Wild About Words
is a fanfiction written by Cartoonofan and is a Crossover between two of PBS's most popular cartoons, Wild Kratts & WordGirl.
During a routine stop in the Amazon rainforest, the Tortuga is attacked by a group of strange individuals, who kidnap Aviva and run off. When the Kratt Brothers go and look for her, they meet Becky Botsford and her family (who just happen to be in there on vacation), and Becky is soon forced to become WordGirl to save the Kratts. Eventually, the heroes learn that their enemy Zach Varmitech is behind the kidnapping and join forces to save Aviva and foil Zach's plans to capture a rare Amazonian pink dolphin.
This story contains examples of:
- Author Appeal: The villains that were chosen to work with Zach were picked because they are among the author's favorites. Also, Aviva being Bound and Gagged as a Damsel in Distress.
- Bag of Kidnapping: Aviva is subjected to one of these.
- Banging for Help: Aviva tries this when she's held prisoner on Zach's yacht, but fails because the Aviva duplicate robot that Zach left for them to rescue convinces the brothers the noises are nothing worth investigating.
- Bound and Gagged: Aviva throughout most of the story. As well as the robot duplicate of her that Zach makes.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: WordGirl does so as usual, which confuses the Kratts.
- Call-Back / Ironic Echo: Shortly after meeting WordGirl, Martin tries to rename Captain Huggyface, feeling the name doesn't fit him, and when WordGirl explains that he doesn't need a new name, Chris explains that giving animals names is just his thing. Later, WordGirl defines a word, and, after being told they know the definition, replies that defining words is her thing.
- Continuity Nod: When flying while carrying both Kratt brothers, Martin wonders if WordGirl might drop them, with her assuring him that she's never dropped anyone, except Scoops, after finding out he gave a valentine to Violet, which happened in Cherish is the Word.
- Contrived Coincidence: The Botsfords happen to be in the Amazon rainforest at the same time as the Wild Kratts. Lampshaded naturally.
- Damsel in Distress: Aviva becomes one.
- Everything Is Online: Zach was apparently able to recruit the WordGirl villains by locating them on the Internet.
- Famed In-Story: Tim immediately recognizes the Kratt Brothers and notes that they were on Zoboomafoo (despite the fact that starred the actual Kratt Brothers and not their cartoon counterparts).
- Genre Savvy: Zach's main reason for kidnapping Aviva? Because without her, the Kratts can't use their Creature Power Suits.
- Also, knowing the Kratts would attempt to rescue her, he created a robot duplicate of Aviva which they rescued by mistake knowing that, by the time they learned the truth, he would've put his Evil Plan into effect.
- Interactive Narrator: The one from WordGirl shows up, and this time, Martin can hear him too.
- Lampshade Hanging: Several times, usually by Becky.
- Literal-Minded: After meeting WordGirl for the first time, Martin asks her if she fights crime with words. WordGirl responds with "does Batman fight crime with bats?"
- Know When to Fold 'Em: After WordGirl shows up and confronts Capt. Tangent & Nocan when they're about to attack the Kratts, he decides to stay and fight since they outnumber her. However, after Nocan runs off, due to his contrary nature, Tangent realizes he's no match for her and beats feet.
- Not Herself: After being rescued from Zach, the Kratts notice that Aviva seems different, unwilling to see Zach punished for kidnapping her, and actually noting how brilliant he is. That's because she's actually a robot made by Zach to distract them from his true plan.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Discussed in-universe; after the Kratts mention that Zach is a childlike genius who uses robots, WordGirl replies that she has some expertise in that area.
- Only in It for the Money: The main reason why WordGirl's foes are helping Zach.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Instead of teaming up with a major WordGirl villain like Dr. Two-Brains or Tobey, Zach hires six of her lesser foes (although favorites of the author) to aid him, specifically Amazing Rope Guy, Ms. Question, Capt. Tangent, Nocan the Contrarian, Invisi-Bill ("yay, it's me!") & The Whammer.
- Running Gag:
- Martin hearing the WordGirl narrator and wonders where the voice is coming from.
- Capt. Tangent annoying Zach with his stories.
- Shout-Out: At one point, Becky wonders why no one has ever written a Crossover with her and the cast of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic given her love of ponies & unicorns.
- Upon meeting the Kratt Brothers, Tim asks if they're still on that show with the lemur.
- Shown Their Work: All the information about the Amazon pink dolphin is accurate (or, as accurate as looking stuff up on The Other Wiki can be).
- Villain Team-Up: Sort of; Zach is actually paying the six villains to help him.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: The Kratts & WordGirl manage to easily sneak onboard Zack's yacht, rescue Aviva and save the day. Except the Aviva they rescued is actually a robot built by Zach to keep them distracted.
