#[We Are Our Own Dragons As Well As Our Own Heroes; We Have To Rescue Ourselves From Ourselves - Troubleshooting]

[perfectfeelings]

We are our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.

Tom Robbins, Still Life With Woodpecker

[lonelydiary]

7.Lena

"And the hero rescued the princess from the dragon den and they lived happily ever after" said the red haired woman.

"Mommy, do the heros exist in real life?" asked the little girl with green eyes a dark curly hair.

"Lena, mo stór, of course they do! Some of them you can see with your own eyes, but some of them you can't, unfortunately. But they are here, among us!"

"Can I meet them, though, can I??!" the little girl can barely contain her eagerness.

"Sure, sweetie, I'll tell you something, but it has to be our secret, alright?" She winks at her daughter. "You will meet your hero, but you'll have to wait a little bit longer, ok?"

"Ok, but how i will be able to recognize them?" a small adorable crinkle appeared between the two dark brows.

"Oh, you'll know immediately, believe me, honey " the woman just chuckled "they will be strong, stronger than every one of us, but kind and gentle with people and you, especially. They will have the hair, kissed by the sun and sky colored eyes. They will also have a big, but fragile heart, that you must be careful with, as well as protect and cherish yours, ok baby?"

"Yes, mommy, I'll try my best" said the little girl, yawning and closing her eyes. "Will you tell me another story?"

"Of course! Once upon a time, there was a girl, who was promised to be a great scientist, but life, unfortunately, not always goes like we plan..."

And as the soothing voice was telling Lena another fascinating story, she fell asleep, dreaming about the adventures and heroes and how there is someone, who will be there for her, when it matters.

[thebookquotes]

We are our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.

Tom Robbins, Still Life With Woodpecker

[thoughtkick]

We are our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.

Tom Robbins, Still Life With Woodpecker

[surqrised]

We are our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.

Tom Robbins, Still Life With Woodpecker

[bionicle-ramblings]

Onto our boy himself:

Onewa!

@chancetimespace I hope I did him justice!😅

I mentioned in the intro post he was trying to get his honor back and make a name for himself.

Before the AU takes place, he was actually a renowned carver and was working his way into knighthood, as he was skilled with handling weapons and was pretty well known for building statues and a few buildings. People had a lot of respect for him, knew he was someone that was reliable, even though he often had a chip on his shoulder. By all accounts, he was honored as a skilled architect and an artist. He was also able to support his family(namely his parents and younger siblings) pretty easily, and had really made something of himself.

So what happened?

A night where the village was attacked and he not only worked alongside a fugitive to save everyone, but then also didn't think to capture or alert the guards that the fugitive was even there in the first place. And when he tried explaining what had really happened, most people didn't believe him, as a rival carver who saw everything twisted the events and spread it like wild fire. It cost him just about everything, as his titles of artist, carver, builder, etc, were all stripped from him and his family was left in shambles. Hard times fell on them and most family members blamed him for it, doing so to his face and behind his back.

The only one who really believed him and was still in his corner was his friend Matau, who had heard what happened from his travels(we'll get there when we get there), and offered what he could to support his friend, even offering to helping supporting his family and offered Onewa an easy way out; "Long-travel with me! You never know! People in the North love a good share-story, especially when the hero's someone like them!"

As much as he appreciated it, he turned both down and instead did whatever work he could, much of it being physically taxing for hum and not paying well because people knew who he was and didn't really trust him.

He started getting ideas when someone from a group of ten returned from a journey, being in pure hysterics and going on about a princess locked in a castle and being guarded by a dragon, one that was cunning and ruthless and killed the rest of his group. The dragon also guards a vault, but no one's been able to get close enough to it.

While everyone fretted about an unstoppable creature and a poor girl doomed to die in its clutches, Onewa really got to thinking about what he'd heard and tracked down the princess's family, who revealed their daughter was indeed trapped, having been trapped under a curse and now with a dragon, and they don't have the means to rescue her; everyone they send winds up never returning.

It's here that Onewa offers himself and himself alone to take on the task: he will rescue the princess and bring her home and defeat the dragon, but in return, he wants the treasure in the vault and he wants to be able to be a carver again. They are skeptical on letting him go through with it, but Onewa never mentions that in saving someone who really might need help, he'll get his honor back and show that he's good for something. And if he fails, at least Matau will mourn him.

After some negotiations and talking, the family agrees and Onewa prepares for his trek and his mission. His own family is even more livid, but this time it's the kind of anger where you don't know how to express that you're scared for your son/brother, so it comes off more as, "You're a fool and an idiot and this will literally be the end of you," rather than, "We don't want you to do this because what if we never see you again?"

The only one to really voice the latter is his sister, who makes him promise he'll come home.

With that, he leaves, and everyone has now heard what he's planning to do and equally bid their farewells and wish him luck, as he really is going to need it.

He's not alone, though: Matau has tagged along and won't be leaving because if Onewa wins against this dragon, he wants to see it, and the GLORY it will bring them both is terrific to even think about: "They'll cheer-hail us! Write songs! Drink-toast our names! WE CAN HAVE OUR OWN STATUES!"

[seth-whumps]

okay seth i have a question (i have more fun ones too but this one is just for my own understanding because i fear i am Illiterate.)

what brings all these characters together again?? like what makes them a team of sorts if that makes sense? you mentioned the mission for winter's sister so i guess im just asking for more clarification on that. what circumstances bring all 4 characters to work together?

I LOVE THESE SILLIES SO MUCH!!!!

HI BUG!!!! thank you so much i have been so excited to talk about these guys.

SO. in short, Winter's quest to find his older sister, the true heir, does bring them all together.

in LONG. [train honk]

--

We start with the pair of Winter and Frey, who encounter Minnow on their way out of the kingdom (it's hard to avoid their clearing). They continue on, until attacked by a group of monsters--who are then cleaned up and taken care of by a purple masked monster hunter who gives no name and takes no cash, and disappears moments later, after giving Frey an odd look.

they continue this way for a while, except Minnow (pond nymph) shows up at random times to talk, usually after the monster hunter goes on his way. (she's checking in on them for Cor. part of the deal.)

except, shortly after our heroes get out of the forest surrounding Winter's home kingdom Amasia, a strange, rogue, unstoppable fire burns it to the ground. not the kingdom, the forest. Cor rescues Minnow from her pond, and eventually the two royal idiots from their predicament, and throws them outside into the real world.

haha folks. there's a very oddly familiar dragon on the loose, terrorizing Winter's home town. there's a missing heir with a legend, a double agent right hand to the soon-to-be-king, and a monster hunter who seems to be entirely unthrilled with the prospect of mothering these idiots (and said monster hunter's pet nymph who seems a little more invested than they should be).

plus, when the crown prince and his knight disappears, a monster hunter has been spotted in the premises, and days later the protective forest burns to the ground?

you get a team of four who hate each other, and are on the run. don't worry. they fall in love eventually. :)

--

Also, talking team dynamics!! Each character has a handful of roles they fill.

Winter: Surprisingly brawny for a prince, because you think he'd be useless. He acts as the heart of the group. He wants to help, he really does. He can also lift you up like a sack of potatoes--all those years training with Frey did make a difference.

Frey: Strategist, plotting, logistics fall into their wheelhouse. They are the swift to Winter's tough, the speed to his "I can take a punch" energy. Not to say Frey can't take a punch--it's just, if Winter's being an idiot? They don't mind letting Winter learn a lesson or two.

Coronacht: Sort of the rogue. He's good at slipping in and out of places, sneaking, daggers and archery, the like. He's also well-versed in herbal remedies, moreso than Frey, whose training is rusty at best. Team mom with too many problems.

Minnow: A wild card, but in the end, they're very good at using their silver tongue to get what they want. Literally. Their tongue is in fact silver. She's the talker of the group when things get tough, and she certainly doesn't mind throwing around her magic when necessary. But he does play up the fae quite a bit. You'll see a bit of humor from her.

--

THANK YOU BUG!!!! i hope this helps! and of course please feel free to send in more asks for clarification or just for fun. thank you thank you thank you <333333

[terriluvss]

Growth, and Trauma in Fairytail

I love fairytail with all of my heart unfortunately it’s my special interest so I’ve overanalysed the hell out of this series and one thing I have noticed with mashima’s writing is the way characters process their trauma. (This post will contain anime spoilers) ALSO TRIGGER WARNING FOR S AND VIOLENCE

Aka, non-existent. For the most part at least. However there are some exceptions to this like with Gray. With characters like Gray, it’s very clear to see why and how he copes with traumatic events take what happened to Ur as example. Gray believes Ur’s death was his own fault (my guess is probably because he was the one who brought up the deliora situation to her causing her to come to rescue him but as a result having to nope out if life), as a result he believes he doesn’t deserve to live as it ‘should’ve been him’. His actions show this as early as Galuna island arc with our boy using iced shell against Lyon. And multiple other times, he always tries to dish out that spell as a sacrifice because he believes his life is worth nothing more.

This is proof that mashima can and does write trauma well sometimes however his writing can also pale in comparison like with the death of igneel. Specially in the Alvarez arc. Natsu was absolutely traumatised by what had happened and we can see this with him running off for a year with happy. He needed his alone time and yet once he returns its as if nothing had happened, he’s his same old smiley silly self. If you told me to look for the differences in natsu’s character between the first episode and the final season, I would have a very very hard time. There was no growth to his character apart from getting ‘stronger’, we don’t get to see how he comes to terms with the fact his one life goal is void or how he deals with the aftermath of tartaros. Afterwards he is back to his smiley goofy self again like nothing ever happened. There’s no signs at all of Natsu even being affected by it apart from getting stronger. His one life goal is now six feet under ground and he has no visible signs of being depressed over that. He’s capable of smiling, being happy, and his usual self. Even during alvarez arc he’s just as fearless and unchanged as ever. During the alvarez arc Natsu had come face to face with this killer once again and instead of showing any signs of fear at all he looks acnologia in the eyes and takes him head on as if he were a weaker oponent or something.

Realistically acnologia should have terrified natsu. Just like how natsu had been afraid of gildarts seeing his raw power, and acnologia is ten times stronger than gildarrs. Especially considering that dragon had KILLED natsu’s dad. Ripping him in half right in front of him, someone Natsu probably viewed as the strongest and indestructible torn apart just like paper. I understand everyone processes trauma differently but we’ve SEEN first hand Natsu showing fear to stronger opponents like Gildarts. So why is it that all of a sudden when Natsu is faced with acnologia in person once more there is no signs of fear, no memories of the trauma, no nothing rather this cookie cutter hero moment again. Where he takes aconologia on as if he were a weaker foe, even laughing to himself and making witty remarks. We’ve seen at the face of truly terrifying power Natsu shrivels up into a stuttering sweating mess. So it doesn’t make any sense that he feels nothing seeing acnologia again. Saying he did the healing during the one year time skip through tartaros doesn’t even make sense because he challenged gildarts to a fight during the manga and you can see him shrivel up in fear unable to speak once more as soon as gildarts destroys a mountain to save him.

Natsu can feel fear. Yet why not with acnologia? Someone who should have traumatised him.

This happens so many times throughout the series. Trauma being swept under the rug like its just another tuesday. I dont get why he can write trauma fine with Gray, but when it comes to people like Lucy or Natsu suddenly its void.

I just wish the characters in this series were given more growth but time and time again it feels like im watching the same characters from episode one over and over again.

But anyway that’s just my two cents on fairytails writing of trauma. This is my first real post on tumblr so it’s probably dogwater, but yeah im open to hearing other peoples thoughts on this and thank you for reading this low effort post.

[toastandjamie]

So an AU where Mat isn’t Ta’veren and becomes our POV in the Black Tower.

Now the first dilemma I faced was how much Mat should be integrated into the main plot, especially given that the Black Tower isn’t created until book five. So here’s what I got so far input for what this goofy little guy should get up to is welcome.

So after Winter Night, Perrin, Rand, and Egwene go with Morraine and Lan leaving our non-Ta’veren ordinary guy Mat behind. Now Mat, not knowing the details, is quite upset because as far as he knows his two best friends just ditched him to go on an adventure without him. When Nynaeve goes after them Mat tries to tag along but Nynaeve very firmly sends him back home. However, Ta’veren or not this is still Mat Cauthon we’re talking about so he goes after them himself. He spends the rest of Eye of The World having narrow misses with the plot, running into Thom at Whitebridge after the Myrdraal incident and drags that poor man all the way to Camlyn only to discover that he once again missed his friends and now has no idea where they’ve gone.

In The Great Hunt we find Mat traveling with Thom and Dana as an apprentice Gleeman, until they meet up with Rand in Cairihan. Rand tells him about the the horn but leaves out the whole, he’s the dragon reborn bit. Now this version of Mat doesn’t believe he’s a hero but he also has yet to discover Consequences so he really wants to be one, so he immediately insists on joining Rand to find the horn of Valere. Rand tries the tried and true method of being the worst to your loved ones to drive them away for their own good but while it DOES upset Mat, you aren’t shaking him that easily especially since he’s already invited to that party Rand and friends needs to break into. Things end up going relatively the same from their and they all go to Falme, Mat gets a late reveal there that Rand is the Dragon Reborn, we have Seanchen problems and Mat is still the one to blow the horn of Valere.

The Dragon Reborn baby, in order to try and keep Mat safely out of the plot Rand convinces him to escort the girls back to Tarvalon. Now no one but Rand and Perrin know he blew the horn of Valere and at their urging Mat decides to keep it that way, but he quickly finds that when your a man and not Ta’veren or the known sounder of the horn of Valere you very quickly get bored of the White Tower. After spending some time gambling at every tavern in Tarvalon and training a bit with the warders and Gawyn and Galad, the girls give him the letter for Morgause and send him on his way no Armylin permission slip required. Things go pretty similarly as they do in the book, Mat picks up a depressed Thom, discovers a plot to kill the girl’s, gets some fireworks and breaks into the Stone, though he is now slightly less effective without his supernatural luck.

The Shadow Rising finds our boy Mat feeling severely put out and a bit helpless. The girls as usual were less then grateful for the rescue and Rand and Perrin are too busy to talk to him. He still goes to Egwene for advice and hears about the Red Stone Door and still goes through it, though this time he actually gets to ask his three questions before getting kicked out since there’s now only One Ta’veren in there. Mat’s still contemplating what his confusing answers mean when Rand pops out, and things continue from there as planned. This time however Mat does not go to the Wastes and instead joins Thom and Julin as unwanted bodyguards for Nynaeve and Elayne. Hilarity ensues. More importantly however during the Tanchico arc Mat starts considering the possibility of learning to channel. After all, the girls aren’t wrong about him not being much help against the black ajah without channeling. So using the scraps of information he has he tries to teach himself how to channel. But it’s not going so well. However once they reach Salidar he finds a certain someone who might be able to help with that…

In Fires of Heaven and onwards we get more of Mat feeling helpless to protect his friends and using his most powerful weapon, his puppy dog eyes, he gets Logain to grudgingly agree to help teach him though one problem is that Logain is gentled but Mat won’t let that stop him. Egwene shows up, Logain is de-gentled and Mat get’s the bright idea to take the bow healed Logain and head to the Black Tower. Mat proceeds to get tangled up in both the Black Tower sub plot and Elayne’s Succession plot line. He also finds Olver at some point. That’s all I got so far

[flutteringfable]

hi everypony!! i finally finished that arin and sora thing ive been working on, here it is! i love writing cuddles so so much; i hope reading this makes you feel as cozy as i did writing it hehe. there’s no spoilers as this takes place in like early-mid dr season 1!

crossposted to my ao3, as per usual :3 it’s only visible to registered users to keep yucky ai scrapers off my work.

if you’d like to listen to the song i used for the title, you can find it here!

the moon had already fully risen by the time arin trudged back inside from training. he yawned, and almost tripped over riyu as the little dragon weaved between his legs in an almost catlike fashion. he smiled, crouching down to pat riyu’s head, but almost immediately regretted it as the ache of his muscles roared in protest.

“hey, arin,” sora chirped as she sauntered over from the living room. “i was wondering when you were gonna turn in for the night.”

arin groaned as he slowly stood back up. “sorry i was out for so long; i got so focused on training that i lost track of time.”

“why am i not surprised?” chuckled sora. “i left you some food on the counter; you might wanna heat it back up.”

riyu perked up at the mention of food. sora shot him a look of disapproval, which did little to reduce the thump-thump-thumping of the little dragon’s tail agaist the wooden floor.

“thanks,” arin replied. as he walked to the kitchen, riyu followed eagerly.

after reheating the leftovers sora left for him, arin slumped onto the sofa. sora joined him and leaned casually against his side, as she often did. riyu sniffed a few times at arin’s plate, but eventually realized he wasn’t going to get any and instead hopped up to lie with his head in sora’s lap.

“you should start setting reminders or something; this is like, the fourth time this has happened? if you overwork yourself this often, it’ll be harder to recover and improve your skills.” sora sighed.

arin nodded sheepishly. “i know, but i just get so focused on perfecting a move or improving my stamina that i just kinda… forget? like, i’ll register the sun going down, but then i’ll practice for another few hours until i finally realize how late it is.”

even riyu let out a soft grumble at that. sora smiled, patting his head.

“i know, buddy. what are we gonna do with this guy?” she teased.

arin chuckled. he and sora sat in comfortable silence for a bit, and riyu dozed off as he was pet. arin couldn’t help but be reminded of their time before lloyd had rescued them, when they were both still living in the crossroads with little to worry about besides winning races and pie baking competitions.

in the span of just a few days, the course of his and sora’s lives had changed drastically, mostly for the better. there was still the fate of the world to worry about, of course, but putting that aside, arin had decided he was incredibly lucky to have met his hero. he sighed, slouching further against sora.

“you good?” asked sora, patting his shoulder.

“mhm,” arin nodded. “just thinking about everything that’s happened. it still feels so surreal to me that we’re training under the green ninja.”

“yeah. i didn’t even know the guy that well and i’m still kind of in awe.”

arin grinned. “so…. you’re saying think he’s cool?”

“…yeah, i guess i am,” sora sighed, smiling exasperatedly at her friend. “i still think you’re a nerd for knowing so much about him, though.”

she grinned, poking his head teasingly. arin pouted back before setting his plate on the coffee table. he leaned back against sora and reached over to pat riyu’s head.

footsteps came from down the hall, and lloyd poked his head into the room. riyu slowly raised his head, letting out a small yawn as he looked in lloyd’s direction.

“hey, you two. it’s getting kinda late, you should probably head to bed soon.”

sora shot a thumbs up at lloyd. “will do.”

“i mean it,” lloyd insisted, a knowing look on his face. “no sneaking out. you guys need as much rest as you can get.”

arin glanced away sheepishly as he rubbed his eyes, replying, “we won’t. honestly, i don’t even have the energy to do anything else tonight.”

“yeah, i’ve noticed you training a lot more recently.” lloyd looked concerned. “you’re doing just fine, arin. you should let yourself rest more.”

“i’ll try and remember to. thanks, lloyd,” arin yawned.

lloyd smiled gently. “alright. go get some rest; i’ll see you both in the morning.”

when lloyd left, arin shifted and sat up. he turned and hugged sora, nosing into her hair sleepily. she returned the hug and patted his back.

“‘night, sora,” he mumbled.

“‘night. goodnight to you too, riyu,” sora added, giving riyu a chin scratch.

“‘night, riyu..!” arin echoed softly as he sat back up.

he slowly stood up and stretched with a groan before heading to his room.

[lowkeyed1]

interesting bits: Jon Kasdan: The biggest theme of the show is… there's a great Tom Robbins quote that I'm paraphrasing, but "We are our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves." And what I wanted the seventh episode to be, very passionately, was about all of these characters confronting those demons before they confronted the real world demon that was holding Kit's brother, so that that felt like a really natural place to go. And it naturally suggested a very emotional place at the end of the episode about faith and friendship and trusting each other. Tony Revolori: It was one of the scenes that I loved more than anything. To be honest, I think what I love more than anything about the scene is I was allowed to play it in a very realistic and understated way, which was in a very healthy way, I think. Even nowadays, where I would hope if I ever felt that way or someone felt that way about me, they would not put this pressure on you and just be like, "I need to say this for my own mental health, for my own sake. I'm not expecting anything back." It was really, really liberating to not need it to be any bigger than it actually was. It's an emotional moment for Graydon. Elora is first person he's really loved ever, among even his family members minus maybe his brother, so it's a very important thing. But kudos to the writers and Jon for creating a scene that I absolutely loved playing with.

[crossroadsdimension]

FFXIVWrite 2024 Day 18

Prompt -- Hackneyed

(FFXIVWrite 2024 Masterpost)

(spoilers for 5.3 ShB are mentioned, as well as the "plot" in the Dragonsong War's Reprise Ultimate and mentions of a certain Rising cutscene we get every year. Nothing beyond that!)

“Isn’t it a little hackneyed that there’s all these worlds out there that have a Warrior of Light saving them from the end of the world?”

“Snrk”

“…what. It’s an honest question.”

“No, no, it’s not — I didn’t imagine you to be someone who used the word hackneyed. I would’ve expected something else, considering your vocabulary.”

“Hrm.”

“…it is a good question, though. I never imagined I would meet those from another star who were familiar with the title, much less knew those who had carried it. Perhaps…perhaps all of creation calls for heroes, and the thought of bringing light and peace to their stars is consistent enough for the title to manifest?”

“Maybe. I still think it’s more than a coincidence, though. There’s gotta be something bigger pulling the strings from somewhere to make the title that common.”

“Someone other than the Ascians? I seem to recall Elidibus called for Warriors of Light from the other shards before he transformed.”

“Someone way bigger. Palamecia isn’t a shard.”

“Hm. And you aren’t about to volunteer a name from your own experience there, I assume.”

“Nah. Vox was just focused on Palamecia. He wasn’t big enough to cover the entire universe. I would’ve noticed him messing with things here if he was.”

“Fair point. …are you asking this question because you are concerned someone like Vox is doing this and has somehow avoided showing themselves to us?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. If there is someone like that out there, I’d like to figure out why they let Palamecia get as bad as it did. Maybe they could’ve done something to…I dunno, change the narrative? Keep Vox from letting the planet deteriorate as much as it did?”

“I know that desire well, but it is more of a question for myself and my knowledge, looking back. I do not have the experience you do, with narrators and cycles. Most of my questions are whether or not I would have known what was going to happen before it did. If I missed or ignored the signs, or what might happen if I changed events. I asked Yoshi-san that, once. If two companions could be saved.”

“Who?”

“The wandering minstrel. He told me to call him Yoshi-san.”

“Oh, that guy. Didn’t know that was his name.”

“He made it sound more like it was a preferred name than his actual name.”

“Hm. So? What’d he do?”

“…he constructed a ballad where I saved Haurchefant from his death at the hands of one of the Knights. Yoshi-san implied that the act would have allowed the archbishop to transform into King Thordan without our knowledge, and while we would have still fought Nidhogg whilst he possessed Estinien, we would have also been forced to fight Hraesvelgr on the Steps of Faith.”

“So he thought Hraesvelgr would’ve left Zenith and made it that harder, huh.”

“Very much so. The fighting would not have ended there, either — he thought King Thordan would arrive in the midst of that fight, after we rescued Estinien from Nidhogg’s control. The primal would have taken both dragons into himself, enthralled the dragons of both their broods, and forced us to fight him and them all at once. We would have lost an ally in that fight, by ending Thordan and sending Hraesvelgr to the aetherial sea. Escaping Omega’s collapsing Interdimensional Rift would have been made impossible without him.”

“…yeah. It would’ve. ...I think the wandering minstrel’s got something to do with all the string-pulling.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Some of the things I’ve heard him say, I guess. He gets really weird around the Rising.”

“The visions, you mean?”

“You get them too, huh?”

“Yes. The strange hyur who looks like Yoshi-san certainly acts as though he knows me, and what lies on the horizon. He does not seem as…controlling, as what I have heard of your Vox, though.”

“Maybe not to you, but I heard him say a couple things about putting together the next adventure and it gets me on edge. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s causing Warriors of Light to pop up in other places, too.”

“Is that such a bad thing, though?”

“Hrm.”

“I understand where you are coming from, do not get me wrong — what I have heard of Palamecia and your experiences are not events I would see repeated on other worlds — but…there are always myths of heroes, on the Source and the shards. People need someone to bring the light back to them, in a manner of speaking. To give them the strength to carry on to see tomorrow. Whether we be Warriors of Light — or Darkness — matters less in the title and more in our actions. There could be stars out in creation that have people who do the same as we, but under a different name.”

“…maybe. Still not sure how I feel about that.”

“I don’t expect you to change your mind immediately, considering your experience. But I like to think that those who become strong warriors for their people do so more from their own volition than by the will of another. You, after all, did your best to save a star despite the systems set in place, then returned and saved your star under a different title.”

“….”

“I doubt that, if any powerful being was watching closely, they would have let you change your title to what you were more comfortable with. Considering that Warriors of Light manifest on more than one star, according to you.”

“…sigh. Might have a point there. Doesn’t mean I like it, though.”

“Mm. Understandable. …I think you are preparing to awaken.”

“Hm? Oh. Yeah, looks like.”

“Would you be willing to do something like this again?”

“What, beat a monster in seconds for the heck of it?”

“Well, that but — this. Talking. I don’t get the chance to communicate with others like us very often. They never linger long enough, unless we’re all fighting the same simulation multiple times over.”

“…sure. Why not. Not every day it’s an alternate-dimension thing instead of a time loop.”

“Heh. Yeah. Rest well.”

“You too, Cross. Don’t let other me drive you nuts.”

“Ha! It will take more than that — I have spent time with Hildibrand, and we both know how maddening events can become with him.”

“Gods, yeah….Yeah, you’re gonna be fine. See you around.”

[1solone]

If flowers can grow through blankets of melting snow, there is hope for me too. We are our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves. I'll come around if you ever want to be in love… ‿ℒℴνℯ⁀❤️ always with ℒℴѵℯ ❤️🕊

[pinkroboticunicorn]

Danny Phantom and the Dynamite Punch Girls.

Chapter three: Break in.

Sam Madson and Tucker Foley stood there in shock and awe as the whole wall to the GIW's HQ was blasted open on the first floor, leaving chunks of rubble on the ground.

The carnage was thanks to Ash Silver the half dragon Princess who ripped a hole with her giant claws allowing Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, and the rest of the heroes to enter, and enter they did.

Ace Diamond was fast and quickly taking out guards with his super speed, running around taking on the guards with ease, of course Charlotte Baron the Wizard was busily casting spells to keep the guards at bay while holding her dear precious book to her chest, and finally Ash Silver created a path towards the elevator using her fire breath.

“What is going on here!?” Agent Wolf questioned.

“You! Operative! Explain!” Agent Alpha ordered.

“Sir! We were just attacked by some super powered individuals!” Operative K said.

“Sir! They're making their way to the laboratory!” Operative O said.

“I see. Agent Orchid did warn us about this happening, I just didn't think it would happen so soon.” Agent Alpha said with a slightly raised brow.

“It's obvious that these people are under ghostly possession! We need to neutralize them and help them!” Operative O suggested.

“Agreed! Get those freaks under control!” Agent Alpha commanded.

Meanwhile Agent Wolf was on the phone and in contact with Agent Orchid.

“They're here, boss.” Agent Wolf said secretly.

“Of course they're here! I predicted that they'd follow us! Ha Ha Ha, thankfully she's not far behind, bring her in for me won't you? Separate her from the others, especially her little tight knit team.” Agent Orchid ordered over the phone. 

“Yes madam, as you command!” Agent Wolf said with a bow.

Meanwhile....

Sam and Tucker were trying to get through the fighting, and towards the elevator, there they could find the floor Danny is on and rescue him, easy plan if only they actually knew which floor he's on, too bad Sam or Tucker doesn't have any weird mind powers.

“Looks like you're stuck.” Teddy Casper said as she approached them.

Sam and Tucker looked at Teddy rather strangely. 

“Who are you? And who are your friends?” Sam asked.

“Well firstly my name is Teddy Casper, secondly we are the Dynamite Punch Girls! But not Ash Silver, Ace Diamond, and Charlotte Baron, they're a part of a different group that happened to follow us.” Teddy explained. 

“Alright. Dynamite Punch Girls, uh nice name? Anyway, we're on a mission.” Tucker exclaimed.

“Yeah, and we thank you for the distraction, but we're definitely gonna grab our friend on our own.” Sam said.

“You're not gonna face against Lady Orchid on your own, are you?” Teddy questioned with a worried tone of voice.

“Lady Orchid?” Sam and Tucker questioned.

“I'll explain once we get into the elevator.” Teddy said.

Immediately Teddy Casper began to lead them to the elevator, it was quite the trip as they shoved past GIW Members who were still fighting with Ace, Ash, and Charlotte, following behind Teddy, Sam, and Tucker were Leo Plasma and Blake XJ who kept the Operatives off of them, Blake used her ice breath to fend them off, and Leo used their electricity to shock them away.

It was a long lasting effort but the five of them finally made it to the Elevator, and down they went into the lion's den.

“Wait! How do you know where to go?” Tucker asked.

“We put a tracking device on Lady Orchid, why?” Teddy asked.

“Who is that anyway?” Tucker questioned. 

“And who are you?” Sam questioned. 

“Well, I'm Teddy Casper, the ghost.” Teddy introduced herself.

“I'm Leo Plasma, the superhuman.” Leo said. 

“And I'm Blake XJ! The robot!” Blake smiled. 

“We're the Dynamite Punch Girls.” Teddy explained.

“That's cool, so you're like a team of superheroes?” Tucker asked.

“Yep. And we're from another Dimension, the other three outside fighting aren't with our group, but they came with us to fight Lady Orchid.” Teddy explained.

“You keep talking about this mysterious and strange Lady Orchid, like she's dangerous or something.” Sam said.

“She is dangerous.” Leo responded. 

“Lady Orchid always had an unhealthy fascination with ghosts, it turned from general interest to obsession in just a few weeks, it was to a point that she wanted to have ghost powers, but short of just death in general it just wasn’t going to happen, then... one day she met a ghostly individual who had all the answers she seeked.” Teddy explained.

“Really? Who?” Sam asked.

“Me! You see I’m technically a ghost, an artificial ghost, I was made in a lab using ectoplasm, ect-energy, human DNA to tie me to a human body, and D-17.” Teddy explained.

“So you’re half a ghost?” Tucker asked.

“Well... it’s a lot more complicated than that, I’d say a human with ghost powers.” Teddy said.

“So basically half of a ghost.” Sam said.

“...... I mean....” Teddy sputtered.

“Yeah, Teddy is half ghost, the other option is way too complicated anyway...” Leo sighed.

“Yeah whatever!” Teddy said.

“So what happened when you met Lady Orchid?” Tucker asked.

“Bad things!” Teddy responded with a frown.

“Lady Orchid took Teddy and tried to experiment on her, tried to find the SOURCE of her powers, she was relentless with her experiments, it took some time to find Teddy, but when we did, we kicked Lady Orchid’s butt!” Leo explained.

“It was absolutely crazy! She tried to dissect Teddy! But it didn’t work cause ghost powers, but she had special tools to keep Teddy in her grasp, then when we bust in to save her, all chaos broke loose and she tried to fight us! And just as she was losing she opened a portal to somewhere and escaped! She said something about meeting her NEW friends on the other side, we didn’t know what she meant until we saw her capture that ghost boy and fly off with a smug smile on her face!” Blake explained.

“Yeah, exactly that.” Leo said.

“So... basically what you’re telling me is... Lady Orchid is going to try to do the same thing to Danny!?” Sam questioned.

“Yep! Pretty much!” Teddy nodded.

“Not if we stop her first!” Leo said.

“She’s too dangerous to face off with alone, so on our signal we’ll distract her while you get your friend.” Blake said.

“Agreed.” Sam said.

[tobiasdrake]

Saw The Marvels last night and have been trying to organize my thoughts ever since.

The best part of the film is the chemistry between its leads. Kamala, Carol, and Monica bounce off of each other well. Kamala in particular brings a lot of charm to this group that helps break down the emotional walls that Monica and Carol both have on display.

Where the film struggles is in finding things for these characters to do. The plot is one of the simplest Marvel's ever put-forward; No more complex than "There exists a bad guy and we must defeat her because heroes defeat bad guys," with no twists or turns along the way. We didn't get her the first time. We didn't get her the second time. We didn't get her the third time. But by Thor, we got her the fourth time!

That's basically it. The story consists of fighting Dar-Benn, then going to the next place where we will fight Dar-Benn. Although Nick Fury and Kamala's family provide several great moments to the film (including a hilarious but consequence-free sequence where S.A.B.E.R. forces must be rescued by a litter of Flerkens), the straightforward series of consecutive boss fights offers no opportunities for characters outside our core trio to influence the plot in any meaningful way.

It's really just these three characters carrying the weight of the film, so their dynamic better be gold.

Fortunately, it is. It absolutely is.

This also puts a lot of pressure on Dar-Benn. As a boss fight, she needs to be able to believably juggle three superheroes at once, one of whom is the most powerful MCU character of all time. Here, the film falters. She seems just like every other Kree bad guy, but with a special MacGuffin to give her Dragon Ball Z Power Levels so she can throw punches at Carol's weight class.

She bodies everyone constantly in the fight scenes but it never feels like she should be giving them all so much trouble. It has that vibe of when a solo hero's villain has to be a team-up bad guy for an arc. Like, normally Spider-Man can handle Doc Ock easily enough, but he needs to be an Avengers villain now so suddenly he's powerful enough to take down Thor and the Hulk simultaneously.

Dar-Benn is helped in this endeavor by the film's special gimmick. Carol, Monica, and Kamala constantly swapping places with each other is a cool element that provides both plentiful comedy and some awesome moments, especially as they learn to take advantage of it.

It's also not explained very well and is barely integrated into the plot. It's a weird thing that the Quantum Bands suddenly started doing to to them one day. They learned how to go with it. Then, once the story was far enough along, it stopped of its own accord. More "Sure, I guess this might as well happen" than an interesting new metaphysic.

The story seems either sorely underwritten or utterly butchered by reshoots. Heavy emphasis is placed on galactic worldbuilding and expositing lore than on putting its characters through an emotional and thematic journey.

That's not to say there isn't an emotional journey, mind you. Monica and Kamala's stories are more or less relegated to reacting to Carol. Their parts in the plot are defined by how Carol has respectively influenced them, for better and for worse. As much as the title bills itself as a team-up, this is unambiguously Carol 2. Kamala and Monica are static characters, primarily working to help examine Carol by offering their respective lenses.

But that examination goes deep, and in directions it's rare to see a story willing to take its protag in. Especially a superhero story.

The Marvels primarily interrogates Carol's loner behavior. Carol is Marvel's most powerful hero, but that doesn't mean she can't make mistakes when she takes too much on herself. The unilateral decisions she makes on behalf of others keep blowing up in her face and making things worse. She has to learn to stop talking for five minutes and listen to what other people think.

Which is the central narrative function, both for Kamala and Monica's presence here and for the mechanical decision to handcuff them to Carol's wrists so that she can't run away. It all serves to develop Carol into someone who sees the value in leaning on others, and teach her how to chill for five minutes.

The film also tackles some heavy subject matter with Carol's greatest mistake. This is the thing that's haunting her, and it's a genuinely tragic political mistake. One that world leaders have made many times throughout history.

In short, Carol thought she could bring peace by breaking into the hostile enemy state and decapitating their leadership. She didn't understand that you can't just snipe the king and bail. That leaves a region in chaos. Without prolonged reconstruction, this kind of destabilization can have devastating consequences not only for the destabilized nation, but for everyone else around it.

Unfortunately, while it would be good to see the impacts of this on more than just Carol, we don't. Not really. The only other character impacted is Dar-Benn but. Like. The loss of Hala has turned the Kree from an imperialist people who conquer, enslave, and exterminate worlds into an imperialist people who conquer, enslave, and exterminate worlds. It's a lateral move from what they were doing before to what they're doing now.

The Kree might throw out the name "Annihilator" here and there but it's all lip service. They're more or less the same Evil Overlord bad guys they've always been. Dar-Benn even gets an opportunity for nuance at the very end, but decides she'd rather kill herself out of spite instead. For as high as the stakes are raised for these battles, they have the energy of "Titanium Man is robbing the diamond store! We must stop him from stealing all of the precious jewels."

That a throwaway line at the end assures us that the affected planets - despite Carmen Sandiego stealing their oceans and atmosphere - are inexplicably fine also contributes to this feeling more like a Saturday Morning Cartoon episode than a cinematic blockbuster. Everything resets to status quo in the end. Well, except Monica, who's been drafted for the next round of multiversal shenanigans.

All things considered, this movie felt middle-of-the-road for me. There's a lot here to like but it needed more time in the oven.

Unfortunately, it's also headed for a far harsher reception than it deserves. The SAG-AFTRA strike meant actors aren't doing the usual talk show circuits to market the film. Between that and the film's heavy reliance on Disney Plus homework for its core appeal, it's struggling to find an audience. It's competing with Incredible Hulk and Ant-Man this weekend for lowest opening in Marvel history, which undercuts its legitimate charms by quite a lot.

Hopefully Marvel won't take the wrong lesson from the film's underperformance. But who am I kidding? We all know what studio executives are like.

[pinkroboticunicorn-creative-work]

Danny Phantom and the Dynamite Punch Girls.

Chapter three: Break in.

Sam Madson and Tucker Foley stood there in shock and awe as the whole wall to the GIW's HQ was blasted open on the first floor, leaving chunks of rubble on the ground.

The carnage was thanks to Ash Silver the half dragon Princess who ripped a hole with her giant claws allowing Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, and the rest of the heroes to enter, and enter they did.

Ace Diamond was fast and quickly taking out guards with his super speed, running around taking on the guards with ease, of course Charlotte Baron the Wizard was busily casting spells to keep the guards at bay while holding her dear precious book to her chest, and finally Ash Silver created a path towards the elevator using her fire breath.

“What is going on here!?” Agent Wolf questioned.

“You! Operative! Explain!” Agent Alpha ordered.

“Sir! We were just attacked by some super powered individuals!” Operative K said.

“Sir! They're making their way to the laboratory!” Operative O said.

“I see. Agent Orchid did warn us about this happening, I just didn't think it would happen so soon.” Agent Alpha said with a slightly raised brow.

“It's obvious that these people are under ghostly possession! We need to neutralize them and help them!” Operative O suggested.

“Agreed! Get those freaks under control!” Agent Alpha commanded.

Meanwhile Agent Wolf was on the phone and in contact with Agent Orchid.

“They're here, boss.” Agent Wolf said secretly.

“Of course they're here! I predicted that they'd follow us! Ha Ha Ha, thankfully she's not far behind, bring her in for me won't you? Separate her from the others, especially her little tight knit team.” Agent Orchid ordered over the phone. 

“Yes madam, as you command!” Agent Wolf said with a bow.

Meanwhile....

Sam and Tucker were trying to get through the fighting, and towards the elevator, there they could find the floor Danny is on and rescue him, easy plan if only they actually knew which floor he's on, too bad Sam or Tucker doesn't have any weird mind powers.

“Looks like you're stuck.” Teddy Casper said as she approached them.

Sam and Tucker looked at Teddy rather strangely. 

“Who are you? And who are your friends?” Sam asked.

“Well firstly my name is Teddy Casper, secondly we are the Dynamite Punch Girls! But not Ash Silver, Ace Diamond, and Charlotte Baron, they're a part of a different group that happened to follow us.” Teddy explained. 

“Alright. Dynamite Punch Girls, uh nice name? Anyway, we're on a mission.” Tucker exclaimed.

“Yeah, and we thank you for the distraction, but we're definitely gonna grab our friend on our own.” Sam said.

“You're not gonna face against Lady Orchid on your own, are you?” Teddy questioned with a worried tone of voice.

“Lady Orchid?” Sam and Tucker questioned.

“I'll explain once we get into the elevator.” Teddy said.

Immediately Teddy Casper began to lead them to the elevator, it was quite the trip as they shoved past GIW Members who were still fighting with Ace, Ash, and Charlotte, following behind Teddy, Sam, and Tucker were Leo Plasma and Blake XJ who kept the Operatives off of them, Blake used her ice breath to fend them off, and Leo used their electricity to shock them away.

It was a long lasting effort but the five of them finally made it to the Elevator, and down they went into the lion's den.

“Wait! How do you know where to go?” Tucker asked.

“We put a tracking device on Lady Orchid, why?” Teddy asked.

“Who is that anyway?” Tucker questioned. 

“And who are you?” Sam questioned. 

“Well, I'm Teddy Casper, the ghost.” Teddy introduced herself.

“I'm Leo Plasma, the superhuman.” Leo said. 

“And I'm Blake XJ! The robot!” Blake smiled. 

“We're the Dynamite Punch Girls.” Teddy explained.

“That's cool, so you're like a team of superheroes?” Tucker asked.

“Yep. And we're from another Dimension, the other three outside fighting aren't with our group, but they came with us to fight Lady Orchid.” Teddy explained.

“You keep talking about this mysterious and strange Lady Orchid, like she's dangerous or something.” Sam said.

“She is dangerous.” Leo responded. 

“Lady Orchid always had an unhealthy fascination with ghosts, it turned from general interest to obsession in just a few weeks, it was to a point that she wanted to have ghost powers, but short of just death in general it just wasn’t going to happen, then... one day she met a ghostly individual who had all the answers she seeked.” Teddy explained.

“Really? Who?” Sam asked.

“Me! You see I’m technically a ghost, an artificial ghost, I was made in a lab using ectoplasm, ect-energy, human DNA to tie me to a human body, and D-17.” Teddy explained.

“So you’re half a ghost?” Tucker asked.

“Well... it’s a lot more complicated than that, I’d say a human with ghost powers.” Teddy said.

“So basically half of a ghost.” Sam said.

“...... I mean....” Teddy sputtered.

“Yeah, Teddy is half ghost, the other option is way too complicated anyway...” Leo sighed.

“Yeah whatever!” Teddy said.

“So what happened when you met Lady Orchid?” Tucker asked.

“Bad things!” Teddy responded with a frown.

“Lady Orchid took Teddy and tried to experiment on her, tried to find the SOURCE of her powers, she was relentless with her experiments, it took some time to find Teddy, but when we did, we kicked Lady Orchid’s butt!” Leo explained.

“It was absolutely crazy! She tried to dissect Teddy! But it didn’t work cause ghost powers, but she had special tools to keep Teddy in her grasp, then when we bust in to save her, all chaos broke loose and she tried to fight us! And just as she was losing she opened a portal to somewhere and escaped! She said something about meeting her NEW friends on the other side, we didn’t know what she meant until we saw her capture that ghost boy and fly off with a smug smile on her face!” Blake explained.

“Yeah, exactly that.” Leo said.

“So... basically what you’re telling me is... Lady Orchid is going to try to do the same thing to Danny!?” Sam questioned.

“Yep! Pretty much!” Teddy nodded.

“Not if we stop her first!” Leo said.

“She’s too dangerous to face off with alone, so on our signal we’ll distract her while you get your friend.” Blake said.

“Agreed.” Sam said.