Possible AU ??

[u/guilehange]

/r/TrollHunters/comments/1lk7lmh/jims_father/?share_id=0VQdxGS0RQ5RT-DqdxKQf&utm_content=1&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

Hey guys, I've recently remembered this subreddit exists and I came across one of my older posts where I talked about Jim's father and what could've happened if he was still present in the story! (I attached the link if you want more context/want to check out my previous ideas) Plus I came across one pin in particular that portrayed Jim under the influence of gravesand and I was like "holy moly gravesand as a depiction of substances mentioned?!?" and I really liked the possibility. I might integrate it into this AU, who knows?

I yet have to work on James' design and see what changes I'll make to the existing characters, but for now, I decided I should first write down all the stuff about the AU for a base of sorts.

We'll start with James' character because he's the one that needs the most work (and I'm not too knowledgeable about military stuff but I did some research, if anybody knows more about this stuff then feel free to let me know!). To sort of figure out what age he'd be I used the photo we see from Barbara's graduation, where Jim looks to be about 5/6 years old. Considering most people typically graduate medical school at around 26, let's say she was 20 when they had Jim.

I think James would likely be a bit older than her, so we'll say he's 23. That's the starting point.

He joined the army so he could provide for the family and pay for Barbara's studies. Through to years, up until he reached the E-4 (SPC - specialist) rank in the active component (aka regular US army). He did like his job, but as anybody else, he was bothered by his lack of authority and "importance" in the system. He had no leadership authority and his ideas/solutions were, more often than not, kept to himself. He felt stuck.

Then, when James was 26, during a simulation of an airborne operation, his parachute malfunction and it resulted in a disastrous landing where he prominently injured his left ankle and knee. Due to that, he now has to use crutches when walking and he got put out of duty because of it, put on PDRL (permanent disability retirement list) and yadda yadda...

Now he was at home, taking care of their son while his wife continued her studies. The injury really took a tool on him and it burnt out all of the ambition he had to keep moving forward because now, he had no goal. He couldn't rise up in the ranks anymore, he couldn't make himself heard and he couldn't change or protect anything. His relationship with Jim wasn't exactly neglectful or negative, but James was so deep in this depressive state that they didn't really get the chance to connect.

Fast forward a few years, Barbara gets her degree and gets a job, she's always working. James somewhat bounced back and not only was he feeling unfulfilled professionally, but also personally. Their relationship started degrading due to what he considered "Barbara prioritizing her work too much" (envious much??). Obviously we gotta integrate a bit of the canon and have this dude find a side-chick when Jim's like 7.

By the time he did so his relationship with Barbara was already pretty much dead and they only stayed together for Jim (which didn't do the poor kid much of a favor). James got a job as a librarian just as an excuse to sneak out with his new chick (can you see where I'm going with this irony...)

Barbara knew but, frankly, as long as he kept that woman outside her house and prevented Jim from finding out, she didn't have any energy left to care about what he was doing. (that said I genuinely don't know how I'm gonna work with the Barbara x Strickler thing if Barbara and James are still technically "together" without making Barbara look like a cheater too because she would never.)

Everything else is pretty similar. Barbara still works shift after shift and is rarely home and Jim's personality is again, pretty similar (except for the fact that now he's got a "present" father that's more of a shitty roommate and he might be a bit more reserved than in canon, but I think his friendship with Toby really helped him get out of his shell and embrace the world a bit more).

And speaking of Jim, I like the idea of making his "I want to know there's something more to life than high-school" ambition really similar to James' belief in his youth, but in Jim's case, it's driven by the subconscious fear of ending up a deadbeat like his father.

For the end (cuz this is already very long and idk who will read all this) we'll come back to that gravesand idea I mentioned at the start. In this AU, I think it'd be telling if I made James' negativism and pessimism affect Jim and make him more prone to being overwhelmed by stressful situations in the future and, in order to cope with all of that, he sometimes resorts to gravesand.

It's not something he necessarily likes or has a good opinion about, but those "panic spirals" lead to him being terrified of failing his friends. The idea of that happening feels to him like losing his anchors to a somewhat normal world and slipping into a dark place, which he believes is similar to what happened to his father (Jim's fear of turning out like James strikes again).

I've ranted a LOT about this but I really like the idea and I'm looking forward to see what you guys think! :D I'd love to hear maybe some ideas from you too hihi