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maxwell-grant · 2 years

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Is Dora the Explorer a pulp hero?

"If it helps, I kinda hoped someday she was gonna outgrow this stuff, y'know?", he thought to himself, midway through an inner monologue you just barely missed the beginning of, as he leaped through fallen tree branches.

He was dashing his way through the jungle, trying to keep ahead of the girl who moved just as fast and twice as recklessly behind him. Two colorful blurs leaping and vine swinging through the dense vegetation of Kunuhirka, or at least, the parts of it most untouched by deforestation.

"I mean, leave the jungle, go to school, make friends that aren't talking animals and objects, really. Go live a normal life with your people. She's been doing this since she was like, what, 7? 8? I'm not gonna say adventuring in the jungle isn't fun but, man, it just isn't the same now. Someday, she's gonna wind up pi-". He abruptly censored himself, out of instinct. He'd been taught by his grandma not to swear, and while neither of the two were kids anymore, he couldn't quite bring himself to swear openly still, so he concluded his thought differently.

"Someday she's gonna upset someone and there'll be no coming back from it. She's not a kid anymore. This, this stuff she's doing? It has consequences, man. It catches up to everyone-"

Whatever hesitation or doubts he had were far from the girl's mind as he tried to keep up several paces ahead of her, not looking back. While she was usually accompanied by a rather irritating little monkey in boots, it was nowhere to be found now. The very imaginatively-named Boots had been sent ahead by the girl to scout the region and search, and howl back if he found anything. She would be able to pick his howl amidst the many that echoed through the jungle.

When they were kids, it was easier to do so. The monkey and her still understood each other as if they were brothers, but it had been a long time since she'd been able to communicate as easily with him. Some of the skills she took for granted as a child had changed as she grew, like the ability to hear animals as if they spoke her native language. Nowadays, she could understand most of them on some level intuitively, but in her family, only her cousin Diego was able to understand and converse with animals to that extent.

She missed talking with Boots, more often than she'd admit. She would have never given that up, if she could choose back then. She could still make out words from certain beings, like her objects or the Explorer Stars on occasion, but no further conversations with any beasties.

"-if you don't count me, that is."

Swiper the Fox finished the thought, interrupting our narration to instill a boost of confidence to himself, trying to offset the fact that Dora, a human girl and his arch-nemesis, was currently gaining on him. Sure, she knew these jungles about as well as he did by this point, and she took athleticism much more seriously, but it didn't hurt any less. Slipping away faster than anyone could catch was a skill he took pride in.

He, of all animals, was the only one Dora could still have conversations with. Swiper the Fox, the talking anthromorphic fox with human intelligence who dressed like a cartoon burglar and had spent the highlights of his career losing a battle of wits with a child.

"It's not like she didn't try, y'know?" He continued his thought, unaware of our assessment towards him. "Maybe at some point her parents probably figured that letting their kid run around exploring rainforests unsupervised, getting involved with magic and witches and whatnot, getting into adventures, was probably not preparing her for adult life.”

“She left to America, graduated college, probably got a bunch of degrees or something, I don't know what humans do in school other than waste time and get sad, but after all that, she wound up back in the jungles again."

Swiper had never gone to human school, or fox school for that matter, but he was correct in his assessment of school as well as the fact that Dora had indeed graduated. The archaeology degree was hers from the moment she walked into the school, the reputation of the Marquez family ensured that much even if she wasn't a genius in a field she'd done much to advance even as a child (even if most of her discoveries and advancements had been shared and attributed to her parents, to protect young Dora from potentially dangerous consequences). She'd eventually pursue another degree, one that was considerably more challenging, and had led her to her current predictment.

Dora was particularly famous as something of internet celebrity, having been one since childhood. Usually, whenever she traveled and explored nowadays, she tended to bring handheld cameras with her, to photograph and film her findings, one of the many things she was able to store in that frankly terrifying backpack of hers, that which had a face currently staring at Swiper as he tried to keep up with Dora.

That creepy talking thing which liked to "eat" things and could summon talking maps and contained some kind of hole in space-time where Dora could freely ignore the laws of physics, which she used mostly to stash objects she needed.

If he were any more interested in keeping the things he swiped off the hands of people (mostly children) he might have figured out at some point that this backpack was a burglar's greatest dream. However, Swiper had never gotten used to the damn thing and he wasn't gonna start now. Her parents had given her that thing, where did they find it?

Did they know what it could do? ...Could it be that it was once just a regular backpack, before Dora got a hold of it? Was she the cause of it? Would it even be that surprising -

"Stop! Stop, stop, just stop, man. You're gonna drive yourself nuts thinking about that stuff, it's way too much for you, just, let me do that thinking, allright? Stop slowing me down, I'm having a hard time not letting her catch me as is." So said Swiper who, uh, apparently was hearing us the whole time-

"I can't hear you the whole time, allright?", he thought, possibly lying, as he stopped running, nearly tripping and falling down an antlion pit, and went into hiding. Dora heard a noise, and was currently climbing a cliffside a couple hundred meters to his left, while Swiper was switching movement to take the long way around to not tip her off.

"Don't even know what you guys are. Didn't used to be able to hear much of you at all, actually, but she can. She always could, if she focused on you, if she knew you were there. Haven't got the faintest idea how she does it, man, but I don't question it."

"It gets easier only when I'm near her, when I know you're in there. But she can't focus on you right now, allright? Keep your mouth shut and let me do my job."

We let him move on till he's out of sight and we think he can't hear us anymore. But, get ready to shout in case he does something bad. You know what works on him, right? The phrase? If we say it, he's gonna notice us. Shouldn't we alert Dora?

No, we shouldn't. They were getting close to their destination, and while Swiper was creeping his way out of range, Dora was currently climbing a rocky cliffside several dozen meters tall with no protection and armed with only a handful of climbing hooks, moving way faster than anyone hampered by gravity should be willing to in these circumstances. This was no carefree adventure, and the grim look on her eyes reassured us that, regardless of his intentions, Swiper was right. We can't disturb her now.

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Look man, I don't know what to say, it was just supposed to be a caper like any other. Someone paid me a good amount of cash to swipe something that could allow time travel, so I figured I'd swipe a Time Travel Cape from Mr.Troll. Look it up, that’s a real thing.

No, no, stop, I'm gonna be real clear here: I was NEVER into this for the money, allright? I ain't that kind of thief. But, look, I'm getting older, I got bills to pay now, and my grandma to look after. We're trying to keep Blueberry Hill untouched by greasy human paws (and, the Marquez family helped with that, I have to admit), and,

I'm Swiper the Fox, man, it's not like I'm ever gonna get a regular job even if I go looking for one. Plus, Dora and her family had left off to America, so, nobody was gonna get in my way if I did a little swiping here and there.

So, I took it. Was child’s play. I suppose that’s what this always was, in the end.

And, okay, maybe I swiped it for myself a little. I mean, it's a cape that lets you travel through time! Who could blame me for wanting to keep it a little longer? I wasn't gonna break the deal, obviously. You should know by now, I'm a fox of my word. Always was, always will be. This game doesn't work otherwise.

I know how to use it, already did this when me and Dora had to work together. You tie it into your shoulders, cover as much of your body as you can with it. You take a step back, breathe in deep, and then you start to shake it. Shake it, spin it, and sing the song, until circles of light start showing near you.

Shake, shake, shake Shake, shake, shake Shake your travel cape.

You do it, and then you'll be able to travel through time to a set destination...shouldn't it be more complicated than that?

No. Stop. Just, go with it. That's how it works. It's worked before. We got this. But...I thought to myself...

See, last time I used this thing, was for some Christmas adventure a while ago, and in it, I traveled to the future and met this old version of myself. A real gloomy jerk that guy was, left Blueberry Hill and Granny behind to go rot in a castle. He was richer beyond anything I could have ever wanted but, he seemed like he'd failed where it mattered most. I try not to think about that too much, but, I wanted to know.

Was I still gonna be that guy?

I figured, yeah, to be honest, I did miss Dora, kiddo was friends with everyone, even someone like me, but I figured without her around, nobody was gonna stop me from swiping whatever I wanted.

No more Dora, no more "Swiper no swiping!", no more rules or games, no one stopping me, right? So, maybe we should get a look at what Future Swiper gets up to!

Shake it up, shake it down Shake it all around Now, let's go!

.....

.....oh

--------------------------------------

The big shock to her family and friends came when she decided to pursue a degree in journalism. Not just geographical or scientific journalism, but investigative journalism. Watchdog journalism. Gonzo journalism. Dora was restless in her genius, never able to stay in one place or one area of expertise for long.

It wasn't like she had never had to deal with bad guys, before. Swiper, for one, even if he was mostly an annoying goober who never set out to harm anyone. The Bobos pestered Diego, on occasion. Sometimes they were witches, whose schemes ranged from ice-skating competitions to trying to put Boots to sleep forever, but they weren't too bad.

But, as she got older, and started getting into different kinds of adventures, some of them got meaner. Land-owners, rubber robbers, resource pirates. Mercenaries, thieves, even killers. People who terrorized local workers and indigenous populations, who had no interest in these lands aside from what they could gut for resources and profit, damned be anyone who got in their way. People who had targeted Dora's parents, even Dora's abuela, until they mistakenly assumed the girl was an easier target.

Dora had claimed a certain amount of infamy, following her graduation, as a celebrity streamer who was also known for combatting and exposing criminal practices across the Amazon, particularly in her birth region of Kunuhirka. The jungles of Peru had been her home, and by the day, they were more and more devastated. Attempts to bring these to the attention of local and national officials had mostly caused more trouble, and while her international fame had allowed her to make considerable progress, it had also drawn more enemies against her.

She knew that much of her audience still consisted of children who knew her as a popular cartoon character, obviously there was only so far she could go through those mediums. She could handle herself, and she'd been a survivalist for longer than she'd been in the media, the fact that the bad guys somehow never succeeded in hurting her badly made her something of a hero, but had gotten many to dismiss her vlogs as stunts.

Most people thought Dora was just a little kooky and childish, for they only saw a grown woman with a pet monkey talking to a camera and herself as if the things around her could talk back, reenacting bits of her old cartoons.

It made it more difficult, sometimes, for her to be taken as seriously as she may have wanted to, but on the other hand, it allowed her to operate undercover, kept potential enemies off her and her family. They could take care of themselves, of course, and so could she. It was to her advantage, in the end, that most people didn't take The Explorer very seriously, only seeing Dora as a harmless curio.

If any of this had any effect on her determination and optimistic outlook, she wasn't showing it.

She'd heard Boots's signals at the top of the cliffside, and had just finished climbing it. She'd regrouped with him there, and stared ahead at the cave near the mountainside. "Good work, Boots! You found them", she said out loud, never one to keep her thoughts constrained to internal monologue - wait, what's she doing? Why is she looking this way?

"Now, can you say, "trampa?"

...Guys? Guys, wait, I think she wants you to say it. Yeah, you, behind the screen. Go ahead, say it...

...Oh, what, you think you're too much of a grown-up to answer Dora The Explorer? You're only gonna hold her back this way, but fine, we'll do it.

Trampa.

"Say it again!"

Trampa!

"Yeah! You said it! Now, "trampa" means "trap", and that's what this is in front of us right now. Some bad guys knew I was gonna come after them and they've set up traps inside this cave to hurt me. They probably know we're here now, I wanted to say it loudly to distract them, buy cousin Alicia a little more time."

What?

"Now, we're here to rescue her mine so, I'm gonna have to ask you all to be reeeaal quiet, ok? Don't worry, these bad guys can't hurt you. But I'll be hearing you, and we're gonna need as much help as we can get. Now, who do we ask for help when we don't know which way to go?"

The, map?

"That's right! Mas, did you know, maps can come in many different shapes and sizes! Sometimes they don't show locations, but they can help you locate yourself much the same, entiende?"

She packs up some of her tools she needs to use now, like her yo-yo and baton, and as she makes her way into the dark cave, we're gonna need your help with this too, okay? Don't speak. But, shout if you see something, ok? It's not too -

Wait, there! He's got a gun! - *THWACK

Dora! Another one at your six! - *whirrr - THWOK

That guy's got a bum leg, he's - *THWIP - CRASH

Guy and girl behind you! Girl's got a knife! - *POW-POW - clink

Boots! Dora's friend is two doors to the right. Still breathing, not too injured - *OOK-OOK!

....PAOW......BANG BANG - BANG!...........

....

....Dora, duck!...Oh -

WHIRR - SLASH-THWACK!

....

"Alicia? Alicia? Estas bien? Te lastimaron?"

"D-Dora? Como me encontró?"

Dora breathed a little easier, reverting closer to her more cheery self.

"I had a little help", Dora said, as Boots climbed onto her shoulder. "I've been following these, these, cabróns, pardon the language, for a while now and, apparently so have you. I figured they got to you to try and get to me, but what did they want with you?"

Alicia caught her breath, and replied. It wasn't her first adventure. She wasn't quite as used to danger as Dora was but, she could keep her wits about her for now.

"They needed someone who could take them to this location. They were trying to get their hands on this, thing, didn't quite get what it was, but they said it was gonna "take them back" to when this place still had anything worth stealing. They figured it was a tech thing, I know the region, I was easier to kidnap. They didn't hurt me too badly, seemed like they were mostly waiting for someone."

"Well, they'll have to keep waiting. I got some friends who can take these guys away, they'll be here shortly. Can you stand up?"

"Yeah. Yeah, think I can"

"Great! Now, come on, let's get you safe!"

Isabella seemed unfazed by the cheerful disposition of someone who'd just walked through gunfire in a dark cave and beaten her way through a squad of mercenaries with an oversized yo-yo. Just Dora being Dora, she guessed.

Boots held up a flare torch and walked in front of them to help them walk out of the cave, the leader of the mercenaries woke up behind them, and gradually got to his feet. A bald man with faint traces of a goatee recently shaved, he had a nasty bruise on his forehead where Dora's yo-yo had smacked him, a cut bleeding above his left eye.

Cuts in the forehead weren't too serious, more effective as a scare tactic and blinding method. Dora never fought or injured anyone if she could help it, but her ability to knock out the man and cut his forehead with a blunt toy spoke much about her ability nonetheless.

Groggy but furious, he reached to his back pocket, reaching for his gun to stop them. It was two girls and a monkey, he thought using terms we preferred to censor, he could get them.

Or so he could, until he realized his gun wasn't there, and as he tried to move, he tripped and fell on his face, the laces of his boots tied together.

A couple feet to his left, he'd heard a finger snap and a mocking voice.

"Oh, maaaaan! Guess I was too late, huh?"

Swiper was sitting in the stool they'd used to tie Alicia, twirling the gun with remarkable ease for someone with such tiny fingers. He detested the damn things, never even came close to them, but sometimes humans were too big and too stupid and only learned better with one of those awful things pointed at them. The mercenary leader was still too dazed to stand upright.

"Well, can't say I blame you, man. I'll admit, she can be pretty annoying, y'know? Nobody gets the better of her for too long. I'd say I sympathize, but, the kind of thief that you are? You had it coming, man."

"To think I almost joined up with you guys, hah!. Offering my services to people like you, not knowing what you guys were really up to. Good thing I learned my lesson for this episode in time. Oh, wait, I mean, day. You know what I mean."

"Still, a deal's a deal, I did bring you the Time Travel Cape you paid for. I do always honor my word, y'know. Here, I'll even get it ready for you."

The mercenary leader gradually returned to his senses at the sight of this ridiculous tiny fox-person dancing around shaking a colorful cape, singing some song in Spanish that he couldn't quite understand the lyrics to, not helped by the fact that Swiper, although born in Puerto Rico, was mouthing the words with a barely intelligible accent.

Agita, agita, agita Agita, agita, agita La capa de viaje!

The little rat they'd paid to distract Dora and deliver them the time-traveling device had led The Explorer straight to their den, ruined their entire scheme, and now had the nerve to dance in his face?

Shouting incoherently, he lunged forward and grapped the cape off Swiper's grip, and pulled on it as hard as he could, sending Swiper reeling backwards with comical cartoon drums simulating a tumbling noise. As he grabbed the cape, he didn't notice as circles of light started dancing around the mercenary. Swiper cleared his head and shouted

"Hey! No swiping!....", and tried to keep a straight face before he broke into a fit of giggles.

"What? What's so funny?" asked the grown man in body armor clutching the colorful children’s blanket he'd spent a small fortune on. He hadn't noticed yet that the blanket was tied to his wrist.

"Nothing, nothing, just, aah, you wouldn't get it. Hey, uh, hope you got a good look at what I was doing with it, man. The dance, y'know? The lyrics, too. Doesn't matter the language, just gotta get the words out in tune. That's how you get Mr.Troll's Time Travel Cape to work. I did tell you this was the time-traveling thingamabob you wanted me to get, right man?"

The man looked at his surroundings, gradually realizing the electric light circles that were surrounding him, as he tried to shake the cape off his wrist.

"Last thing they used this cape for was to go travel back in time to meet the dinosaurs. Maybe that's where you'll end up? Maybe not. Either way, good luck finding your way back, man. I'd tell you to stay away from my friend if you do ever come back but, guess that goes without saying, right?"

The man didn't get a chance to answer, before the cape started taking him into an era he'd have no chance of coming back from. By the time help arrived, no trace would remain of there having ever been a nationally-infamous mercenary and a thieving, talking fox having been in this place.

"You did get the lyrics I said, right? Brushed up on your Spanish recently, man?"

#replies tag #dora the explorer #swiper the fox #does this answer your question actually no it doesn't #I had no idea how to even answer this #why did I think writing a Dora the Explorer fanfic was gonna make it easier on me idk #hope you appreciate that I did do a lot of research for this #didn't watch the movie though #I watched a lot of scenes from it separately and all the Swiper ones for context #it looks fine and I obviously used parts of it as inspiration but #I wanted to try and see what my own take on adult pulp hero Dora could look like #with all the weird stuff that's part of the series and no boring realistic explanation for most of them #fanfic #pulp heroes #writing #my writing #see what was missing from the movie is the fact that Dora and Swiper having a weird but friendly dynamic is way better #than him just being a jerk that gets in her way #which he is also #but also they like saved Christmas together and he's stopped people from stealing things from her because nobody gets to do it but him #also I could not find a way to include the Explorer Stars and other bits of Dora weirdness I dug up #I feel like a lot of what's missing from these reboots of kid's media is an understanding of how weird they could get #and what kind of stories that weirdness allows for #this isn't me trying to justify what I just did it's just #I guess the reasoning why I thought writing Dora the Explorer fanfic was something I had to try #dora marquez #alicia marquez #nickelodeon #dora and the lost city of gold

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