Trixie goes to the academy because she proved herself!" but more of a "Trixie is way more involved in whatever capacity because people know she exists" and this might necessitate her going to academy so she learn some of the necessary skills.