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moon-spirit-yue · 2 years

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Raya teases Namaari about Namaari's sobriety when it comes to decorating (such as asking if she changed her green plant or if Namaari's bare room is meant to show off her giant bed which is on a podium). (i think raya's room is much richer and contains a multitude of colorful objects) you need dragons)

Raya bullying Namaari is so real:

Namaari, opening the door for Raya: yeah, here is my room

Raya, looking around: uh, are you sure?

Namaari, nodding: yeah, I’m pretty sure Raya

Raya, frowning: but there’s like, nothing here. This looks like every other fancy room in this place! The only really difference is how ginormous the bed is! Where is the decoration?! The pizazz?!

Namaari, gasping in offense: look, my room may be a little bare, but it has its own charm to it! It has pizazz!

Raya, snorting: the only reason why there’s any pizazz in this room is because I walked into it

Namaari, huffing: that is not true!

Raya, laughing: it totally is though *runs and flops on the bed* it’s so bleak in here, we need some decorating

Namaari, narrowing her eyes: you seem to be awfully comfortable in my bed even when you bash my room’s décor

Raya, smirking: I can’t bash what isn’t here!

Namaari: you know what you little gremlin?! *pounces on Raya and starts tickling her*

Raya, immediately laughing: w-wait! Please! I give in! Don’t punish me this way!

Namaari, grinning: admit that my room is cute

Raya, still laughing: I can’t deny the truth, Namaari! This room has so much potential but I can’t just lie to you dep la! It goes against everything I stand for!

Namaari: wrong answer! *intensifies the tickling*

Raya, squealing: OKAY OKAY! YOU HAVE A CUTE ROOM! AN ADORABLE ROOM EVEN! JUST HAVE MERCY ON ME!

Namaari, giggling: that’s what I thought

Raya, pouting: that was abuse. It was princess abuse

Namaari, rolling her eyes: you’re so dramatic

Atitaya, walking in: Princess Namaari I need to- *notices Raya panting on the bed with messy hair and Namaari leaning over her* oh I’ve had nightmares just like this one. Sorry guys, uh continue! Or don’t! Whatever! *scrambles out of the door*

Namaari, realizing what Atitaya thinks: WAIT NO ITS NOT THAT-

Raya, who also knows what Atitaya thinks: unfortunately not

Namaari, looking down at her: wait for real?

#raya and the last dragon #namaari #ratld #raya x namaari #rayaari #namaari x raya #raya and namaari #ratld namaari #raya disney #ratld raya #rayamaari #raya of heart #raymaari #disney raya #raya namaari #namaari of fang #raya incorrect quotes #ratld incorrect quotes #disney ratld

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shy-peacock · 2 years

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I really miss your main fic:((( would you write them being silly and cute (rated G or E or whatever you want) *making up' for the lost time?? Before babies and marriage just the two of them enjoying being together without all the drama love hour works!!

I'd say rated PG- some kissing and stuff???

Enjoy (no proof read- Im busy XD) ...is this canon?? who knows. But y'all won't be able to really??? know whats going on if you haven't read my main fic XD <3

Namaari’s bike sped fast down the sidewalk like a gust of powerful wind, her hair whipping back, legs pumping the bike forward as fast as it would take her.

School was done with for the day, her Mother in her typical meetings, Namaari taking the free time to bike all the way towards the Heart sector to where Raya would surely be getting out of school at any moment. Excitement coursing through her veins, eager to see her after a slew of busy days where she could only see Raya in brief moments of passing. Getting a smile, a tiny wave, maybe a hug if she was lucky. Yet Namaar wanted more. She wanted to spend hours with her best friend, and crush, again. Just like they did on days off or during holiday weeks. Never long enough for Namaari, but enough to make the time apart easier.

It wasn’t long till Raya’s school came into view, Namaari disembarking from her bike as it still moved along. Taking a few quick steps as she slowed down, coming upon the building right as the bell rang and students came pouring out of its doorways.

Namaari waited eagerly, trying to spot Raya through the crowds. Student after student, kid after kid, coming forth without a single look back as they escaped to freedom. All sizes and shapes and ages, yet not a single one of them was Raya.

Which was odd.

Strange.

Raya truly being the first to escape ‘hell’ as she put it, disliking most things about school that were not either physically related or ‘dragon’ related. Smart as a whip, yet she detested being stuck indoors for the long hours of the day. Always racing out of the building before the bell had stopped its glorious ring of freedom. Typically it was Namaari who had to keep up with her, fast as she was.

Eventually, Namaari pushed onward until she was nearly at the school gates. Hovering, trying to spot her from where she stood to where the building doors had swung open. The hallway was long, doors of classrooms and lockers that spread all along the wall. Barely any students were coming out now, a slower-paced bunch with an easy conversation going between them. Laughing, chattering away as they passed by Namaari without a care in the world.

Namaari almost turned back, thinking she may have missed Raya amongst the others, but then a noise caught her attention. Specifically Raya’s name, being shouted down the hall.

“Raya!” a voice cried out, “hey!”

It was only then that Namaari saw Raya exiting the building, her footsteps quick as usual as she made a beeline towards the gate. Nearly stumbling over her own two feet as she stopped and turned towards the person calling her name, another student that followed after her outside the school building. A male student, face red, exhausted as if they had been chasing her all through the school. Huffing and puffing, out of breath as he had succeeded in getting her to notice him at last.

“Hey-...” he said again, smiling sheepishly at her.

Namaari heard Raya chuckle, “Hey-....?”

After that, she couldn’t hear a word he or she said. Their voices dropping, or at least his was, as Namaari saw his mouth move and his hands toss back and forth as he rambled on, meanwhile she could only see Raya’s back as she was faced towards him. Unsure of what they spoke about or even why, just that with every word that came out of his mouth had his face growing redder by the moment. Then, without warning, he took her hand in his own. Holding it delicately as he continued to speak, the sight of it caused Namaari’s stomach to dip painfully. Uncomfortable as she realized what was happening.

He was asking her out.

Namaari didn’t even realize she was sinking down behind the school gates, not until her back pressed against the rugged bricks and she moved down into a sitting position. Knees bent, hugging them tight to her chest as she tried not to think about the conversation they were having then. How his hand touched her hand, how Raya had not pulled away from it. How she chuckled at his simple ‘hey’.

How she probably found him charming.

How he was probably going to try and kiss her hand then.

Maybe her lips even?

The more she sat there, the worse she felt. Practically wishing she could sink into the wall or at the very least go back in time and prevent herself from seeing this moment between them. The very best she could do was to slip away, walking her bike in the opposite direction until she knew she had given them enough space that she could get on her bike and pedal away without being detected.

Namaari glanced back, seeing Raya still before the boy. Forcing herself to look forward, riding the long way back to the Sisudatu, so that by the time she met up with her again that afternoon- she had wiped away the tears and put on a smile. Raya would be none the wiser…

~~~~

“MAARI!”

Namaari shrinked away, down further into the sheets. Raya followed her down, pushing back the blankets so that she couldn’t hide from her. Giving her the most adorable yet stern look she had ever seen. Especially as she brought up her finger to point at her, ready to tell her off.

“I cannot believe you didn’t tell me that happened!” Raya yelled again, “how old were we!?”

“Ah…high school?” Namaari grimaced, “I can’t remember exactly..I just know it was the times when I would bike to meet you after school and all-”

“So right about the time we started dating?!”

“No, we weren’t dating yet-”

“Still-!” Raya huffed, “you had to have known I liked you!”

Namaari shrugged, “I mean-..I hoped…we weren’t exactly..great at confessing back then…”

“But-..” Raya began, before giving up, rolling her eyes before giving her girlfriend a stern look, “either way-...I can’t believe you never told me that-...I can’t believe you hid it from me!”

Namaari grimaced again, feeling somewhat bad. They had been laying in bed most of the morning, cuddling and just reconnecting again with one another. Years now into the reunification of Kumandra, the defeat of the Druuns and the return of Sisu the actual dragon. They had a place all to their own, a life building with one another. No longer driven apart by duties and, quite literally, demons and all the confusing messes of terrified young lovers and the angst that was brought upon them by the miscommunications with each other. No, now they were happy. Now they had time to recollect the past and simmer in it. Healing from old wounds, remembering the good and the great and the bad and even the heart wrenching pains that neither of them knew about. Namaari telling Raya about a time she had been hurt, not by Raya but by her own worries and a boy that neither of them even knew anymore confessing his feelings for Raya.

An old story that Namaari had nearly forgotten, brought up at random in her mind that morning as they talked.

Leading them to now…

“I didn’t want to ask you about it..because I was afraid of the answer I’d get.” Namaari explained, “back then-..I couldn’t tell if we were really going to be something, or if that was my heart hoping we would..”.

Raya shifted back a bit. Clearly still not happy by this news, yet understandable of it.

They were young.

They had so much happening around them.

Both of them were wanting to be with each other yet afraid that their ‘person’ would reject them. No matter how much they cared for one another, it was the matter of risking everything for something that could all be in their heads. Not even a year later, Raya and Namaari kissed for the first time and their world completely changed. But, in the aftermaths of that scene between Raya and the boy, Namaari never would have guessed they’d be at that point months down the line.

“I told him no..” Raya stated, swatting at Namaari when she gave her a ‘um…of course??’ sort of look, “I mean it…I was so mad he was wasting my time, I already got stuck being scolded by one of my teacher’s..and then he stops me just to tell me something as stupid as that!”. Raya laughed, her face bright but her eyes falling as she looked down to her hands as they fiddled with a string in their blanket. “I wish I had known you were there..I would have kissed you then if I knew you were watching that unfold..” Raya admitted, cheeks dusted red, “just to let you know how much I wanted to be with you, over anyone…”

Namaari tried to bite back a smile, unable to keep it from showing.

“I would have kissed you that night your Dad wasn’t home-”

“GOD-” Raya laughed, “that was the absolute worst-!”

“Imagine if he would have opened the door to that instead of us doing ‘nothing’.” Namaari teased, throwing Raya into another fit of laughter as she did. Both remembering how close they had become that night, how they nearly kissed without a single word of recognition of their feelings. Yet, right after the incident, neither girl would admit that ‘something’ had happened between them. Joking as they claimed they were doing ‘nothing’ at all.

Raya shook her head, giving Namaari a humorous look.

“I wanted to kiss you plenty of times when we were in the Sisudatu studying.” she admitted, “and almost every time you came over-”

Namaari arched an eyebrow, “Well, I wanted to kiss you nearly every minute during those six years apart.”

Raya smirked, watching Namaari affectionately before saying-

“I want to kiss you now.”

Namaari laughed lightly, “Yeah..I do too..”

Their lips pressed together and Namaari felt her entire body melt into her kiss, sighs of pleasure escaping them both. The familiarity, the comfort, the buzzing and pleasant joy of being in one another’s arms as they deepened their kiss. Her tongue lightly grazing Namaari’s upper lip, Raya’s breath shuddering when she lightly bit down on her lower lip.

She felt Raya’s body move back, following her as she tugged her onto her body. Shifting her weight, her lover’s legs opening as she moved into her. Gently rocking down, until Raya’s head moved back to release a hot moan into the air. Namaari taking the moment to see her face, see the way her eyes fluttered at the sensation of heat melting through her body. A pair of hands coming around her back, lightly digging nails into her skin with one while the other came to affectionately stroke her face. Thumb brushing her cheek, as they locked eyes. Mesmerized, watching the other with pure bliss.

“Namaari..” Raya spoke, her voice earnest, “I’ll never make you feel that way again…okay?”

Namaari forced a light laugh, “Raya, it wasn’t your fault..and it was ages ago-”

“I know….” Raya admitted, “I just want you to know that you’ll never have to cry alone like that..or worry…cause I’ll be here to hold you when you do…until you feel better.”

Namaari nodded at her words, sinking into Raya’s body as she embraced her. Embracing them and the promise they held, not just from Raya but for her to Raya as well. Letting her hold her as they kissed. Blissful, as they reminisced and cuddled the rest of the day away.

#ratld #raya and the last dragon #surviving kumandra city #SKC universe #rayamaari #rayaari #raymaari #raya x namaari #namaari x raya #princess raya #princess namaaari #ratld namaari #ratld raya #disney raya #disney namaari

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teabeeart · 2 years

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little drool monster

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isitbussinjanelle · 3 years

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so im not sure if you do requests but if you do can you make a raya and the last dragon fic where raya is like at namaari's place and she gets her period and she gets all embarrased and namaari is just like its fine and super chill and raya isnt used to it

idk why but my heart longs for a cute fic like this

I don't know why I struggled so much with writing this because I didn't know how to set it up...But I still love the idea of Raya being all embarrassed and flustered with something like this. I hope you enjoy. :)

Understanding

Word count: 989

Warnings: None

Raya Tossed a hacky-sack up and down, it is gaining momentum every time it tapped against the sealing and darted back down to her.

“Can you not?” Namaari sighed as she shuffled papers in her hands, a pair of glasses resting on her nose.

“I will not ‘not’. I’m bored and you won’t do anything with me so this is what you get.” She threw the ball harder, making sure it made a thud against the ceiling.

“We can do something when I finish this work…” Namaari trailed off while reading something.

“So never?”

Namaari didn’t respond, instead skimming through a short paragraph.

“Sorry what was that?” She jerked her head at Raya

“You always work. You never have any fun. In fact, you’re like a fun-killer.” She tossed the ball again. Namaari gasped.

“I know you didn’t. ‘tons of fun.” She put down her papers on her lap.

“I did, and not you’re not. Buzzkill. Im gonna to start calling you princess buzz kill.”

“Shut up.” Namaari side eyed her.

“What was that princess buzzkill?”

“I said shut up,” Namaari chuckled as she took her foot and pushed Raya off of the bed with it She yelped as the rolled off the side, laughing on the ground, Namaari was too.

“Uh…Raya?”

“Hm?” Raya got up from the floor to see Namaari pointing to the spot where Raya was sitting. There was a patch of red. Blood.

Raya’s eyes widened as she looked down at herself to find a drop of blood making its way down her leg.

“Ohmygoshimonmyperiod.” She said in a hushed voice to herself, a blush of embarrassment creeping onto her cheeks.

“Yeah I think so,” Namaari chuckled, only because Raya looked adorable when she blushed, and seeing her horrified face was amusing to.

Although Namaari laughing only made Raya feel worse. She grabbed her bag from the floor which hopefully had pads or tampons in it, and walked hastily to the restroom, locking the door behind her.

Namaari giggled at her franticness still. She didn’t get why she was making a big whoop about it. It was just a period.

But to Raya it was more than that. Especially considering that her crush just witnessed her bleeding in that certain way, looking like a fool afterwards, all while laughing. Namaari didn’t mean any harm though.

She would never laugh at Raya for something like that.

~*~

“Ugh…” Raya groaned into her knees, curled up on the toilet on the verge of tears. That might have been the most embarrassing thing she has ever had to endure.

She had already changed underwear, thankfully there being an extra one in her bag, and put a tampon in. But she couldn’t go back out there. Namaari’s smiling face at her embarrassment replaying in her head.

She might just die in that restroom.

After a while, Namaari stopping scanning over her papers, realizing that Raya had been in there for a bit. She got a little worried. Then her thoughts traced back to her reaction of Raya getting her period and staining her bed. Of course, Namaari didn’t care about Raya’s period, or the bloodstain, because she understood what that kind of stuff was like.

But maybe Raya wasn’t that at ease about it.

“R-raya? You okay in there?” Namaari took to knuckled and knocked on the door. She heard a small sniffle.

“Yeah I'm good.”

“Hey I’m really, really sorry about laughing. I-I wasn’t laughing at you, I just that it was funny, how frantic you were and stuff.” Namaari explained. “It was kinda cute,” She said, but only to herself. Not aloud.

She noticed the handle jiggle. The door unlocked and flung open.

“Its okay.” Raya responded. “I know you would never laugh at me for something personal like that…just…I was super embarrassed…”

“But why? You know I'm a girl too, right?” Namaari joked.

“Duh. But still…you know…I didn’t want you to think I was gross or something…” Raya rubbed her arm.

“Why would I think that? Periods are normal. I would be an idiot to think that you wee gross for having one when I get one too.”

“Yeah I guess but…I'm so so sorry for staining your bed sheets too I-“

“Nope nope nope,” Namaari pulled Raya into a hug. It looked like she needed one. “no apologizing.”

“I just feel really bad...” She muffled, crying into her chest.

“Don’t. Please don’t feel bad. I’m not mad at you.” Namaari planted a very light kiss atop her head, hoping she didn’t feel it.

“Really?”

“Trust me, if I were really mad, I would fight you right here right now.” Namaari chuckled Raya did too.

“Like you’d win.” She answered, backing out of the hug and clearing her face f wetness. Namaari grinned back at her.

“Alright so…Are you okay physically? Like do you need pills for cramps or anything?” Namaari walking into the restroom and shuffled through boxes of medicine brands and bandages in the top cabinet.

“No I’m good. For now at least.”

“Awesome. Alright let’s head downstairs. We can hang out on the couch or do something else.” Namaari opened the door.

“What why?”

“Well I know you probably don’t wanna lay in your spot on the bed. I would let you take my spot but then where am I going to go?” Namaari chuckled.

“I could just lay on top of you…” Raya barely mumbled, loud enough for Namaari to ear, and for the tops of her ears and her whole face to go red.

“W-what did you say-“

“NOTHING- I -uh nothing I was just agreeing with you lets just head downstairs or whatever,” Raya breezed past her through the door.

Namaari stood there for a minute, analyzing what she thought and knew Raya said, not at all turned off by the idea of Raya on top of her…

“Yeah- yes um…Downstairs,” She nodded quickly before closing her room door and following Raya.

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ren-451 · 3 years

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raya: *does something batshit crazy for the nth time*

namaari: i've gotten so used to this that i’m starting to think its cute.

#incorrect quotes #ratld incorrect quotes #raya and the last dragon incorrect quotes #ratld #raya and the last dragon #raya #namaari #rayaari #rayamaari #raymaari #ramaari

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sapphic-yearning-lesbian · 3 years

Text

Animal Companion (RATLD-October Prompt)

Another AU where Namaari didn't try to steal the dragon gem.

I will upload it to A03 eventually.

Timeline: Still 12 years old

Warnings: None

"Pleaseeeee," Raya pouted as she sat at the end of her Ba's bed, clutching a letter close to her chest.

"Dewdrop, it's too early for this," Benja huffed as he shifted onto his side, maintaining his eyes closed. He knew the moment he opened his eyes and looked at his daughter, she would win. "I can't just drop everything and accompany you to Fang today."

"BUT--" Raya pouted as she jerked her body up and down, making the whole bed shake.

"What's so important that you woke me up before the sunrise? Only to ask me to take you to Fang?" He asked as he frowned his eyebrows at Raya's tantrum.

"Namaari is choosing her serlot cub today, and I just really want to be there for her" Raya cut herself off, scared of the personal information she accidentally shared, "I MEAN I want to meet the cub."

Benja yawned as one eyelid blinked open. Raya looking directly at him, with a pout on her lips, puppy dog eyes, and both hands clasped together at her chest, pleading with him.

"Tuk Tuk needs a friend! Look at his sad face," Raya said, then pointing to her lap.

Benja finally allowed both his eyelids to open as his gaze fell to Raya's lap. The pill bug also looking up at him with pleading eyes as he silently grunted. "UGHHH," He growled as he shifted to laying on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

Raya knew her Ba was caving; he just needed a little push. "I realllyyyy think traveling to Fang will give us more time to bound, as the trip there and back is somewhat long by foot..." She grinned as she watched her Ba close his eyes, gulping. "I get to met a serlot cub, and you make up for all the bonding time we've missed this week BECAUSE of your busy schedule."

Benja sat up, a broad grin on his face. "Ohhh, you're good." He chuckled as he nodded yes, Raya screaming in her joy, "I'll take you, but I have to arrange a few things before we go."

Raya nodded her head happily as she threw herself onto her Ba, planting a massive kiss on his cheek.

---

"Are you excited, Morning Mist?" Virana asked, reaching out and brushing her daughters hair out of her face. Namaari only looking back at her with such excitement.

"So excited!" She purred

"Princess Namaari" Atitaya voice announced, "Cheif Virana, You have vistors."

Namaari had her back towards the General, but she watched as a wide grin appeared on her mother's face. "Ohh Chief Benja, and Raya! Welcome! It's a pleasure to see you both!"

No sooner had Namaari heard Raya's name had she fallen face down onto the floor, Raya having tackled her from behind. Everywhere Raya was touching, pulsing with a warmness that made Namaari's heart smile.

Raya lifted herself off Namaari, sitting off to the side, smiling as the other sat up looking at her.

"Dep La! You came?" Namaari asked in disblief.

Raya only smirked as her most trusted companion rolled off her shoulder onto Namaari's lap.

Namaari using one hand to gently scratch his forehead as the other massaged his shell tenderly. "Of course! I couldn't miss the day you met your second best friend" Namaari's smile turned into a smirk as her eyebrows went up, challenging Raya's words.

"Who's my first?" Raya gasped as she let a hand fall against her heart.

"I'll just walk back home then," Raya taunted, but she had no intention of leaving.

"Kidding!" They sat on the floor, looking at each other, just smiling at the other. They've been communicating through letters for weeks, so now being able to see each other in person felt like the first sip of ice-cold water on a hot day.

"Princess," Atitaya announced once again, "It's time."

Both girls squealed as Namaari scooped Tuk Tuk into the palms of her hands, standing up. Once Raya was on their feet, she allowed Tuk Tuk to roll onto her shoulder again. Both of them grinning from ear to ear. "I bet I can get there faster than you," Raya stated with a bobbed eyebrow.

"Challenge accepted," Each of them exchanging a glare as they got into their running stance. "1...2...GO," both girls zooming off in opposite directions, as they didn't know where they were headed.

After realizing none would win, they slowly jogged back to, Atitaya, Virana, and Benja. Who were engaged in conversation, patiently awaiting the return of the silly princesses.

---

"Aren't you a cutie," Raya purred as she held a female serlot up to her face, rubbing her nose against the kittens.

Namaari was happy; she was having a blast sitting on the floor, surrounded by several kittens, but she couldn't feel a connection. Or a spark. And the longer she sat there petting them, taking in their kitten breath, the more guilty she became. "I can't do this." She exclaimed as she lightly pushed three kittens off her lap, standing up running towards the door.

"Morning, Mist! What's wrong?" Virana said, beginning to chase behind her daughter only to be stopped by Benja gently gripping her arm. Virana raising her eyebrows at him as he motioned with his head towards Raya. Virana instantly understating to allow Raya to handle the outburst.

Raya had instantly placed the kitten down, running after Namaari. Yet as she was about to leave the nursery, she spotted a separate room with even younger serlots. She smiled as she instead walked into the room, looking at the four kittens, her eyes landing on the runt of the litter.

Raya watched as the other siblings tried to gang up on it, only for the runt to hiss and protect herself. That's when Raya knew that kitten was meant to be Namaari's. So without thinking, she scooped up the kitten and ran for the door. She knew she would be in deep trouble for catnapping the kitten, but Raya had to do this for Namaari.

When Namaari exited the nursery, she walked over to a bench and sat down, throwing her head in her hands. She was overwhelmed by the cuteness, but nothing was clicking into place. She thought that she would feel something within her when she saw a kitten or even held it. Yet, she felt like she was cuddling and playing with someones else pets.

"The Namaari I know never runs away! What happened" Raya announced behind Namaari, watching her shoulders go up and down with every breath.

Namaari shrugged as she exhaled loudly, disappointed in herself.

Raya chuckled as she stood right behind the other, lowering her voice. "You missed a couple of faces on your way out." Raya gently brought the kitten down on Namaari's head, who seemed startled. "She wanted to meet you, but you left so fast she couldn't say hi," Raya whispered as she brought the cat back up.

After having felt tiny paws on her head, Namaari quickly turned around, finding Raya holding the most petite kitten in her hands. The kitten wasn't very happy with Raya, hissing and scratching her hands as if the cat didn't want to be held.

Suddenly the kitten looked at her, and she felt a desire to hold it and keep it safe. So she reached out, grabbing it from Raya's hands.

The moment she held the cat within her grasp, the serlot sprung into action, scratching her across the cheek. Instead of getting mad, Namaari chuckled. The kitten didn't attempt to strike her again but did continue to hiss. Even so, Namaari watched the kitten with understanding eyes, realizing the kitten was acting in self-defense, scared that Namaari was going to hurt her.

That's when the pieces made sense. This kitten was no older than a month, but she was extremely small, meaning she was the runt of the pack. Being so tiny makes her a target to her siblings, resulting in her being forced to protect herself from danger.

"It's okay! I'm not going to hurt you," Namaari whispered as she slowly pet the kitten. Its hissing increasing as its back arched, yet Namaari wasn't about to give up.

As the slow movements weren't working, Namaari placed the serlot on her lap. The kitten now tugging and biting on her clothing. She knew this should upset her, but she couldn't help but smile, thinking the whole exchange was adorable.

"Hmmm," she thought out loud as she clicked her tongue. "Of course," she thought as she brought her fingers behind the cat's ear, scratching it with her long nails. Within seconds the serlot had stopped hissing and tugging at her clothes, only purring in contentment. Finally, Namaari had connected with her new companion.

Raya had watched the whole exchange and had just decided to sit beside the other, her hands occupied by petting Tuk Tuk, "So what are you naming your feisty kitten?"

Namaari was okay with the rest of the world, seeing this kitten as feistily, maybe a little rude, but Namaari knew that there was a softness in this cat that she was going to enjoy unveiling over time: A softness that would only exist for her. And that was enough. "Thuy"

"That's beautiful," Raya comments as she reaches for the kitten. She was half expecting the serlot to hiss, bite or even starch her but instead, Thuy licked her, "You are gentle, making the name perfect for you."

The princesses having no knowledge that Thuy would grow to be ice cold to everyone besides Namaari, Raya, and Tuk Tuk, while only tolerating Virana. So to the rest of Kumandra, the name Thuy was unfitting.

I don't feel strongly about this piece, as I wrote it with a massive headache; even so, I'm just happy I completed it!

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trulyinspiringmovies · 2 years

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Raya And The Last Dragon

“Raya And The Last Dragon” is a bit frustrating to watch because it feels like it’s taking tiny missteps for every step it's taking.

Raya lives in a world that used to be inhabited by dragons and evil spirits called the Druun. She is the princess of Heart and is tasked with protecting a gem that contains the last bit of dragon power. When Raya’s father invites the other people of the broken Kumandra, the princess of Fang seizes an opportunity to steal the gem for her own people. This draws the attention of everyone else and causes everyone to fight for the gem. The gem breaks into five pieces which unleash the Druun to start turning people into stone. It’s now up to Raya to gather all the stolen pieces of the gems in order to turn everyone back to normal. To do that, she has to enlist the help of Sisu, the last dragon.

This movie is all about trust, but it ironically doesn’t trust its audience to realize that for themselves. The fact that Raya is an untrusting person is constantly hammered in through unsubtle scenarios that just conveniently make her mistrust unjustified. I wish there was some variety for how her mistrusting attitude manifests in her day-to-day life. Instead, the movie just consists of Raya being cautious, borderline mistrusting, and then her seeing that the person is actually suffering from loss due to the Druun as well. Then you have Sisu chiming in and telling Raya that she needs to place her trust in other people first to gain some back. It’s frustrating to hear that because her trust in Namaari is what got her into this situation in the first place. Of course, she’s going to be hesitant to trust anyone ever again. She basically lost her father because of misplaced trust. Raya ends up being the bigger person through the help of Sisu and trusts in Namaari once more only to be betrayed yet again. Raya asks for the gem piece and meets up with Namaari only to be met with a crossbow to the face. After Namaari breaks her new chance at trust, she starts pulling the trigger. Raya is unsuccessful at stopping her and the arrow flies into Sisu. Sisu dies and Namaari has the audacity to blame Raya for her lack of trust. She is literally the reason why Raya is so untrusting and then blames her for not trusting someone who was in the middle of squeezing the trigger of a crossbow. On top of that, Raya once again places her trust in Namaari to save the world, but it’s not hard to trust Namaari to do that because the only other option would be certain death. Namaari didn’t do the right thing because she had a change of heart. It’s because she had no other choice. Some other nitpicks I had were the animation, dialogue, and comedy. I liked the animation, but the art direction felt uninspired. I couldn’t help but be reminded of cheap animations on YouTube because that’s what all the characters looked like to me. The only differences were the high-quality particle effects, realistic water effects, and dynamic character movements. The dialogue felt bland and had a bad mix of contemporary sayings and concepts. Tuk Tuk served no purpose other than to try and look cute and be transportation for the first third of the movie. Sisu was teetering that line of being fine and being annoying. The only character that fully crossed into the annoying territory was the baby. The baby was not funny, yet the movie was insistent that she was. The only thing that really saved this movie was its fight choreography. I thought certain shots were breathtaking. Raya tries to make a stand at Spine and when the doors swung open, my jaw dropped. Still, I think this movie is going to end up being one of those forgotten Disney movies that only come up in conversation when someone wants to bring up buried memories within their circle of friends.

★★★

Watched on March 19th, 2022

#Raya And The Last Dragon #March #2021 #Children's #Action #Comedy #Adventure #Drama #Animation #Fantasy #Family #PG #Carlos López Estrada #Don Hall #March 2022 #3 stars

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a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual · 3 years

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My thoughts about Raya and the Last Dragon because I want to talk about it so bad.

I did like the movie

It was a gorgeous movie like possibly the best Disney film when it comes to animation

With pretty compelling characters

God I adore Kelly Marie Tran’s voice acting

I did have some problems with the humor

Mostly Sisu it was very jarring to be in dystopian southeast Asia then hear about group projects

But for the most part, I think they did a pretty good job of balancing the humor with the most serious aspects

I brought my mama to see this movie and it was really sweet to see her eyes light up when she saw something familiar

She would just point at the foods and go “Look Satay, look Duran, look rambutan, look shrimp paste” as if she didn’t raise me on this food

Raya asking Namaari if she’s eaten is possibly the most Southeast Asian question I’ve ever heard

If you didn’t know this Southeast Asians really show their affection through food

At any and all gatherings we bring food

Food is a major part of our culture so its something I’m glad they got right

I really love Raya she’s such a thought-provoking character

And I love how she’s not the typical princess

Also, I don’t know about anyone else but her mindset is incredibly accurate to my family

The second I was out of the womb my family forced trust issues onto me

My mindset ever since I was little was “never trust anyone or anything new”

God I wish it were a tv show

Almost every single bad thing I have to say about it could have been fixed if it were a tv show

Obviously, I have other gripes with it like how it’s not even available to most of southeast Asia

And you cant really take multiple cultures and mash them together and go “boom representation!”

And I am sad that most of the voice actors weren’t even southeast Asian

The lack of southeast Asian voice actors paired with the smushed together cultures really made the representation feel very fake

Like “here’s you’re princess now you can stop complaining”

As someone of Southeast Asian descent, it kind of felt like a slap to the face

But back to my less heavy gripes with the movie

Making it a tv show really could have fleshed out the characters

I know we would have had to give up that gorgeous animation but I would have loved to see a more rough animation style if it meant more lively characters

Something a friend and I were talking about is all of their character development felt very rushed

Because here’s the thing Raya is an incredibly selfish character

During the entire movie, her main goal was to bring her father back

She really didn’t care about her people which was a really interesting thing to see because that almost never happens with royal characters

But anyway around the end of the movie when she was helping the people of Fang escape during the entire scene the only thing I could think was “but why tho?”

She was never given a scene before this where she could go “ah-ha! Maybe just maybe my father isn't the only person in the world that deserves to be saved!”

So when she was being the typical Disney heroine it felt very rushed and fake

Like she was only doing it because everyone else was

If these characters were given more screen time where they could spend time in the different lands and learn their stories then Raya’s journey could have had more dept

Like we could have seen it slowly go from “I want to bring my ba back” to “I want to bring this person back” and “I want this person to have their parent back” and “this family deserves to have these people back”

And so on and so on until she has a ten-page list of promises to people

I also think it would be interesting for her to lose some people she met and bonded with along the way

Obviously not from the main cast but maybe an ally she made through joint trauma

This would have made the end scene all the more heartwarming because all those people would be there for a reason

I don't think the found family lived up to their full potential

Because as cute as their dynamic was it felt very shallow at some parts

She had no reason to trust them and they never gave her a reason to and vise versa

So when they were all huddled together before turning to stone it kind of felt very shallow

Like don't get me wrong it was a sweet scene that made me tear up a bit

But could you imagine seeing them bond over the course of a season or two

We could have seen them fight side by side and help each other and make sacrifices for one another

And see them really grow into their roles of the older sister or the father or the little brother

Like I said it was a cute scene but it could have been so much more heartfelt

Another thing I want to point out is Raya and Namaari’s conflict

This was another thing that felt very rushed for me and something that could have been easily fixed if this was a show

Because here’s something that kind of bugged me Raya brought Namaari to see the dragon gem hours after meeting her

And yeah I know that she was 12 and she was trying to trust people because she wanted to help her father in his journey to make Kumandra a reality

But could you imagine how much more Namaari’s betrayal would hurt if she and Raya had bonded over the course of years

Like can you imagine watching Raya and Namaari grow up together to a point where they were inseparable

And then Namaari backstabs her and pulls the “in another world we could have been friends” line

I feel like that scene would have hurt so much more if they really knew each other

Another thing I would have liked to see is Raya through that six-year period

Just seeing her grow increasingly frustrated at not being able to find Sisu while also having an Aang and Zuko like bond with Namaari

Like year sure they fight and stuff but they also save each other from life or death situations

Because no matter what the other did they still care for each other

So if they decided to write them as lovers their relationship as a whole would have much more depth

Which honestly would have made the scene where she gives Namaari her gem piece more powerful

Because it kind of reaffirms what we all knew throughout the entire series that no matter what they say or do to each other they still to some extent trust one another

But in the movie again it felt really shallow I think my friend explained it best when she said it kind of felt like Raya was only trusting Namaari because Sisu told her to

There was no emotional backing there was no real reason to trust one another it just felt very rushed

Next, I wanna talk about Namaari

She’s one of my favorite things about this movie

Which is why it sucks that we don't get to see more of her

I think this movie did something really interesting by making the typical Disney princess Raya’s enemy for the majority of the movie

And what I mean by typical Disney Princess is she cares about her people to a fault

She did everything for her people she stole the gem because she thought it would help her people

She tried to stop Raya from collecting the gems because she didn't know her reasoning and she thought she might be a threat to her people

And she has such an interesting perspective of this story which I again really would have loved to see over the course of a season

I would have loved to see her watch Fang slowly fall apart and see her grow more desperate to save it

To a point where she would have to hurt Raya in the process even if she didn't want to

Because as she briefly mentioned Fang looks pretty but it has a lot of holes and I would have loved to see what she meant by that

Like how bad Fang truly was

Like I said most of my gripes about the movie were its pacing and how it would be so much better in a tv show format

But these are just my opinions y’all can love the movie or hate the movie

You can agree with me or not I’m just putting my opinions fully on display for all to see and judge

#raya and the last dragon #raya #namaari #I love these girls #I wish we saw more of their dynamic #wow this is long #like maybe the longest thing I’ve ever posted #which is saying a lot

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rayaandthelastdragons · 3 years

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Okay so I already self projected on another blog but I love self projecting so I’m doing it again lmao. What if Raya is getting hit on by some creep while regressed and she gets so scared so she runs to she find Namaari and tells her what happened then Namaari low key plots murder. A friend of mine got approached by a creep and we ended up fine but it still kinda freaked us out so I had to base it off that. Oh and Namaari could buy Raya a cute new stuffed animal to make her feel better since my friend and I bought earrings and it totally made us happier. I just think a protective Namaari would be a force to be reckoned with

Yes i saw this one! I could see this happening.

raya would be terrified out of her mind and nammari would want to go after the dude but raya tugs on her shirt to be picked up before burying her face in Namaari’s shoulder.

its one of the few times raya regresses a bit younger than normal which in turn prevents Namaari from committing murder

#ratld #ratld headcanons #raya #raya and namaari #raya and the last dragon #rayaari #rayamaari #namaari #agere!raya #anon

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mixelation · 3 years

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Ah glad you enjoyed Raya and the Last Dragon. I personally have complicated feelings on it because the 'rep' the movie was marketed for is honestly terrible. They just threw all Southeast Asian culture into a blender and hit blend until it's not actually representing any Southeast Asian culture just the vauge idea of it. From the perspective of a movie, I also feel like it's pretty terrible, the themes are conflicting and the pacing I feel has been really rushed (and not in a good way unfortunately), the cast is huge but no one really gets fleshed out. Also oh god the fucking dragon. I don't really get everyone else's 'elsa' hangup ig, I'm just mad because Southeast Asian Dragons are SO DAMN COOL and you still chose to make THIS. (I know Disney did it so they could easily make merch and I'm m a d)

But now, onto what I liked. As a Southeast Asian, it was nice to see characters on the big screen that looked like people I'd see here. Raya's dad was peak generic animated Malay dude lmao. Also the cgi is great, the scenery and everything was so pretty. Like Namaari (NAMAARI MY BELOVED). And the (homoerotic) fight scenes were so fun and well choreographed. ALSO RAYA'S KERIS-WHIP??? *makes grabby hands*

Ah back to complaining lmao. Idk this one is more of my own pet peeve. The people who are like oh it's so gay this is the best thing in the world. No. Its just straight up queerbaiting and every other aspect of the movie is shit (except for the visual department, you get a headpat) and the 'rep' just makes me want to pull my hair out. Like I get it okay, I really do. I'm gay, it's cool to see blade lesbians. But by god this movie does not deserve to be put on a pedestal just for that.

Also when Disney sees that Raya didn't do well in revenue, they probably won't think 'oh it's because the majority of Southeast Asia is unavailable for Disney fucking Plus (literally only Singapore and Indonesia has it atm) and putting the movie on a platform where the people it's marketed to can't legally watch it is stupid' or just 'oh the movie objectively sucks even though it's decent eye candy' they'll think 'oh Southeast Asian movies just don't do well, let's not do that again next time'.

Just. Fuck Disney.

Ah, complicated Disney feelings, my old friend.

I'm not SE Asian so I'm going to refrain from making too much commentary on that side of the representation. It does seem particularly dumb to me they only made the movie available to a very small part of SE Asia... you couldn't have made it available a different streaming service in countries without Disney+? O-kaaaaay.

(Actually in general I think it would be better if Disney stopped driving smaller animation studios out of business so we could get more of a diversity of films rather than just waiting around for Disney to gift us with something............... because Disney is garbage :) )

I do think discussions about drawing from multiple real world cultures for a fantasy story that does not take place in the real world are really interesting and worth having. Moana, for example, got some criticism from pulling from multiple cultures within Polynesia. Avatar: the Last Airbender draws inspo from all sorts of cultures, and I saw some similar discussions from Africans about the worldbuilding for Wakanda in Black Panther. What's the line between enriching your fantasy world with IRL cultures and just mixing and matching in a disrespectful way? I think people will have lots of different opinions and the discussion is important to have.

The Elsa Dragons are just so...... like, the problem isn't that they look like Elsa, per se, the problem is that they're so painfully designed to make cute toys and market to kids (which is why Elsa looks like that lol) that it's hard to look at them seriously. It's extra disappointing to me that it happened to the dragons because I like dragons. Dragons are cool! What is this?? And I do think Sisu was one of the weaker parts of the movie. It seemed sort of like they were trying to recreate the magic of Genie or Mushu, but instead they ended up having Awkwafina waste time spiting some mediocre jokes when they should have been fleshing out her character and her relationship with Raya/other characters.....

Speaking of! Like I said, Raya did feel like a longer story that had been compressed into a movie. I think the story would have worked better as a TV series where we got to spend more time on each kingdom and learning about all the character's backstories and how the Druun affected them. So, it felt kind of experimental to me, since it was pretty different from the standard princess movie format? Like I don't think they quite nailed it, but Disney has been struggling to put more thoughtful/nuanced messages into their newer movies than "~~love~~" and mostly they have not been very good at it. (Looking at YOU, whatever the fuck Frozen 2 was, and how Brave was supposed to be a strong mother-daughter movie and turned into. Whatever that was.) So was Raya perfect? No, the story was a bit weak and I'm till confused by Noi-the-scam-artist-baby*, but I liked the visuals and action and the fact that we got a complicated and compelling relationship between women as the heart of the story (which both Brave and Frozen failed to deliver on, I don't @ me I'm right)..... so I still enjoyed the movie, and I felt like it was an improvement over some other Disney movies in the story department even though it was far from perfect.

Raya and Namaari's relationship didn't feel like queerbaiting to me. Like, YES, I did put on my shipping goggles pretty early on to go gay gay very very gay, but I never felt like the MOVIE ITSELF was trying to do anything beyond tell a story about two young women who wanted to be friends but were forced apart. Like, this isn't the debacle with LaFou pining after Gaston (but not saying or explicitly showing that's what's happening) followed by a 0.5 second scene of him dancing with a man while Disney is like "behold..... representation!" I thought the banter and palpable hurt/betrayal and eventual reconciliation between Raya and Namaari were the best parts of the movie besides Namaari's shoulders and I was pretty happy with it.

....that being said, I went out of my way not to interact with any of Raya's marketing or associated Disc Horse, so I might have missed some controversy there.

OH, a random note though: I thought Kelly Marie Tran's voice acting was great and was glad Disney cast her after they very blatantly screwed her over in Star Wars. She just seems like such kind & fun person and she deserves to be a Disney princess instead of getting vitriol from weird Star Wars fans. :/ .....but also Disney is evil so I don't want to be like "oh it's so nice of them not to just get rid of her!!" when they didn't protect her before. Conflicting feelings..........

WAIT AN ADDITIONAL NOTE: Are they even pushing merch for Raya?? I haven't been in many stores for obvious reasons, but back in May I did go into a standard nerd-stuff shop with a whole wall of Disney, and there was a little two year old kid begging for Raya stuff and they! Had! Nothing!! LET ME THE CHILDREN BUY THE SWORD.

*I was SO convinced Noi was going to be a Tiyanak, and then I was like "oh it's a weird on-off joke for The Children" and then she just never left. ????

#when raya's dad's sword turning to a FUCKING WHIP i inhaled through my teeth and was like #please. PLEASE give raya the sword. she needs it. we deserve a princess with that weapon

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fizzingwizard · 2 years

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Watched Raya and the Last Dragon at last... Now I'm so conflicted. It's a perfectly fine movie, let's get that straight. I want to like it, there are lots of things about it I love, but it just feels so... confused... like it's not sure what kind of movie it is... does that make sense??

It kind of reminds me of how I felt after watching Shang-chi - so many things that were pretty freaking awesome (plus Awkwafina's in both) but just sooo many characters and such an overly complicated plot despite at its core being a super simplistic one... and the chief personal elements that could set it apart being conveyed with run-of-the-mill "and here we are bonding" "here we are dividing" type scenes that don't have much individuality.

To be fair, I often like things better on rewatch. I think I'd give it a B, which isn't bad.

Rambling below...

To start off with, the animation: gorgeous. Love all the color, and also the Tatooine-like desert... and the textures on the fabrics, the hair, etc. Really lovely.

The dragons: not sure how to feel about them. On the one hand, I think they're fantastic. I love how lively and free and playful they are. The scene where they're all flowing through the air in iridescent colors is gorgeous. But on the other, their design is very much like "we want to make a cute plush doll out of this character for little girls, so make it as cute and rainbow and unicorn-like as possible"

(A lot of my issues with this movie could come down to "did Disneyfication do it wrong?" sort of stuff, such as the above)

The script was either stilted or just felt off. Like someone was trying to write "like a cool teen" who has never actually met a teenager, let alone a "cool" one. I can't take one more "I got this" for the rest of my life lol

Sidekick characters: Each came from a different country, and I liked how they arrived in a natural way - just people Raya met passing through. I love Boun in particular, and Tong being the loving dad. Noi was annoying af but honestly I think I would have loved her just as much if she'd been a tiiiiny less babyish. In my head, I'm reasoning that she can't talk because her family was petrified, and it's totally normal for some kids to not talk much even at three or four years old even when they do have adults in their lives who talk to them. So I'm fine with that. But I'd rather she was just quiet then, and not making constant goo-goo noises. Or at least let her sound like a baby and not an adult plugging their nose while they garble into the microphone? XD But I admit this is just my pet peeve haha.

Even though I like the aforementioned sidekicks and how they joined the group, I didn't feel like there was much use for them aside from comic relief and the obvious "coming together in unity" thing at the end.

The linchpin of the story is Raya and Namaari. Whether they choose to trust each other is the crux of saving the world. So WHY wasn't their relationship more important?? This is what boggles me. You could argue that what we do get is enough. But I think they missed major potential. If it were me, the movie would have started with Raya and Namaari, as kids, making friends on their own somehow (diplomatic travel, etc). We would get to know them as individuals instead of extensions of their parents (*eye roll*). That would have made Namaari's betrayal hurt more, and feel less stupid (I get Daddy Dearest wanted peace, but did he never tell his daughter not to let random people into the secret highly-protected temple of the dragon gem? Did he really think there's no way someone would try to use an innocent child's trust to get at it??)

And obvious the shipper in me is like RAYA AND NAMAARI COULD HAVE HAD IT ALL etc etc.

Ultimately I really really do just wish we knew them more as characters. I think this is the biggest issue for me: it's a Disney animated movie, but it's so action-y. I'd hoped it would successfully bridge the gap between the impersonal "the world is dying"-ness of dystopian adventure stories and the centrality of interpersonal relationships and emotions that Disney is known for. But there was too much plot that needed to happen in the short time for the relationships and personality to come out - and there was too much personality for the adventure to crystallize, instead turning into a pretty straightforward "beat the big bad" RPG type story with an underlying message of "divided we fall united we stand." Sweet, but... heavy-handed in this movie.

I mostly liked Awkwafina's awkward dragon though. There was a lot of iffy dialogue for her too, but she grew on me. I think she and Raya had a lot more potential as well. It bugged me a little that we saw Sisu's naivety cause harm several times, but Raya's lack of trust was the "bad guy" of the movie. That lack of trust is what kept her alive. Her choice to trust Namaari at the very end was big for just that reason. So I feel that there really needed to be more done for Sisu to convince Raya to trust again. It's kind of like Sisu was a Disney character and Raya was an action hero... and it didn't gel :P (To be clear: I don't mean that Sisu's trust shouldn't be allowed to cause harm - we definitely should see that it comes with risk. I just felt like Sisu wasn't built up as being reliable. Although, in retrospect, "Trust people without knowing if they're trustworthy" could be considered the message of the movie... and I'm just too jaded to appreciate it :P)

That being said. Raya losing her trust, not in Namaari, but in Sisu, and accidentally causing the accident that led to Sisu's death was a GREAT moment. Freaking loved that. Also her giving in to pain and vengefulness and going after Namaari. Her final sacrifice felt both fitting for the story and for Raya herself - after heading all the way into hate and finding no way out, she threw herself entirely in the opposite direction when there was literally nothing else to lose.

Anyway, yeah, Raya/Namaari... I ship it :P

#disney #raya and the last dragon

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moon-spirit-yue · 2 years

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Raya flees from namaari and hides in a tree with baby Aulia... but this little binturi gets very excited in the presence of the other woman who stalks them on the ground, several feet below. Namaari therefore finds herself with a baby "fallen from the sky" and takes care of it because she loves children and Raya wants to recover her daughter from the clutches of this woman-serlot who "holds" her.

This is absoluetly hilarious. Takes place in the omegaverse au:

Raya, yawning and holding Aulia in one arm: so, I’m starting to think I maybe should have listened to Charanya when she said to not bring you with me to search the rivers. You’re kind of a handful, bro

Aulia: *smiles at her*

Raya, immediately smiling back: awww who am I kidding! I’m so happy you’re here! *kisses her cheek*

Aulia: *giggles and waves her arms around*

Namaari, casually passing by: right, we’re going to need more provisions to make it through the month and-

Raya, scrambling to get away from her: shit shit shit this is so not the time to meet mother number two-

Namaari, walking directly to Raya but is looking down at her paper so she doesn’t notice: no, that can’t be right….

Raya: *panics and climbs up a tree because it’s the only hiding spot in the area*

Namaari, leaning against the tree Raya’s sitting in: okay seriously whoever wrote this needs to having a hand writing class this looks like chicken scratch

Aulia: *sees a bird flying at her then screams and wiggles out of Raya’s arms*

Raya, desperately trying to catch her and internally screaming: *BINTURI NOOOOOOOOO*

Namaari, yawns and stretches her arms out: what a day- *accidentally catches Aulia*

Raya: *slumps on the tree branch in relief seeing Aulia is okay*

Namaari, freaking out: WHY DID YOU FALL FROM THE SKY TINY BABY?!!??!??

Aulia: *scrunches her nose and lightly taps Namaari’s cheeks*

Namaari, smiles softly and starts cooing: awwww, who cares how you ended up here? You’re the cutest baby I’ve ever seen!

Raya, whispering frantically as Namaari carries Aulia away: damn it! That binturi took my kid! ……well she’s technically also Namaari’s kid but still! She doesn’t know that!

Namaari, sitting down and setting Aulia on her lap: you’re so precious! Look at you! Oh I could just keep you forever!

Aulia: *grabs Namaari’s hand sucks on her thumb*

Namaari, tearing up: I’d die for you

Raya, still watching them from a tree: no! Stay away from my child damn you! Ugh! How the hell am I supposed to solve this?!

Aulia: *now starts closing her eyes and hugs Namaari’s arm like a stuffed animal*

Namaari, smiling: awwww, are you tired? You poor sleepy girl. Rest up, I’ll keep you safe *kisses the top of her head*

Raya, sighing: that would be really cute if Namaari wasn’t actively trying to kill me

Namaari, watching as Aulia begins to snore: what am I supposed to do with you?

Raya, slowly climbing down the tree and landing softly on the ground: okay, gotta find a way out of this

Namaari, yawning: ugh, maybe I need a nap too. It’s been a long day. If I only looked this cute when I napped. Maybe then I’d do it more often

Raya, sighing and grabbing her sword: only one way to solve this. ITS TIME TO INDUCE AMNESIA!

Namaari, screaming in fear: RAYA?!! *gets hit with the flat of Raya’s sword and passes out*

Aulia: *wakes up abruptly and sneezes*

Raya, hurriedly scooping Aulia up and sprinting away: I really hope she remembers none of what transpired today-

#raya and the last dragon #rayaari #namaari #ratld #raya x namaari #raya and namaari #namaari x raya #ratld namaari #raya disney #ratld raya #rayamaari #raya of heart #raymaari #disney raya #raya namaari #namaari of fang #raya incorrect quotes #ratld incorrect quotes #disney ratld

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your-art-is-gay · 3 years

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Raya and the Last Dragon: my thoughts

I’ve officially sat down and watched Raya and the Last Dragon now that its out, so here’s an informal review of it from yours truly. Spoiler warning, obviously.

Naturally, the animation was visually gorgeous. Hair movement, lighting, water animation. There was something particularly satisfying about the way that Sisu’s hair was animated, though that may just be me. I think that, as far as world environments go, Moana was prettier, but I’m a massive sucker for that tropical ocean aesthetic, so that’s mostly down to personal preference.

For a while before the movie came out, I heard people complaining or picking on the way Disney designed the dragons. Hell, I was one of those people. I still think that giving Sisu a Disney Princess face was ridiculous (and every time she opened her mouth, I kept expecting to hear Idina Menzel talking), but I understand why they did it. It’s Disney. If they made Sisu look more like a traditionally fearsome dragon, how could they sell adorable plushies??

I mean, even HTTYD made the dragons decidedly cute, and Dreamworks has more balls when it comes to character design than Disney does.

As for the story, I can’t say anything about it was totally groundbreaking or anything, but hey, it’s a Disney film. A princess goes on a quest to save her father and all the people of her world from an evil shadowy force. Pretty basic stuff.

I think the narration at the beginning could have been handled....better. It felt a little clunky, which feels out of place for a Disney movie. I mean, there is a lot of worldbuilding going on, but still.

Maybe they could have gone with a flashback to the battle that initially destroyed (locked away) the Drun, framed as Raya’s father telling her the story before the gathering of the clans, explaining to her how Kumandra had fallen apart and how it was important to become Kumandra again. Like what Moana did. It might have been a bit repetitive, but hey, when it works, it works.

I think the most interesting part of the story came in the characterization of Raya herself. At the beginning of the story (after the flashback to The Day The World Broke), we have 18-year-old Raya at the end of her six-year-long-journey to find the last dragon at the end of a river.

She’s suave, she’s cool, she kicks major ass and has one of those gnarly jointed swords...and she’s alone. Other than her handy ride and best friend, the abso-fucking-lutely adorable Tuk Tuk, that is.

As the movie continues, we see that Raya has major trust issues. She works alone. Basically, she’s a Disney anti-hero. How cool is that?? It’s a major first for a Disney princess, and I think it’s one of the things that made me like her so much as a character.

And the most compelling part about that anti-hero-ness? Her drive is LOVE, not revenge. I’ve never seen that before!

Her entire push through the movie is to right a mistake she made as a child and see her father again (saving the world is just a plus to that). She doesn’t care about destroying every Drun, or getting revenge on Fang and Namaari for betraying her trust. Sure, she and Namaari fight, but it never feels like Raya is going out of her way to do so.

Naturally, this sort of thing is easier in a story where the motivating loved one isn’t dead. Raya can and will see her father again if she succeeds. It’s a little harder to write a love-motivated anti-hero if the one they’re doing it all for is dead and there’s no way to bring them back. I think it would be an interesting challenge though...hm, note to self.

At no point does Raya’s distrust of people feel silly or blown out of proportion, which some anti-heroes fall into sometimes. I mean, the last time she trusted someone, the world literally fell apart. Not to mention, she was a child when it happened! She witnessed her father trust in humankind and how that had gone so horribly wrong.

It makes sense why she wouldn’t just tell Namaari “oh hey, I found the last dragon and I’m collecting the pieces of the dragon stone so I can save the world.” Sure, telling Namaari that early on would have arguably made things go so much smoother. But Raya has seen what greed and distrust can do to people. She saw what happened the last time the leaders of the clans saw the dragon stone. If anyone found out that she had multiple dragon stone pieces and the last dragon alive, there’s no telling what sort of horrible things they’d do to obtain that power.

Raya’s arc with Sisu teaching her to learn to trust again is just fantastic, Sisu herself was just a fantastic character, and I love her. I love that she’s not the uber-powerful, majestic dragon Raya was expecting her to be. She’s goofy, she’s kind of naive, but she comes through in the end and you know that she’ll always be a fantastic friend.

The ending fight scene was gorgeous, and that final part where Raya finally trusts Namaari was just...oh, it was fantastic. And then the others following suit, because they know that if Raya actually trusts someone... And then, one by one, they give Namaari their dragon stone pieces and then let the Drun turn them to stone. Oh. Just. Just fantastic. That’s all I can say about that.

One thing that stuck out to me in the movie: the pose the Drun-turned statues made. It looks sort of like a praying position? Kind of like what Raya and the others did when they honored the family lost to the Drun, cupping the flowers in their hands before putting them in the water. I wish I knew more about the specifics of any of that, though. I know next to nothing about the South-East Asian cultures the movie drew inspiration from, so any cultural meaning is completely lost on me.

That being said, I really enjoyed the movie! It was an entertaining watch and a fantastic addition to the Disney Princess movies (assuming that Raya will, in fact, become an official Disney Princess). I love this newer direction Disney is taking with telling cultural stories like with Moana, and I hope this becomes a trend! (As long as they keep doing it well, I mean.) I’d really like to see a new Native American Disney princess. Preferably not one based on an actual historical figure because, well, you know how that went with Pocahontas.

TL;DR: I personally really liked Raya and the Last Dragon. The animation was great and the direction they took Raya’s character in is something we’ve never seen from a Disney Princess movie. I highly recommend watching it at least once. :)

-Artemus

#artemus opinionates #artemus reviews #artemus approved #Disney #disney raya #raya and the last dragon #raya and sisu #disney movie review #raya and the last dragon review

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purplestrawberrywerewolf · 3 years

Text

Raya gets her revenge

Part 2!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33232162

So, i think I might make this a mini series based off my own experiences because the things I have experienced are like so weird and my life should be one of those shows where the camera crew comes out and says "Ha! It's a prank" so let me know in the comments if I should.

She knew this was revenge. She knew because she was suffering the same way Raya did. She thought they were over this. She thought Raya would forget what she had put her through but instead, she remembered.

Every last detail.

Raya had called her that morning. Namaari’s phone rang as she finished feeding the cats and saw the contact was her best friend. She answered. “Hello?”

“Hey dep la. I need you to do me a favor” she didn’t know why, but when Raya said that, she felt her stomach churn. “Uh, sure what’s going on?” She asked. Raya sighed on the other side of the phone. “I got called into work this morning and I was rushing and didn’t get chance to let Tuk Tuk out. Do you think you can?” There it was. The ‘favor.’

“Umm..”

“Please? I cleaned the dang cat litter for you, the least you can do is just take my dog out for a walk” she had a point. Namaari sighed. “Y-yeah, okay.”

“Thank you! You have the key to the apartment so you can get in. Thanks dep la” the girl hung up and Namaari found herself groaning. She liked animals, don’t get her wrong, but she wasn’t much of a dog person. She preferred cats.

They were easy to take care off and only meowed, not bark super loud. She grabbed her keys and mask before heading to the car.

~*~

The Fang girl entered the apartment building and went to Raya’s apartment. She unlocked the door, expecting it to be quiet like hers, instead a big long-haired dog came and scared her.

“Ah!” She yelped when Tuk Tuk ran towards her, barking in excitement. “Ow, shhh!” She shushed the dog, cringing at the volume. “Hi, I’m happy to see you too” she said as she pet the dog.

The dog calmed down as it ran off to the kitchen. Namaari spotted his blue leash and the set of black roll of poop bags on the table. She took a deep breath. This was easy, she cleans cat litter all the time, so she’s dealt with poop before, so if Tuk Tuk poops, it’s fine!

Right?

She grabbed the items before whistling. Tuk Tuk came to her panting and running in circles in excitement, knowing he was about to go on his walks he loved. Namaari couldn’t help but laugh at his excitement.

“Come on you big furball. Let's take you for a walk” she said as she clipped the leash on and lead him out the door.

They descended the stairs and Tuk Tuk did his business. This was easy! He’s peeing now, and maybe drop some poops but overall, it was running smoothly right now. They walked a few more steps before he did his stance that automatically told Namaari he was doing his business.

She pulled out the bag, ripping it off as she tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. She kept rubbing the bag to make it open but instead, it stayed closed and the smell was getting worse.

“Ugh, come on” she groaned. She was wearing a mask but the smell was going through. Finally, the bag opened and she bent down to grab it. “eww” she squealed as she closed the bag. “That’s disgusting” she said as she spotted an alley. She decided to walk to it to throw his business out when Tuk Tuk spotted a squirrel.

“What are you-ah!” She yelped when she was dragged across the sidewalk towards the tree as Tuk Tuk barked at a squirrel. “Tuk Tuk! Come on!” She groaned as she pulled him, but to avail.

She groaned as she waited for him to calm down and continued their walk. She would’ve pulled him, but she didn’t want to hurt him because if she did, Raya would never forgive her.

She walked through the neighborhood, admiring the trees and flowers as she walked. Things were going smoothly until she saw a guy coming towards her with what looked like a German shepherd. Namaari couldn’t help but panic slightly, not being a fan of those specifically when she got chased by one when she was 10.

From what she remembered, Tuk Tuk was a friendly dog, and liked making friends with both humans and dogs. Tuk Tuk and the dog both stopped to sniff each other.

The guy smiled at Namaari, but she could tell it was a flirty one. “Hi” he greeted. She smiled back, trying to be polite. “Hey” she responded. “You know, I’ve never seen you. You come here often?” He asked.

Namaari kept herself from groaning and hopefully he couldn’t see her cringe behind her mask as she recalled the amount of times men have asked her that when she was at the bar with Raya or another friend. Usually, it ended with her turning them down.

“U-uh, no. My friend just wanted me to walk her dog so you know” she gestured to Tuk Tuk. “Oh okay. What's your name?” He asked. “Namaari” she answered. She silently pleaded Tuk Tuk to hurry up so she could leave.

“Oh, I’m Mason. You’re cute by the way. Are you single?” He asked. Namaari tried so hard to not cringe. She also was single, but wasn’t looking for anyone.

“Uhm, yeah but I’m not looking to date right now” she answered. “Ah, well makes sense. But hey, if you’re looking to, I live down that street, so you can come by” he winked before continuing his walk with his dog. “See you, cutie” he said as he left.

Namaari couldn’t help but blush but also be absolutely uncomfortable. “You know, you could’ve been fast about sniffing the dog instead of leaving me there to burn” she said to Tuk Tuk who happily walked ahead of her, dragging her with him.

The walk was mostly calming but also had its moments when Tuk Tuk would run after a rodent. “No!” Namaari said as she struggled to pull the big dog back. How he went from a tiny pup to this big, 50 pound something dog will forever be a mystery.

“Ugh!” Namaari fell on her bottom as Tuk Tuk kept barking and she groaned as she got up. Raya knew this would happen. She knew Namaari would struggle to walk Tuk Tuk, since she’s only taken care of cats.

She knew this was revenge.

“Come on” she said as she dragged Tuk Tuk back to the apartment.

~*~

“And then, this guy comes up to me and starts flirting with me” Namaari explained her adventure on walking Tuk Tuk. Raya had come home early and decided to get some food for her and Namaari.

As they ate, Namaari told her about the walk. “Wait, wait. Was he kind of buff, short hair and a little taller than you?” She asked. Namaari furrowed a brow. “Yes” she answered.

Raya rolled her eyes. “Yup, that’s Mason. He's the neighborhood flirt. Loves flirting with girls to see who would jump in his bed. Trust me, he’s flirted with me a couple of times” she said as she took a bite of her rice.

Namaari rolled her eyes. “Men are so weird” she commented. Raya snorted as they finished their dinner.

Well, at least Namaari knew one thing; Raya got her revenge.

#Raya #Namaari #Namaari struggling to walk Tuk Tuk #based off a true story #hehe

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