is a Total Drama Fan Fic written by CaioCoia on FanFiction.Net.A devoted Cartoon Network fan finds himself inexplicably transported into Total Drama world, assuming the role of the misunderstood character Ezekiel. With real-world knowledge and a burning desire for redemption, he must navigate challenges, alliances, and drama to rewrite Ezekiel's fate. Can he change his own destiny and make his Total Drama dreams come true? An Ezekiel S.I
All spoilers regarding Total Drama are unmarked!
Reality Collides: The Ezekiel Chronicles contains the following tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: All of the characters' backgrounds and personalities are greatly expanded upon in the fic compared to the original cartoon.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- Ezekiel's homeschooled life has a tragic aspect to it as his paternal aunt was killed in a school shooting in America as a result of the perpetrator snapped from being bullied for so long. Due to this lack of security and fear for their only son's life, Ezekiel's parents took it upon themselves to raise and educate him on the farm.
- The fic's version of the "Phobia Factor" goes into explicit details of why some of the characters have their fears to this day and it overlaps with an In-Universe Cerebus Retcon.
- Ezekiel has a traumatic fear of being Buried Alive (something he shares with Gwen) due to a game of hide-and-seek with his father turning deadly in the past. At one point when trying to find a good hiding spot, Ezekiel found a hole in the ground and accidentally fell in due it being a rainy day. The hole was so deep and so compact that Ezekiel was left completely immobilized and slowly suffocating to death, and he couldn't scream for his parents' help. Just as he was about to give up upon death's door, his father frantically broke into the hole and pulled him out to safety.
- Duncan's fear of Celine Dion Standees was the result of accidentally walking into a crime scene at the age of 7, where he was visiting his maternal uncle, who was a detective. While he never saw the real body, the cutout of the Celine Dion Standee drenched in blood falling on top of him was enough of a substitute (though his uncle told him he was lucky to have not seen the actual body).
- Harold's fear of ninjas stems from being beaten up every 3 months by a Gang of Bullies at his school, where they would dress up as ninjas to mock his interest in martial arts. The worst part was that no matter what he did, they always found a way to beat him up.
- Gwen's fear of being Buried Alive was due to seeing a horror movie that she was too young for, where a Serial Killer is someone who could be anyone with a happy life and the character killed his own wife by burying her alive.
- DJ's fear of snakes stems from an event in his childhood where he thought a "vine" was approaching from the top of the tree as he slept from underneath it. Only for the "vine" to turn out to be a snake that was falling to the floor.
- Tyler's fear of chickens was the result of seeing a headless chicken running towards him as a 10-year-old.
- Bridgette's fear of being alone in the forest stems from a member of the ONG getting lost in the wilderness and nearly dying from starvation and/or getting attacked by wild animals.
- Geoff's fear of hail stems from personally witnessing a bad hail storm from the backseat of his uncle's car, and how the hail is capable of demolishing property.
- Courtney's fear of green jello stems from nearly choking to death when she heard her grandmother passed away when she was 13, and the jello she ate was made from an old family recipe that her grandmother made and loved to eat since she was 5.
- Adaptational Badass: The Killer Bass generally gets a major upgrade in the competence department in the fic thanks to Ezekiel's intervention. Allowing them to work together in a tightly-knit group and are far more organized to the point that the opposing team, the Screaming Gophers, have major trouble in the fic compared to canon.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: The contestants of the later seasons of Total Drama would make their appearances as viewers during the interlude chapters.
- Adaptational Protagonist: Justified with the current Ezekiel given his reincarnation status. In the original cartoon, he's a minor Flat Character who gets kicked off early in the In-Universe show due to his shelter-homeschooled life on the farm and sexist beliefs. Things don't get better for him in the later seasons after being reduced to a Feral Villain till he gets an Earn Your Happy Ending by living inside the Fun Zone with the mutated animals, who accept him and treat him like their king. In the fic, he's The Protagonist who is a growing popular writer and a major team player on the Killer Bass who greatly helps them become formidable against the Screaming Gophers.
- Bears Are Bad News: A bear attacks the Killer Bass during The Sucky Outdoors. Even with Ezekiel, Duncan, and Eva working together, the bear shrugs off every injury it takes. It also causes Eva to suffer a broken leg, eliminating her from the game.
- Birds of a Feather Discussed and deconstructed in near the end of chapter 5. When Ezekiel tells the other male members of the Killer Bass that he isn't interested in getting together with any of the girls on the show, Duncan reassures him to not think too hard about it as he and Beth are made for each other. Immediately, everyone sees this statement as the stupidest thing they ever heard, with Ezekiel giving Duncan an Armor-Piercing Question if what the latter meant by him and Beth being made for each other is because they're both "ugly", and Duncan only digs himself deeper by trying to retract his statement by saying that they both come from a rural background.Ezekiel: "WOW, JUST WOW," (he raised his arms wide open) "So just because we are farmers, we should be together, wow Duncan, just wow.Duncan: OH OH WOA WHOA WHOA WHOA." (Geoff, DJ, Tyler, and even Harold gave a step back as they raised both their hands and gave some space.)Geoff: (to Duncan) "Dude, that's messed up,"Duncan: "Okay, okay, my bad. Sorry, it went wrong."Ezekiel: "Duncan, you are my friend. But please, just because I'm ugly, doesn't mean that I don't want to have a hot or cute girlfriend, and just because Beth is ugly as well, doesn't mean that she wouldn't end up with a supermodel. You never know how love works. It's unpredictable, and stereotypes aren't something that shouldn't come from you. Not you, like we did on the first day." (Ezekiel explained as he made Duncan remember how the girls always looked at Justin who was the hottest guy, but Lindsay would go after Tyler who was love at first sight.)
- Covert Distress Code: In case any of the members of the Killer Bass wants to quit the challenge and exit the show for good reasons, that person would say "Condor".
- Cowardly Lion: DJ evolves into this after much encouragement from Ezekiel and explicitly comparing him to Courage the Cowardly Dog.
- Dare to Be Badass: When Ezekiel calls out Katie and Sadie for being so dependent on each other, he ends his speech by encouraging them to give their best efforts in the challenge.
- Darker and Edgier: Compared to the more lighthearted, comedic, and...mature themes of the original cartoon, the fic provides a hefty dose of drama and angst regarding the contestants' backstories that shape their current personalities. This is especially seen and explored in the fic's version of the "Phobia Factor" episode.
- Deal with the Devil: During the competition, Heather manages to get Ezekiel’s help with eliminating one of her teammates or if she’s in trouble. He offers to help her in exchange for her owing him a favor to call on in the future. The future meaning potentially during later seasons. Later chapters show this applies to her alliance members Lindsay and Beth.
- Disgusting Vegetarian Food: By the fic's version of "Brunch of Disgustingness" in chapter 21, the challenge includes a vegetarian option for the contestants to eat as "substitution food" to the main servings. However, Chris tells them that each vegetarian dish will be more disgusting as the rounds go further; starting with boiled broccoli, old rancid boiled broccoli, old rancid boiled broccoli that Chef had on his toes for a whole week, a combination of spaghetti, beans, and fruit loops, before eventually...(gulp)...a bowl full of liquid durian that was made from a durian locked inside a refrigerator for 2 whole weeks topped with a disgusting durian extract that looks like it'll guarantee food poisoning if consumed.
- The Dividual: Deconstructed with Katie and Sadie. As Ezekiel puts it, they're so dependent on each other that if they were to be separated, both would literally have a Freak Out.
- Everybody Calls Him "Barkeep": When DJ’s momma makes an appearance, she insists everyone just call her Momma.
- Fanboy: The current Ezekiel is one of many cartoons shown on Cartoon Network, such as Courage the Cowardly Dog, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, etc.
- Farm Boy: Like in the original cartoon, Ezekiel is a teen who grew up on his family's farm and has been homeschooled his whole life.
- Good Is Not Soft: While Ezekiel is a team player and shows a great amount of empathy for his teammates, he's also pragmatic and aware of the contest involving elimination. A good example is when he gives Katie and Sadie a Brutally Honest lecture in chapter 4, where they're on the verge of elimination due to their co-dependent Pseudo-Romantic Friendship being unhealthy and a Fatal Flaw to both themselves and the team. But not before ending it by encouraging them to grow on their own as individuals.
- Hated by All: Trent leaving Gwen and Ezekiel buried alive during the fear challenge (and subsequently going on to encourage Chris to pelt Geoff with hail) makes him public enemy #1 to the Killer Bass. It doesn't stop there, as Trent doesn't realize that his actions caused Ezekiel to have a panic attack, so when he goes to the Bass to apologize to Gwen but not Ezekiel during the paintball challenge, it doesn't end well for him. Even after being absolutely demolished by the Bass for his insensitivity, Trent still doesn't get the hint, even going as far as to vote off Cody (who at that point was the only one even remotely trying to help him) to save his own skin. The final nail in the coffin for Trent was his decision to trick Lindsay into eating dirty pancakes to win the ninth challenge, even though he had already secured himself immunity by that point. Given all that, it's hardly a surprise that he was eliminated as soon as the merge happened.
- Homeschooled Kids: Like in the original cartoon, Ezekiel was homeschooled for his entire life. However, unlike canon, the current Ezekiel has the Past-Life Memories of his original incarnation to balance things out.
- Like Brother and Sister:
Word of God describes Ezekiel and Eva as having this sort of relationship. - Meaningful Name:
- In Hebrew, Ezekiel means "strength of God". This is very appropriate for the current Ezekiel in the fic, especially in the fic's version of "Who Can You Trust" in chapter 17.
- Unlike the original canon cartoon, the Killer Bass truly lives up to the "Killer" in their team name in the fic. On the other hand, the opposing team, the Screaming Gophers, is now relegated to the definition of "someone's bark is worse than their bite".
- Most Writers Are Writers: In-Universe. Ezekiel is a reincarnation of someone from the real world and is currently working as an independent writer by recreating his favorite Cartoon Network shows from his past life's childhood in the form of written media (though he does draw the original illustrations of what the characters look like from the shows).
- Odd Friendship: Really, everyone in the Killer Bass has their own quirks and some of them are as different as night and day compared to each other. Yet, with Ezekiel's guidance, they became a formidable and close-knit team on the show.
- Only One Name: Like canon, everyone except Chris (McLean), Chef (Hatchet), Harold (Norbert Cheever "Doris" McGrady V), Cody (Emmett Jameson-Anderson), and DJ (Devon Joseph M.), so far, has one name.
- Point of Divergence: Since this version of Ezekiel reincarnated from another world, his actions have made many changes to Total Drama Island.
- Ezekiel asked Eva to shove him and DJ off the thousand-foot cliff if they seemed like they’d chicken out. Eva ended up shoving them (and Courtney by accident) into the safe zone, giving the Killer By an advantage in the first challenge.
- Between the advantage of winning the cliff diving and Ezekiel calming down the argument between Courtney and Duncan, the Killer Bass rallied together and made a perfect hot tub, winning the challenge.
- A walk around the island helped Tyler stumble into a hidden cave that would become a safe haven for the Killer Bass dubbed the Aquarium.
- Ezekiel’s warning to Katie and Sadie about how they were most likely to be eliminated if they lost the Awakeathon motivated them to try their best. When the Bass lost, Sadie was ultimately eliminated. But the loss motivated the team to work harder to win Dodgebrawl.
- Because Eva wasn’t eliminated in the second challenge, her athleticism and Ezekiel’s cunning helped the Bass dominate in the dodgeball challenge.
- The talent challenge had both teams give their best efforts to win. The Screaming Gophers had guitar playing and singing from Trent, fire baton twirling from Beth, and a ballet performance from Heather (who didn’t steal Gwen’s diary and read it on TV). The Killer Bass included extreme juggling from Eva, Harold’s beatboxing, and a violin rendition of a song from Steven Universe performed by Courtney.
- Without Sadie getting herself and Katie distracted during the wilderness survival challenge, nobody got lost.
- However, because Ezekiel, Geoff, and Harold caught fish for the team’s dinner, the food drew a bear to the campsite. The brawl between the Bass and the bear led to Eva suffering a broken leg, leading to her elimination.
- Ezekiel decided to help Beth break free of the Boney Island Curse properly by traveling with her (and Heather) to the island during the Try Not To Eat challenge. By actually performing the ritual properly, Beth (and by extension, the Screaming Gophers) was freed from the curse.
- Unfortunately, the trip forced them to endure extreme freak weather all the way to the ritual site. The weather resulted in all of them getting sick.
- Reincarnate in Another World: Due to the premise of the fic, the current Ezekiel is a reincarnation of a major Cartoon Network fan of the real world.
- Supreme Chef: DJ’s momma, all the way. All the delicious foods served during the Try Not To Eat challenge? All of it was made by her. **Especially** the Caribbean Feast for those who successfully endured.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- Harold demonstrated his nunchuck skills during the first challenge and while he did pretty well, he ended up smashing his crotch. Thanks to some advice from Ezekiel and extra training, he improved enough to use them to successfully overcome the ninja ambush in Phobia Factor.
- Ezekiel went through two during the show: the first one was making himself a bow and some arrows in case of danger and the second was gaining a custom made bow from Izzy. After his elimination, Ezekiel takes archery lessons from Izzy to improve himself for future seasons.
- Sadie was a downplayed version at first. At the beginning, she was accused of being one of the weakest members of the Killer Bass alongside Katie. Ezekiel’s warning and motivation pushed her to try harder during the Awakeathon but she was ultimately eliminated. Played straight during later chapters when Eva roped her into an intense fitness routine, resulting in Sadie becoming very muscular.
- Although it came after the challenge, Courtney managed to face her fear of green jello by eating some before the elimination ceremony. Justified since she wasn’t forced to face her fears and had the support of her team.
- Too Powerful to Live: Eva is shown time and again to be the most athletic camper and the best fighter on the show. It took a bear attack to injure her enough for her to be eliminated. However, Ezekiel’s interview with Chris in Interlude 4 gave her a second chance at the competition for the sake of causing drama and presenting a major obstacle for the remaining campers to overcome.
- Wise Beyond His Years: As his teammates, and the In-Universe's audience, learn of Ezekiel as the show goes on, he has a good amount of knowledge regarding social cues, relationships, and a knack for teamwork despite being sheltered and homeschooled by his parents his whole life on the farm. While Ezekiel justified some of this by being Taught by Television and Saw It in a Movie Once, he is a reincarnate from the real world.
