WWYD? The Saga of the Family Tuna

[PomBearAtTheGatesOfDawn]

Bit longwinded but anyone who bears with me can have and
DD has a toy caterpillar named Sydney Tuna, she liberated him from a car boot sale when she was just gone 2 and has adored and worshipped him ever since.
Last Christmas Santa brought his mummy, Mrs. Mabel Tuna, to live with us. She had missed Sydney since he went to seek his fortune, so had written to Santa to ask him to find Sydney, and Santa gave her a lift to our house on his sleigh. Cue rejoicing and carolling and so on....
DD now informs me that this Christmas, Mrs T and Sydney are writing jointly to Santa to find Mr. Tuna, who rejoices in the name Miguel apparently, and is in the army, fighting for the peaceloving resistance caterpillars who want to stop the slaughter between the marmite and the maple syrup factions I kid you not AND I kept a straight face wile DD told me all this
So... and if you're still with me, a thousand thanks... I can lay my hands on a caterpillar identical to Mrs. Tuna, but how can I make him look like he's been liberated from the army/prisoner of war camp/somewhere else suitable to have kept him away for a long time? I thought about him having been kidnapped by Pirates to explain where he's been all these years, and that was when DD came out with the stuff about the army... any suggestions? DD is 9 and I think this could be the last year for Santa for her, we've had some pointed questions that I have so far lied my way out of managed by the skin of my teeth, so I want to do Mr. Tuna's homecoming right...

[Flowerista]

Oooh a DOUBLE AGENT!

[Flowerista]

He would be a Nobel Peace prize winner if he facilitated a truce between those two factions. Tis a long and bloody history for sure.

[HaveALittleFaithBaby]

Does he have teeth? You could black a couple out to look like there's some missing. Very piratey.
If there's anything unclear, and DD to write out the back story for Santa so you know what she expects so he knows how to find Miguel.

[dizzyblonde]

Spray him with perfume and say he was rescued by a glamourous resistance butterfly and hidden until Santa could pick him up.

[FauxFox]

How about a less "girlie" one? here or here.

You could make a video for him or revoicover to be more fitting in with the story!

[Honeydragon]

go to your local chemist, they will have eye patches for about 50 pence that you can trim down.

[PomBearAtTheGatesOfDawn]

Those are lovely faux but the shipping to the UK would be more than they cost in the first place. I might be able to find them here, the Toys R Us one wa just the easiest one to get hold of, and cheap enough that I don't mind damaging making it look a bit war-torn and brave.
Honey you're a genius! Never occurred to me - even when I said "real eyepatch" it just didn't compute where they come from I have spent so much time online I have forgotten that real shops exist I think
dizzy I don't think Mrs. Tuna would approve of Mr. Tuna consorting with glamorous butterflies! face a la Allo Allo

[Honeydragon]

saw a rolling pin in two. Drill through the ends and string throuugh and you could have two wooden legs on his mid section.

[LtEveDallas]

PomBear, I could send you some Sergeants Stripes, or a pair of Desert Combat trousers/shirt that you could cut up for Miguel if you'd like. Just send me a PM with an address and I'll do it!

[ScarahStratton]

How big is this caterpillar that it needs rolling pins for legs?

He needs war wounds. Maybe a bandage round a leg or 2 and some random plasters from a sword fight? And a tiny caterpillarish rucksack to keep all his war stuff in.

Is he Marmite or Maple Syrup?

[CristinadellaPizza]

Ooh yes a tiny rucksack. And a couple of bandages which she can unroll when he's better.

I love this thread and I love your DD

[Honeydragon]

Sarah

[lambethlil]

Are you listening Disney?!! This is genius stuff!! Hire children!! In a good way obviously...

ROFL

Thanks

[KnitterInTheNW]

I have a playmobil sized rifle and handgun that I hid when DS opened his police playmobil, you're very welcome to them if they'd be big enough.

[ScarahStratton]

Oh that is so cute. He definitely needs a big curly moustache and a camouflage jacket.

[ApocalypseCheeseToastie]

You need a desert map type thingy smeared with maple syrup and marmite !

[Flowerista]

And grenades and knife plus maybe an emergency bag of Brussels sprouts on a utility belt round his waists.

[ScarahStratton]

He needs a bunch of flowers for Mrs Tuna, and a gift for Sydney too. Santa wouldn't let him come home to his family empty handed.

Maybe a little packet of letters that he wrote during the war, but couldn't post because he didn't know where they were.

[Becaroooo]

Moustache (Should be 1970's porn star style IMO)

Camouflage uniform, torn and ripped obv.

Bandage of some sort (indicating a wound sustained in the fight for liberty etc)

Scar on cheek (from a knife fight in the POW camp with another prisoner for food/cigarettes)

[Quintessentialist]

Could he have grown fins and lived camouflaged as erm, tuna for a while?

[ScarahStratton]

No,no Becar, I was just thinking that a wound with stitches would be good.

[Becaroooo]

ooohh, yes! And maybe a missing leg???? (do catarpillars have legs????)

[ForYourDreamsAreChina]

I think he also needs a foreign accent, if he's been held captive in foreign parts.

You need the Spanish version of the bear factory, and buy one of the squeaks, but a foreign squeak....and then a replacement English squeak for when he's been debriefed.....

[SamMiguel]

You're all mad (in the niceest possible way!)

[Honeydragon]

Erm is it me or are a load of Mnetters going to be logging on on Xmas day to see how the reunion goes