Restoring the Soul: The Manor's Tales, Chapter Two, Special Features

  Chapter Two

References:

* There is one important reference that I want to discuss more in detail here: the mention about the Big Thunder Mesa National Park. It’s not a real national park, but it is a combined tie-in with the two theme park rides that reside in the Frontierland sections of Disneyland, USA - which is home to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction - and Disneyland Paris, France - which is where the town of Thunder Mesa resides. When we get to Thunder Mesa itself, I'll discuss further on why I combined the two rides into one location, although I will say that it does set the serious tone for this crossover. 

*Goliath the Biblical giant makes his appearance - well, sort of. This is be a foreshadowing to a fight one of the characters in this story will face, but it may or may not who you think it is, if you know the story about Goliath. However, there will be tense fighting in which more than one character will take part in - their opponents will be bigger than any of them realize. 

*Wendy the Welder or equivalent there of? The Toppats need welders to care for the airship when there's something that needs welding or fixing, right? 

*The musical selection for this chapter doesn't focus so much on music as much as it does on sound effects. I needed a piece that would evoke a grim and spooky feeling that goes through everyone when they discover the fates of Reginald and the Right Hand Man. The howling wind is so creepy and seems to have a will of its own in blowing the sands of time away. 

General:

*Symbolism abound in this chapter! But because of the grand scope of this story, I'm actually going to save that for the end of this story. There's a lot to unpack with the imagery I'm choosing here. I will state, however, that yes, there is a reason why I chose to describe the wind as a banshee from when Dave's former prison cell was broken into by Henry. More foreshadowing!

*Handsome Harold is certainly a likable fellow. Even if he's a background Toppat, I do think that from what we have seen of him, he's one of the more responsible members -- according to his bio, he has quite a few talents: he's good at talking himself out of trouble, he's in charge of keeping the Toppats' collection of information organized, and he's apparently good at the game Dungeons and Dragons! Okay, that last one was made up by me, but his hat is shaped like the dice from that game, so why not add a headcanon into his line of gifts?  I added him in because he himself states he's the face of the clan. Or at least he believes it. 

He would need to be up to date with the rules of how everything works. I like to think that because of his role, he's one of the higher authorities in the organization. Plus I needed a Toppat who was on the outside of the elite class but still in the know about what goes on with the higher-ups to pick Ellie as the leader. Sven and Carol are both temperamental in their own ways, and I think on some level, Harold is aware of this. And with the added bonus of Ellie calling Henry out and he didn't defend himself, that - in Harold's point of view - was enough to convince him that Henry actually did what Ellie accused him of doing. 

But even though I think Harold is one of the smarter tools in the shed, he didn't fully do his research. He can be emotionally caught up in affairs like other Toppats. This was proven when, if you look at the scene where Reginald was going on and on about Henry's actions, you can see Harold glaring at Henry. But why is this? Why didn't he check in with Ellie or any of the bigwigs to see if she was telling the truth? Why didn't he look at all of the facts before deciding if Henry was truly guilty (that said, yes Henry is, but we never hear his side of the story)? I understand it's a short plot and there is only so much to tell within an ending, but that is a problem with 'Toppat Civil Warfare' which I feel is another probable cause for people despising it. There's a large lack of evidence and Ellie's just a stranger. She doesn't know them and vice versa. And although the Toppats have a reason to be furious, tossing Henry out without having a tribunal or something to that effect frankly makes them look unprofessional. 

I should go ahead and spoil that this will bite them back (well sort of) later on in my story. Alright, I think you can tell that this is one of my bigger pet peeves so I'll stop here. 

*Sven did clarify that he doesn't want to lead the clan with all the weights that comes with the job in canon. Carol is a little harder to pin down - she obviously does care enough about the clan by how she keeps them in line, but I think even if she had all of the right qualifications to lead, we've seen her reacting with hostility towards Stu Pendles. There's a lot of missing context about why he owes her a lot of money, but it's clear from their interactions that Carol's temper is a scary one to behold that may make it harder for her to concentrate on keeping a cool head when under pressure. Or maybe for reasons of her own, she's just not interested in leading. 

Although that does bring a question to mind - if Ellie has a fierce temper like Carol's, why was she elected? Simply put - if she followed the rule to overthrow a leader, then she gets it: it reminds me of how queen bees in real life fight for the role. Plus, she's an outsider - she's not involved with any of the clan politics so why not choose a candidate with fresh ideas and an outside viewpoint? 

*The whole scene with the Toppats and Ellie discovering Reginald and the Right Hand Man in the desert, as well as Ellie's coronation, is partly inspired by two THSC fanworks - 1)"Burdens of a Time Traveler" by Lord_Tenebros and 2) A fan animation that shows Henry and his men seeing Reginald's and Right Hand Man's lifeless forms. Unfortunately, I think the latter animation was taken down off of YouTube as I can't seem to locate it. But regardless, as this is a story that deals with heavy stuff, it was only natural to write the scene with Ellie and the Toppats finding the former leaders in the earth and their reactions. It's something I've noticed that many fanworks seem to avoid showing. 

It's a gruesome sight to be sure, but then how else would we know - besides seeing Ellie on the title cover for TCW - that she was picked to lead the clan? Somebody had to go down there to the desert to investigate what happened to everyone, and seeing the escape pod crushing the two leaders of the clan? Someone had to bear the bad news to the Toppats which would somehow lead to Ellie winning the crown.

Ellie would be saddened by their demises after they believed her over Henry - although I do think that while Reginald was genuinely concerned about the clan, a part of him did want to take the clan back. It's never stated why, but I theorize that he didn't think Henry cared about the clan enough. Could be true, but we have seen that Henry is capable of doing good things for others even when he's not rewarded for it. But Reginald himself is not without his own flaws - he's cautious and careful, yes, but he never really gave Henry a chance. Henry was an outsider who didn't know anything about how the Toppats worked and yet it seems he did something right, according to what Thomas said about Henry being a good leader. 

Actually that does bring up a good question: what would have happened if Ellie had done the same thing had she been in Henry's shoes when Reginald offered him the airship in exchange for his freedom back in Infiltrating the Airship? 

Would he have felt the same way towards her as he did Henry? It does leave room for thought. 

But that's getting off-topic. 

*Ellie's reaction to Harold's nominating her also came from Lord_Tenebros' fanfiction, but I wanted to weave in a reflective moment to explore how Ellie would feel in these events. In the desert, she's overwhelmed about taking on such a huge part, but after seeing Reginald in the sand, she thinks about what he did for her. And so she repays the favor by taking on the responsibility and setting an example for others to follow in the clan even if she doesn't have a lot of know-how with how the gang works. But if there's something Ellie does know how to do, it's adapt. A similarity she shares with Henry, even if she won't admit it in this timeline.  

*Ellie's crowning itself is going to be part of a recurring...pattern that will come up again much later, and it's one that will establish a commonality Ellie will have with another character. 

Random Facts:

*Kabbitz I threw in because he's hilarious. He's so hammy with his Dragon Ball Z-inspired antics that I smile every time I see him. I'm not even knowledgable about DBZ yet I think Kabbitz is a fun parody of the show's characters. His tall height also made him perfect for using the Goliath metaphor because he's, well, a giant. And going up against a thief who could pull out a mecha rabbit out of a hat if he wanted to? You'll probably need and want someone like Kabbitz in the fight. 

Wanderer out!