#tal walker

They loved making fun of Jay for being a ninja before they both became ninja.

Full comic under cut with Original

When Tal and Tam got older and actually started going OUT to get haircuts (because when they were younger Edna would just cut their hair) they would go in separately so one twin would go in and get their hair cut then when he left the other twin would go in and get the exact same haircut and confuse the CRAP out of the barbers there—they would even both use the same name when checking in, using “Jason W.” because they’re BOTH Jason (sometimes also writing a script and saying the exact same things when they go in, and after unlocking their elements and telepathic communication, this steps up their game). [Also never helped that they loved dressing the same and even when they didn’t match outfits intentionally, their wardrobes were always kinda copy and pasted in different fonts/colors, soo…-] They continue to do this in their adult years from time to time until Nya forbade them from getting haircuts anywhere after a barber screwed up Tal’s haircut/curls—only Edna is now allowed to cut their hair.

Tam was the sweet bb boi with the lil naturally innocent smile while Tal had a naturally devious smile—they’re both gremlins, though, so- When they were little, they discovered they could use this to their advantage where they would do some mischievous gremlin shenanigans, Tal would be accused for his devious expression but it would be found that he was hiding nothing—meanwhile Tam was hiding all their goods and then when the adults’ backs were turned, the two would scuttle off into some nook or cranny and feast on whatever treats they had snatched.

Their entire lives growing up on the junkyard they’ve made designs and built inventions together—actually they just kinda did EVERYTHING together. In the AU, contrary to canon, Tal visits his parents on the junkyard a lot more, especially at the start, mainly due to Tam; the two boys never liked being too far from each other for long periods of time—if you tried when they were toddlers, one of the other would start giving off high-pitched, ear-splitting screams/shrieks, causing the other one to join in until they were placed back next to each other.

In S1 Ep3 “Snakebit”, because Tam would’ve been at the junkyard with Ed and Edna after returning home from visiting Tal on the Bounty (which would’ve been the first time the other ninja had met Tam let along found out Tal had a twin brother and were SHOCKED at seeing double) which means he was there when the Fangpyre attacked—this being before unlocking his element, Tam wasn’t able to do much in defense, inevitably being turned into a Serpentine just like Ed and Edna. (To this day, he still has slight fangs, though they aren’t quite as noticeable as Tal’s since antivenom was used on Tam and their parents but not on Tal.)

Adding to the previous, when the ninja came to save them and Tal actually used the Nunchucks of Lightning in the presence of Tam, that was when Tam felt what he described as something unlocking inside himself—a few days later he accidentally used his element and actually discovered it. After telling Tal about it—and both being ecstatic that Tam now had his own element—they talked with Wu and both he and Tal gave Tam some training exercises both including and excluding his element, which gave him a slight head start when he eventually joined the ninja.

They race each other everywhere, especially just around the junkyard when they were younger; they would be playing out in the sand or scrapheaps and when they were called in for dinner, it was instantly a race of twists and turns and obstacles and always ended in “I WAS FIRST! NO, I WAS FIRST! NUH UH! IT WAS ME! MAAAA, WHO WAS FIRST, IT WAS ME, RIGHT??”—they would also race in or out of shops in the few rare times they were go into town and then after Tam joined the team, they started racing around the Bounty if they actually had to go somewhere or not, and eventually around the Monastery as well once it was rebuilt. They even raced during missions, their obstacles becoming the bad guys they were facing.

We all know and love Ed and Edna’s accents, as it is sometimes in cannon audible in Tal/Jay’s voice though you can hear him grow out of it a bit, however, since Tam joined the ninja much later on, he kept his accent for a little while longer since he had stayed at the junkyard with Ed and Edna for longer.

Despite having had his element discovered and been training with and without it from so early on (even having some private lessons with Wu with none of the ninja aside from Tal knowing), it wasn’t until shortly before the Hands of Time debacle that Tam actually joined the team and become a full-fledged ninja. At first, it was only the hesitance that Tam would be behind on his training and wanted to get the hang of his element more and such first, and also that he wanted to stay to protect their parents if they ever needed that kind of help again, but there was also that there was never really a time to join, as the ninja were on the Dark Island, then were fighting the Overlord, and even after that they kind of had a break from being ninja, becoming teachers, etc. And then there was the rise of the Digital Overlord, the ninja going to space, all that stuff—though during the break after the defeat of the Overlord and then again after defeating the Digital Overlord, Tam continued training with Wu on his own (learning Spinjitzu early on in that time with Wu and mastering it not much later)—and even after they lost Zane, Lloyd didn’t ask Tam to join the team to fill the gap because Lloyd never actually really met Tam beforehand. After Zane’s death, Tal left to stay at the junkyard with his parents and brother for a while before he started the whole gameshow thing, which he did to distract himself even though Tam advised him not to, Tal of course still did it since he rarely listens to anyone. Later however, Tam was invited to the Tournament of elements, and he did go (mainly to keep an eye on his grieving brother and his brother’s desperate and torn team), but remained undercover the entire time, as if he had never actually gone and stayed away from the ninja as much as possible as not to be detected or gain suspicion (able to communicate with them telepathically naturally with Tal and could do so with the others through his element) and especially did so when Nya came to the island undercover as well. He helped discreetly from the sidelines, just enough to aid the ninja while keeping anyone off his own trail. In Possession even with this experience in espionage, Tam still stayed away through both Possession and the start of Skybound due to the rift that had formed between his brother and Nya, so both brothers thought it were best if she didn’t keeping seeing and extra Tal around, or else that could make things even worse between her and Tal (for multiple reasons, one of which that Tam thought of was that he didn't want Nya to fall for him while in the roughpatch with Tal). [Tam did still learn Airjitzu/Cyclondo, however, as Tal had telepathically sent him an image of the scroll so he could learn.]

During Skybound, Tal had instantly filled Tam in on every single little thing that had happened and continued to update him in real time through their telepathic connection; with Tal’s first wish to Nadakhan, both of them each separately got a letter saying that their father had died and that they had inherited money, Tam more confused than concerned like Tal was as Tam had been AT the junkyard with Ed when he received the letter, knowing full well that Ed was alive, and with finding out they’re adopted, the two brothers stuck together for a while and went to the Gordon mansion together, meaning Tal’s second wish of wishing he weren’t alone played out different than in the show (Nadakhan did however still show up as he couldn’t sense that there were two of them there thanks to them having the same genetic signature). After that, though, then Tal departed again, to rejoin the other ninja, Tam only briefly remained at the mansion before returning to the junkyard; later on, though, when Tal went through the Traveler’s Tea portal from the Lighthouse and ended up at the junkyard, Tam somehow knew he was coming and after helping him regain his bearings, Tam took Ed’s side in giving Tal some tough love and getting him off his butt, sticking with his brother for the rest of it and being the first member of team Ninja Replacements (using his own set of Destiny Robes/Aijitzu gi that Wu had given him for mastering the technique)—or rather, as Tam renamed them since Tal’s team name was “the absolute most lamest thing ever and total trash” (Tam’s words immediately after Tal gave the name), they were called the “(Twin) Strike Team” which gained much more favor from the rest of the team. He helped stop Nadakhan and during the battle, was even used as a distraction to get Nadakhan's attention because he THOUGHT Tam was Tal(/Jay). After the final wish and time reversed itself, Tam still remembered the entire alternate timeline like Tal and Nya did, and after the whole ordeal and his brother and Nya were back together (Tam giving it a week or two to make sure they were good again), Tam officially joined the ninja team not long before the Day of the Departed (hanging out with Tal throughout after the ninja were at the museum and such, then at the junkyard when Samukai attacked and Samukai not expecting to see double, so he easily lost to the twins). So he was on the team from Hands of Time (or Day of the Departed) and onward.

I finished a gift for @jay-the-walker-36 earlier than i thought i would. I started it Sunday morning, using a base i already made for a different drawing, and managed to pull this out. Enjoy!

I DREW TAL AND TAM. I DREW THE BOYZZZZZZZZ. It’s not fully rendered like my bigger projects, but still generally good! I love these goobers like my own now.

I know you put a picture of Tal and Tam, and what Tam specifically looks like, but what colors do you think his suit are?

Also love your little guys and i read the short story about Jay’s prosthetic and it was GOOOOODD! ♥️

YES! I'd been experimenting with colors and the colors I can't get out of my head for him are a pale greenish color and a palish shade of yellow; I've been thinking about it A LOT lately and am probably going to start working on some color design possibilities with what's his main color and what's his accent color, because the pale green is typically associated with Morro, so- We'll see!!

And DR. Is Tam lost/amnesiac too or is he found and a constant reminder of who is missing? (And if he is there, how would Tal/Jay react to being told he’s a ninja when there’s already clearly a ninja-him already there?)

Im not generally an OC person but I gotta say I’m intrigued.

I am GLAD you asked!! 😃

So, the dynamic between Tam and Nya is like siblings because technically, they were in-laws or were going to be, just for reference. At first, both Tal/Jay and Tam went and stayed at the junkyard for a while after Nya Merged with the sea, though there was these periodic visits to the beach every single day, just gazing out at the ocean. Then Tal decided that he couldn’t stand just being on the coast—he needed to be surrounded by the ocean. Tam did his best to get his brother to keeps his wits and not go to the lighthouse, but inevitably he saw that his twin needed to grieve in his own way, a way that Tal thought would keep him close to Nya. Tam visited often to check in on Tal and would bring supplies sometimes, other times just going for company and staying there a few nights to take care of his brother who was honestly bordering on insanity. Start of Crystalized, it would actually be Tam who brought the other ninja to the lighthouse to get Tal. So to put it short, yes, Tal/Jay would still end up on the crazy train, just less mental instability as in canon.

As for the Merge, no, Tam does NOT get amnesia like his brother! He was sent to a different location entirely and joins back with the ninja at the same time as Nya and Kai in the Kingdom of Madness. I actually wrote a little excerpt about this exact thing to send to a friend a while ago (mid December last year)! So here it is:

It had been years since the Merge and the ninja team’s separation; since their separation. Nya had been through… a lot in that period of time, though whatever she was doing, she never stopped searching for the love of her life—and the other ninja, but… You know, her husband was kind of a priority. Either way, that didn’t stop her joy when she and her basically adopted younger brother stumbled upon each other. They caught up while in the Cragling village—along with Lloyd’s three new students—when only soon afted, their—idiotic—older brother’s screaming reached their ears. They hurried out to meet him just to discover he had led dragons right to the village; Nya may or may not have threatened to end his life herself, in the moment (she very much so did). Yet upon closer inspection, there was another figure—a very familiar one at that—running alongside Kai, continuously calling the Master of Fire an idiot. “Is that-?” Arin began before Lloyd cut him off. “Tal??” Lloyd said with wide eyes. “I can’t believe-“ Now it was his turn to be cut off and by Nya, because she knew. “No,” she told Lloyd, doing her best to keep the strain and a he from her voice, despite the relief she did feel at finding one more member of their team—their family. The twins were identical, only one who really knew one and/or the other could tell the brothers apart, and seeing as Nya was married to one of them, the distinctions seemed obvious to her. “Not Tal; it’s Tam.” At first glance, yes, she felt hope mixed with glee, but even from afar, a split second later came the realization that it was not her husband who had come back with her brother, but her brother-in-law. The ache she had been feeling for years returned to inhabit her chest once more. After driving off the dragons once and for all, Nya is sure she embraced Tam tighter than her very own brother when first reunited with Kai. There was unspoken pain which passed between the two, pain caused by the emptiness from the continuous ache of both losing their other half whom was the same person; one lost half was a twin, a brother, to one—meanwhile to other other he was a spouse, a greatest love…