Hi i Love really you asks especially the ones about Jim Claire and Blinky
What if Claire was a changeling was the Older Sister of NotErinque
How she falls in Love with Jim and how she hiding being a changeling is up to
Somehow, I have two changeling!Claire asks in my inbox and as they aren't contradicting, let's combine them!
So, as changelings, Claire and NotEnrique aren't related, but they created a sibling-like bond while going through the Janus Order training. Actually, they are extremely close in age by troll terms and no one has an idea which one is older, and they fight back and forth for the 'elder sibling' status (ironically, there's more evidence that it's NotEnrique, but Claire would rather die than admit it).
Claire gets a familiar, when Strickler decides to get more manpower. Claire wasn't his choice as a recruit (as she's too ambitious, independent, and smart for his liking), but Nomura, who went with him (as the new recruit was supposed to be her helper), insisted on Claire. That's why Claire and Strickler's relationship in this AU is extremely strained - as Strickler senses a potentially dangerous rival. On the other hand, Claire is close to Nomura - who is both her fighting master and family-like figure. Claire likes human culture and feels that Nomura is the only one who can understand. Nomura, on the other hand, sees her younger self in Claire.
In this AU Claire gets a crush on Jim first, but she tries her best to hide it because it's forbidden for a changeling to have feelings and because she isn't sure if Jim can ever accept her true nature (and Nomura's pessimistic views that changelings simply cannot be successful in love don't help). Claire likes that Jim is nice and honest, but decides to watch him from the sidelines instead of approaching. Because of that, she is unaware that Jim has a crush on her too.
The amulet's appearance is where everything goes down. Claire notices it before Strickler and realizes what it can possibly imply. That is why she abandons her previous tactic and approaches Jim in an attempt to befriend him. Claire's plan is to steal the amulet from Jim and save him from a highly likely death from Bular's hand (and well, from her point of view, it should be the best outcome for everyone involved). Alas, Strickler learns about Jim's new status too, deciding to approach Jim via Barbara (like in the canon). So, from now on it's a race between Claire and Strickler to get the amulet. Both think it should be easy - and both don't expect Jim to actually take up the mantle.
Mary and Darci (who are still Claire's friends) find her recent attitude odd and decide to investigate. Initially, they think that it's all because of her crush, but somehow they stumble upon too much, discovering the existence of goblins. Claire in her true form saves them but leaves without any explanation. So Mary and Darci know about magical creatures now, but not about Claire's true form (as they have no idea who their savior was).
Strickler decides to recruit another changeling to spy on Claire (as he doesn't trust her now). NotEnrique is picked, but Strickler is unaware of his bond with Claire. So, Claire ends up with an additional ally instead. It's a bright moment for her as she both has no idea what to do with Mary and Darci (she should kill them according to the rules, but she doesn't want that) or with her quickly developing relationship with Jim (as she realizes he actually loves her too). She starts to think about telling Jim everything and switching sides for good.
Much like in the canon, NotEnrique is the one who gets exposed first (though the one who catches him is Toby as Claire and Jim are at the concert then). NotEnrique pretends that Claire is just an unaware human girl, but gives some hints that Strickler may be inhuman (as he is from a separate faction). Jim is upset as he doesn't want to suspect his favorite teacher, but Toby goes to check the lead and ends up exposing Strickler. Enraged, Strickler comes to the dinner at Jim's house and tells Jim about Claire's true nature when Barbara is in the kitchen.
The timing couldn't be worse as Claire actually decided to confess to Jim the next day, but when they meet Jim asks her to take a gaggletack. Jim does it because he refuses to believe Strickler's words and wants to clear Claire's name, but for Claire, it sounds like an accusation. They are interrupted though - as NotEnrique arrives, announcing that goblins attacked Mary and Darci (those two were babysitting him).
Both Jim and Claire rush to help girls, and Jim discovers that his amulet is a fake one (as Strickler switches the real one with a copy like in the canon). Claire realizes she is the only one who can fight and has no other choice but to transform in front of both Jim and her two BFFs. She defeats goblins with ease, but Nomura arrives and attacks Claire. Jim can't help but watch (as he's still shocked from both the reveal and the amulet loss), and Claire is defeated and taken away.
In despair, Jim calls for the amulet one more time and it actually responds this time, but it's too late. Toby, Blinky, Aaarrrgghh, and Draal arrive and learn about everything that happened. NotEnrique, Mary, and Darci all plea Jim to save Claire, but Jim's allies are skeptical if they should help the supposed enemy. Jim himself wavers as he learns from NotEnrique that Claire is willing to betray Bular and that she saved Mary and Darci at some point.
Like in the canon, Strickler contacts Jim and proposes to him a deal - Claire's life in exchange for the amulet. Jim arrives, seemingly alone (but actually with a backup), and the battle begins. Claire is surprised to see that Jim has come, and it only strengthens her resolve to start a new life separately from the Janus Order. Alas, the Bridge is open and Gunmar is close to coming out, so Claire attempts a self-sacrificial attack to kick him back. When the Bridge is closed, she is trapped in the Darklands (Nomura gets sucked too as she tried to drag her student out at the last second).
There is a victory of course, but Jim is devastated. At first, he even thinks about reopening Killahead, but Toby and Blinky stop him (and NotEnrique also adds that his sis didn't risk her life so that Jim wasted her sacrifice).
Jim decides that he needs to become stronger to venture into the Darklands. He talks to previous Trollhunters (who are not happy that he wants to risk so much for an impure) and later learns about the Triumbric stones.
No one in Arcadia is suspicious as Claire is seemingly ok and attends school (it's Otto, posing as her). It drives Jim nuts as he cannot stand the fake (the same goes for Mary and Darci), but people just assume that Jim and Claire have broken up and Mary and Darci have taken Jim's side in that conflict. Steve starts to date fake Claire in an attempt to spite Jim (which has a totally opposite effect).
Strickler awakes Angor (as he fears for his own safety) and comes back to Arcadia. In this AU, Darci is the one who gets the Shadowstaff, while Mary gets one of Angor's daggers. As for Toby, he gets Warhammer before that as he decides to be a better sidekick to Jim.
Aja and Krel come to school around the same time as Strickler returns and the Trollhunters immediately suspect them of being changelings and Strickler's allies. A quick gaggletack check, however, dispels those suspicions (Aja and Krel have no idea what is going on, thinking it's just one of the local traditions).
Mary thinks that Jim should relax a bit (as he still feels guilty because of Claire and recently, there's an added stress from learning that Strickler bonded his life to Barbara's). She suggests going to the swing fling with someone, proposing herself, Darci, and even Aja (as she is friendly to Jim). Jim refuses politely, but this whole conversation makes him realize that he still has feelings for Claire (before he tried to convince himself he wants to save her only because she changed sides).
In the Darklands, Gunmar imprisons both Claire and Nomura and makes them battle each other every day to break them. After the fights, they talk a lot and Nomura shares her story about her relationship with Draal. She believes that no one can truly love a changeling, but Claire thinks that she could possibly be happy with Jim (the memories of their time together are the thing that helps her keep going).
Meanwhile, during one of the encounters with Angor, Aja and Krel get involved and the Team Trollhunters learn their true identities. Aja and Krel decide to join the local defenders.
While things look bright for the team at first, everything goes worse as Draal loses his arm in a fight with Angor. Usurna also invents a different story to make Aaarrrgghh go back (as no one is poisoned in this AU) - she arrives, pretending that someone attacked the Krubera tribe, and asks for a backup. Aaarrrgghh is seemingly the only one who can go, so he departs.
The team thinks that Strickler might have a different ally (the one who attacked Krubera) and realizes they need to deal with that too before venturing to the Darklands. There is also a deal with Angor in this AU, and Angor's soul gets destroyed, leading to Strickler coming to Jim for help. The outcome is still the same, with Barbara learning the truth, the binding spell broken and the Trollmarket under the attack. It's too much for Jim, as he goes to the Darklands alone in secret.
As for Claire, Nomura actually helps her escape one day, so Claire is currently roaming the Darklands. She is lost and has no idea what to do now. At some point, Claire stumbles upon the Nursery, and it helps her to formulate some vision of her future, She vows to return all the familiars back to their families, but first, she realizes she needs to save Nomura who is kind of her family.
Jim, on the other hand, finds Gunmar's prison - and ends up surrounded and captured. Gunmar realizes that the Bridge is open and sends some of his most loyal goons to investigate. And as Usurna pulls some strings to use her own loyal troops to guard the exit, she soon makes a deal with Gunmar. Usurna sneaks Gumm-Gumms inside the Trollmarket each time no one is close, and uses Gyre to transport them into a secret location in the forest.
The Team Trollhunters try to go to the Darklands to save Jim, but Usurna's position is too strong - she keeps feeding the locals' paranoia and even insists that it may be better to destroy the bridge (she plans to do it at some point, to limit Gunmar's troops and make him easier to control). After some time, Blinky and Toby make a plan to fool guards and go past them into the Darklands (Mary, Darci, and Draal go as well). In the Darklands, they meet Claire (who isn't happy to learn that Jim came to save her alone and most likely got in trouble). With her lead, they travel to the prison area and free Jim and Nomura.
While imprisoned Jim noticed that there wasn't much activity with Gumm-Gumms and that Gunmar stopped appearing altogether at some point. He shares it with everyone else, and Claire agrees that there are seemingly fewer guards than there used to be during her own imprisonment. The team investigates a bit, following a group of Gumm-Gumms and discovering that Usurna is a traitor, working with Gunmar.
At the same time, Aja and Krel, who stayed on the surface, stumble upon the Gumm-Gumm base in the forest and realize the possible extent of the catastrophe. They are not the only ones who discover the base that night as Steve (who finds Jim's disappearance suspicious and follows Aja and Krel) and Eli (who thinks that Aja and Krel are suspicious and follows them) both end in the wrong place. Aja and Krel have no choice but to tell them everything.
Two parts of the team reunite - only to witness Gunmar taking over the Trollmarket. Aaarrrgghh returns (he has been captured all this time and helps some local trolls escape). Still, there are too many trolls under the Decimaar's control now and the future looks rather bleak.
The team decides to go looking for more allies. Nomura contacts Strickler and proposes to recruit some of the wavering Janus Order's members. Steve and Eli argue about telling the citizens of Arcadia about the magic creatures, but Jim is reluctant.
As Darci never abused the Shadow Staff (unlike Claire in the canon), she has no link with Morgana. As for Gunmar, he discovers that Morgana is sealed inside the Heartstone but after considering the pros and cons, decides not to risk unsealing her (he decides to either look for a different, more controllable wizard to start Eternal Night or simply find some alternative to that one).
Morgana, however, doesn't plan to just wait. She orders the still loyal members of the Arcane Order to find her some temporary vessel and summon her soul inside it. The changelings pick up Barbara for it and kidnap her.
Strickler and Jim think that the Janus Order does it as revenge. They save Barbara, not realizing that she's already possessed. Strickler talks to Barbara, deciding to come clean about everything, but her reaction is surprisingly nonchalant (actually, he talks to Morgana that time). At first, he thinks Barbara is still mad at him, but as time passes, he grows more suspicious, discovering that she is meeting with Angor Rot (who she has revived).
Meanwhile, Claire is secretly researching the way to get familiars out like she promised and meets Douxie during her research. She learns that Douxie is Merlin's student and brings him to meet with the team. Douxie tells everyone that Merlin is still alive and just sleeping, so Jim decides to awaken him in the hope that he can help deal with Gunmar.
Strickler doesn't manage to inform anyone about his discovery as Morgana captures him. She contacts Gunmar and proposes an alliance while sending Angor Rot to recover Merlin's staff.
With Douxie's help, the team goes through the tomb's challenges without much trouble. They are unaware that Angor is pursuing them though. Angor ambushes everyone when they drop their guard, stealing both Merlin's staff and the Shadow Staff. When Merlin wakes up, he isn't happy.
The situation is dire. Morgana gets out as she forces Strickler to read the spell (threatening to harm Barbara otherwise). Strickler escapes with unconscious Barbara afterward (as Morgana goes back to her own body). All of that only gives Merlin more arguments when he convinces Jim to take his elixir.
When Jim disappears from his bathroom, Claire goes searching for him, and finds him in the forest, transformed and disoriented. She brings him back and encounters Merlin about it. Merlin, however, tells her she should be the last person complaining as he just erased the obstacle that prevented Jim and Claire from being together. Claire loses her temper and punches him, even though some cynical part of her mind feels that troll Jim isn't bad (she feels extremely guilty for that kind of thought though as she loves Jim no matter what). Claire is the one who helps Jim to deal with his new experiences as she can relate to his situation a bit. Yet, she realizes how stressful everything is for him, so she swallows her pride and goes to Merlin again, asking if there is actually no way to turn Jim back (or at least give him the ability to change forms). Merlin harshly tells her there's no way and to stop pestering him with dumb questions.
Before the final battle, Claire talks to Ophelia and Javier, telling them the truth. She expects them to be enraged, but after the initial shock, they accept her as their second daughter.
During the final battle, Jim defeats Gunmar and Claire goes against Angor Rot, who she convinces to change the sides. Morgana, however, is captured rather than sealed (as Douxie and Krel make a magic-cancellation device).
The familiars are out of the Darklands, meaning that the changelings lose their ability to shift. Morgana, who is powerless and imprisoned, mocks Merlin for his inability to deal with that problem. Claire, who overhears it, comes to her and learns that Morgana knows a solution. She promises to free her in exchange for helping her, Jim, and other changelings who switched to the good side, to which she agrees.
Morgana, while still bitter about Merlin, decides to give humanity a second chance and just live a quiet life. Angor doesn't trust her though and decides to watch her from the shadows. Merlin is against the idea - but, well, he has already lost any credibility, so his opinion is ignored.
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