Blog Archives
My 950th Blog Post + Future Plans (FEEDBACK HEAVILY REQUESTED)
So, it’s been a while since I’ve come on here and spelled out my future plans. The main reason for that is because I realized it was basically the equivalent of making a New Year’s resolution that you know you’re unlikely to make stick… … …So, here we are, talking about my future plans, because fuck it, I couldn’t think of anything else to do for the 950th blog post. lol
And yeah, this makes 950, which is absolutely insane to me, even if some of them are reblogged articles. I started this blog basically just to share a few random thoughts and rant about whatever struck me at the time, which is admittedly what I’m still doing, but never did I think I’d still be at this six years later. And it’s been a crazy time. I’ve talked about the Zelda timeline and tried to theorize where it all falls into place…only to then have it all spelled out for me via a book Nintendo released. I did my own internet review show…and retired from the biz around the fall of Blip. And I think I’ve had like three or four different girlfriends while working on this blog, meaning if I ever refer to her in past blog entries, people nowadays are gonna be confused as to which one I’m talking about. And, of course, the strangest thing to happen to me while doing this: The fucking cupcakes. That said, I think in terms of stuff I’ll never live down, that’s been replaced by a little incident at Mekeninzo’s apartment involving hot sauce. For those who say peer pressure can’t make you do anything, I give a hearty “Fuck you”. XD
Anyway, what’s my point to all of this? Well, just that’s been a crazy six years… … …and somewhere along the way, I got caught up in trying to be a big fucking deal. I think it was when my view counts starting going through the roof (at least compared to how I usually was), and I became more insistent on getting more articles out to get more views. I did take breaks, but those were more based on stuff going on in my personal life than letting myself not let more views get to me. Honestly, in hindsight, I think this was a mistake, and that I should really go back to just posting when I feel like posting, not when I start to see views drop. Getting a lot of views is good, but the thing is, sometimes the views were going up and down in overly dramatic ways regardless of if I was doing anything or not. Although, before you ask, the articles written by N. Harmonik weren’t part of that. That was more because she’d done so much work for me that I felt she deserved the chance to get her own thoughts out on stuff. That said, I will admit that she DID tap into fanbases I wasn’t a part of, and thus raked in her fair share of views, so I won’t lie, the idea of having her and some of my other friends who have been of help and support over the years do more articles is something I’m considering.
But, back to MY future plans, the stuff I personally am planning to do. You might be wondering where the next DC Rebirth One Year Later blog post is, for example. Well, if you couldn’t tell, I left a pretty blatant hint at the end of the last one that the next one would revolve around the Titans books. Well, basically, I decided I wanna wait for the current story arcs the books are doing to be over before tackling my thoughts on them. So, instead, I think the next one will deal with The Flash…much to my dismay. Not gonna lie, not a fan of this book, and I’ll explain why when I get to it.
I’m still in the process of writing the new version of The Intangible Starslip, which is currently up to Chapter 11. Not sure EXACTLY how long it’ll be, although I do know how I’m planning to end it. It’s just the how and when I get to that point that’s causing it to be so long. As for what I do with it after that…well, Mekeninzo was talking to me about it the other day, and eventually the conversation turned to if and when I was planning to physically PUBLISH it. At the time, I played it cool and made it seem like a plan I’d always had, but the truth is, I have no idea how I’d even go about that. I’ve never published ANYTHING. It’s been a goal of mine, sure, but it was one I saw happening in the far off future, not right now. Still, if it’s possible for someone like me to get written work out there…maybe? I dunno, lemme know what you think below.
Oh, and in regards to my 1000th blog post, yes, I know what I’m gonna be doing. And no, it’s not Bible Black again. I know there were probably some people wondering about that. However, it will be what some people will consider a controversial subject. I’m not gonna outright say what it is, although those who are in my more immediate circle of friends already know, but I will give the following hint: It’s a story that I like to personally think of as Fifty Shades of Grey done RIGHT. Again, you’ll see what I mean when I get to it.
And yes, I swear to God, at some point, I will finish Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia. XD Much like Starslip, I DO know how I’m going to end it, it’s just getting there that’s the problem, made worse by everything else that’s gotten in the way.
Anyway, that’s pretty much all I wanted to say. Leave your thoughts on my plans in the comments below (PRETTY PLEASE), I’ll see you all back here the next time I post something. Ja né!
Ideas For A Future Power Rangers Fic (Please Give Feedback)
So yeah, even though Guardians of Gaia isn’t finished yet, and is actually on another hiatus, I’ve already been compiling a list of ideas for a future PR fic, assuming I ever do one. And, as always, I’m eager to get input from my friends and fans, as well as general fans of Power Rangers. So, for now, here’s a list of ideas I’ve got, with the bold ones being must-haves.
- Layla as the mentor of the team: Basically, the idea goes that Layla, my Blue Ranger in GoG, would return as the mentor for the new team. She would supply the team with their tech, and impart her own experience as a Power Ranger to the next generation.
- A thick-bodied female Ranger: Okay, I know that Saban (and Disney, back when they owned and ran the show) may feel inclined to cast fit, skinny actresses as their Power Rangers as a means of having them be at least close to the build of their Sentai counterparts. And I’m not saying this as any kind of slight against any of the women who have been Power Rangers, either, as there’s not a single one of them I have any kind of real issue with. I’m just saying, it would be nice to have a thick girl as a Power Ranger someday, and if it’s never gonna happen for real, then I feel like I should at least do it for a fanfic.
- A male Pink Ranger: Alright, maybe this only really bothers me as a member of the LGBTQ community (yeah, what a shock, and I’ve been hiding it SO well over the years, lol), but really, why is this a thing? Why is a guy in pink still considered odd? Why is it that guys seemingly only know the names of different shades of colours when they have to insist something of theirs (usually their clothes) isn’t pink when it is? Seriously, there are plenty of guys, even 100% straight, white guys, who can pull off pink just fine. So why is it that, after four decades of Super Sentai, we still do not have a guy in pink? The closest we’ve come is the all Pink Ranger Gokai Change from one of the Gokaiger movies. And yeah, isn’t it odd that, in a series that ate through as much Sentai footage as it could, we never saw that in Power Rangers Super Megaforce? And yeah, I know, I had that team go Legendary Pink Ranger Mode in a fanfic, but I still kinda wanna do a full-time male Pink Ranger.
- A team of Rangers that represent different emotions: Think of it kind of like the different Lantern Corps, just not necessarily the same colours or emotions. I mean, we’ve had enemy factions in both PR and the Sentai (and in Kamen Rider, for that matter) who are sort of representatives of different emotions, but never a team of Rangers that does the same thing.
- A group of Zords based on animals we’ve never seen used before: Be honest, we all are always wanting to see this. If nothing else, the core set of Zords used by teams in the past have found themselves repeated over and over. In particular, tyrannosauruses, sharks, triceratops, lions, wolves, pterodactyls, elephants/mastodons, and tigers of all sorts have been used repeatedly over the years. We usually only see other, more outside-the-box animals and creatures used when the Rangers have massive fleets of Zords.
- Team-up with Guardians of Gaia: Really, I honestly can’t imagine doing a second PR fic and not having a team-up with these guys. And really, there’s no reason not to, either. It’s my team and my story, and there are plenty of ways to justify a crossover, especially if I went with the first idea on this list.
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got so far. What would you like to see added to this list? Let me know in the comments below, and we’ll see what happens when GoG wraps up. Ja né!
What Do I Listen To While Writing Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia?
So, I’ve been writing my Power Rangers fanfic for a while now. Between the two ‘seasons’, the story is currently resting at 26 chapters long with 170,556 words. In other words, it’s the largest single project I’ve ever done, unless you count every article on my blog and add them all up together. However, one thing I’ve always liked to allude to is what I’m listening to while writing certain scenes. So, I’m here now to set the record straight as to exactly what I listen to as I write Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia.
Now, obviously, while writing action scenes, I listen to a lot of Ron Wasserman. If you’re unfamiliar (which you shouldn’t be if you’re an old school PR fan, but it CAN happen), Wasserman did a LOT of the classic songs for Power Rangers, including the original Go Go Power Rangers, and came back to do the Power Rangers SPD theme and a demo for Power Rangers Mystic Force. He also did a number of remakes of his classic songs, which he released as Power Rangers Redux. Luckily, a lot of Wasserman tunes work perfectly for certain scenes of my fic. For example, in Chapter 9, ‘Knight of the Wind’ (which is also a song I listen to sometimes when I write Patrick in action, FYI), when Pat is making his big comeback against the monster, this is pretty much the intended tune to play along with the scene:
When the Wizard Ranger, who has plenty of gold on his suit and fights a lot like a combo of the Gold Zeo Ranger and the Solaris Knight, leaps in to help the team, a lot of times I listen to this:
And so on. However, on top of a lot of those themes, there’s also a mashup produced on YouTube of one of Wasserman’s songs that I’ve become rather taken with and listen to a lot…
Also, just the instrumental of Welcome To The Family on its own is a great song for writing PR action scenes to. Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up one of my favourite things to listen to while writing people kicking ass, and in particular during the opening to ‘Guardians of Gaia, Awaken! Part 2’: The soundtrack to Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, specifically…
Or hey, remember the two part finale to Season 1, ‘Into Darkness’, when they charged the Blots on horseback?
I also sometimes listen to music from Super Sentai. For example, in ‘Sisters’, there’s a moment where Layla and Madilyn team up to fight a monster, and for whatever reason, this was what was playing in my head as I was writing and I HAD to put it on:
Then there’s that scene in ‘Always A Ranger Part 3’ where…well, I don’t wanna ruin it too much for anyone who hasn’t read it, but let’s just say that the Gaia Rangers band together with some new allies to fight a horde of monsters led by Dradarius himself, and I HAD to use this song. And you’ll have to forgive the quality, since there was never an official release of this, though there IS a piano cover on YouTube…
And during the fight scene that followed THAT up, I listened to THIS awesome mashup:
But enough of the action scenes, let’s talk about some of the other moments in the fic. Now, this is a case where I wish there was a lot more of the background music for the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers available, but unfortunately, for whatever reason, many of those were never released to the public. So, a lot of times, I gotta go outside the box with other stuff. Now, obviously, for moments like Dradarius sitting on the Dark Throne in the Abyssial Fortress, there’s only one theme that could fit the scene perfectly, which thankfully IS available, and has actually been covered and remixed a few different times on YouTube:
However, for other moments of the villains plotting or being menacing, particularly Walker and Darkea, I find myself listening to this more often than not:
And that’s not the only scene I’ve used music from Kingdom Hearts for. For example, remember that heart-breaking scene from ‘Sisters’ that I thought people were gonna kill me for? Well, here’s what I was listening to during that sequence. By all means, re-read that scene with this playing in your headset:
I actually use that for a lot of sad scenes, especially those centered around Layla and Madilyn. And remember in ‘Indigo Nightmare’ where the team entered the Well of Regret? Well…
Anyway, that’s enough of Kingdom Hearts. For other emotional scenes (not necessarily sad), like Drayden and Nikki’s talk in ‘Crying Out For Mummy’, here’s a nice little tune I like to pop in and listen to:
And lastly, for relatively silly moments, like when Madilyn is being…well, Madilyn, here’s a pretty on-the-nose song that I turn on:
So yeah, that pretty much covers everything, other than a few random songs I listen to here and there. Lemme know what you think about this unofficial soundtrack for my fic, as well as if you ever do the same thing while writing or drawing or the like. Ja né!
…Oh, and last of all, for the Lightless showing up in the next chapter…well… … …:)
Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia Season 2 Is Up! #TogetherWeAreMore
So, it’s been a couple of years, but I finally decided to get back to work on my Power Rangers fanfic, Guardians of Gaia, by posting ‘Season 2’ of the story. For the uninitiated, here’s the basic premise of my story: A parallel world to Earth called Gaia, which is tied to the natural elements of the world, is facing disaster. The Dark Zones of said world have been taken over by a powerful being called Dradarius, who is looking to conquer all of the other zones, cities, and locales of Gaia. Its ancient protectors, the Guardians of Gaia, disappeared millenia ago, and the source of their miraculous powers, the Gaian Crystals, with them. However, the crystals weren’t lost, instead passed down through the Guardians’ bloodlines…who wound up on Earth. As such, when five of them are brought back together by five college students, said students are sent to Gaia to protect it, not only as the newest Guardians of Gaia, but as the newest team of Power Rangers.
Furthermore, here’s a quick rundown of the main characters of the fic. And keep in mind, these rundowns do possess some spoilers, so if you don’t wanna know, scroll down past them.
- Nichelle “Nikki” Markson – The Red Gaia Ranger and Guardian of Fire. She’s a natural leader and a disciplined martial artist and fencer, and while she initially had trouble with long-range weapons, she’s since improved her aim with them. She’s a tenacious fighter and strategist who has defeated many powerful foes single-handedly, including the massive Plesio Lightless and the soul-stealing Ammit Lightless, but she has trouble dealing with loss, and treats any injuries that befall her friends as personal failures of hers. Despite these short-comings, Nikki has nonetheless earned the right to be named the true Guardian of Fire by the most stubborn of races on Gaia, the volcanic Magma Naga. Her Gaia Zord is the Phoenix Zord, which can assault foes with its razor-sharp talons, flame breath, and burning aileron roll.
- Patrick “Pat” O’Donnell – The Green Gaia Ranger and Guardian of Wind. Born to a meteorologist and a geologist, Patrick has learned much of his parents’ trades, and has also become skilled at fencing and parkour. He’s easily the most gifted swordsman of the team, using finesse and a little bit of luck to topple monsters like the Skeleton Lightless, who had previously bested the others in 4-on-1 combat. He has trouble admitting what he’s really thinking at times, and tends to put the good of others over himself to the point of self-sacrifice. Furthermore, an incident in battle cost him the use of his eyes, requiring him to further hone his natural and wind-based senses to compensate. His Gaia Zord is the Hippogriff Zord, which can both ride and manipulate the winds with ease, generate small tornadoes, and stomp down on foes with its thick hooves.
- Layla Bluestone – The Blue Gaia Ranger and Guardian of Water. A gamer-girl and tech expert, Layla was initially weak in combat, preferring to fight from a long distance, but has since toughened up a bit, once defeating the Frog Lightless by enduring its attacks long enough to find its weak point. An open lesbian, she’s currently dating a Dryad named Faye, and once subconsciously and unsuccessfully tried to hit on Nikki. While she’s occasionally made mistakes doing so, she’s been working to improve and expand upon the team’s weapons and equipment. She initially believed she was Madilyn’s sister, but this was revealed to be false, though she quickly forgave her and accepted her as her sister in her heart, regardless of blood relation. Her Gaia Zord is the Leviathan Zord, a long sea serpent which can coil around foes, tripping them up or keeping them held firmly in place, and can attack with blasts of ice.
- Dirk Slater – The Orange Gaia Ranger and Guardian of Earth. He is the muscle of the group, having grown up on a farm and having taken up wrestling in high school. While he’s occasionally the source of comedic relief, oftentimes pointing out certain long-standing tropes and coincidences in Ranger history, he also has a much more sensitive side to him he tries to hide. When the Doppelganger Lightless tried to trick him by appearing as his sister, Dirk was angered to the point of vengeance at the idea of villains using family against someone, especially his own. He also has occasionally butted heads with Layla over whether the Gaia Zords are machines or living creatures, though the two are still friends regardless of belief. His Gaia Zord is the Behemoth Zord, a bull-like monstrosity who mows down foes with its massive horns and orange energy orbs.
- Madilyn ‘Mad’ Bluestone – The Violet Gaia Ranger and Guardian of Lightning. Initially, Madilyn believed herself to be the leader of the group, as she was the one who brought them all together initially, but eventually conceded the position to Nikki, though the two can still butt heads at times. Her more hyperactive, chaotic, and overly optimistic stance has been known to cause turmoil for the team, as has her over-protectiveness of Layla, but she’s since come to grips with why she behaves in such a manner and tried her best to cool down for her team’s sake. Still, her energy is oftentimes seen as a major asset to the group, and she can at times think outside the box to confuse enemies, like the telepathic Satori Lightless. Her Gaia Zord is the Thunderbird Zord, which can launch electrified feathers from its wings, and can shoot lightning from its eyes.
- Jowar – The Wizard Ranger and Guardian of Light. The last of the Wizards of Gaia, he gave up his powers years ago to his newborn son, Walker. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a mistake when Walker was taken and raised by Dradarius, Usurper of the Dark Throne, and raised to be one of his Shadowmancers. However, Jowar later came across the Light Crystal, which reinvigorated him. He mostly prefers to wait on the team in the Ancient Library as their mentor, though this is mainly due to the crystal’s power weakening the further away from the library he gets. But, when the time calls for it, his light-based powers are the natural foil for Dradarius’ dark-based monsters, such as the mighty Orthrus Lightless. While he doesn’t possess a Gaia Zord of his own, he controls the Magna Cannon, a giant weapon that emerges from the Ancient Library, which can blast apart monsters or empower the Rangers’ Zords.
- Drayden Snyder – The Indigo Ranger and Guardian of Darkness. Despite learning Muay Thai kick-boxing growing up, Drayden always felt like a cheap imitation of his explorer father, Professor Charles Snyder. However, he was dragged into Gaia and was given the chance to become his own man if he fused his body and consciousness with that of a disembodied spirit. Unfortunately, said spirit was a former Dark General named Dargoon, who tried to destroy Gaia and nearly defeated the Rangers until they freed Drayden from his control. At first, he alienated himself from his father and the group, thinking himself evil because of the darkness still inside him, until he realized he wasn’t and officially joined the team. His Gaia Zord is the Dragon Zord, which can blast enemies with powerful dark flames, and is strong enough to carry the Rangers’ Gaia Megazord on its back while in flight.
Anyway, if you’re interested in the story, feel free to click the links below and start reading, and be sure to let me know what you think of it so far. Ja né!
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10041621/1/Power-Rangers-Guardians-of-Gaia-Season-1
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12005678/1/Power-Rangers-Guardians-of-Gaia-Season-2
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/PowerRangersGuardiansOfGaia
Another Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia Season 2 Preview
Lest you think I’m just sitting on my hands and doing nothing, I HAVE been working on Season 2 of GoG, I just have been working on the entire first few chapters at once, while also working on my blog and doing other things. But, for those that enjoyed Season 1 and are anxiously awaiting more content, here’s another preview of Season 2’s opening story arc, entitled ‘Always A Ranger’.
“We’re here,” Adam stated as the group came to a large warehouse. Opening the steel doors of the loading dock, he led everyone inside, where they found a number of people huddled about, looking a bit scared and disheveled.
“City’s inhabitants?” Nikki asked, getting a nod from Adam. “What happened?”
“I got here just after it happened,” Adam explained, leading the team through the large room of people. “The Blots came in and overran the city. The police couldn’t stop them, and the military’s still licking its wounds from the invasion, so-“
“Whoa, INVASION?” Dirk inquired, confused.
Adam scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah…You guys have missed a lot. Earth was invaded by an intergalactic Armada. There was a team of Rangers that managed to beat them back, but the overall forces were so large that it took every last Power Ranger to finally stop them.”
“Aw man, and we missed it?!” Madilyn whined, getting odd looks. “…What? I wanted to fight alongside the other Power Rangers too!”
“Point is, we were still working to get past that, and when this happened, most of us were caught off-guard,” Adam continued as the group made their way to a door labelled ‘Front Office’. “Fortunately, after the war, a few of us veteran Rangers decided to stay in contact in case anything like this should happen again.”
Opening the door the group of seven walked in to find that the front office of the warehouse had been converted into a command center. Standing at different stations were an Asian man in a military-like blue uniform with a red beret, a blonde woman in a blue and black ninja-esque outfit, a brunette in a yellow hoodie and blue jeans, a somewhat shaggy man with brown hair in a purple and black gi, a young woman with dark hair in a white lab coat over an academy uniform of some sort, and a young Asian woman in a black and pink gi. They all looked up curiously to see the Gaia Rangers enter.
“Everyone, we’ve got some new friends,” Adam announced. “These are Nikki, Patrick, Layla, Dirk, Madilyn, and Drayden, the Gaia Rangers. Gaia Rangers, these are Eric, Tori, Kira, RJ, Doctor K, and Mia.”
“So, I hope you’re about to tell us these guys know more about what’s going on?” Eric asked, walking up to the team.
“We may have been operating on the parallel world they’ve been coming from for the better part of a year, yes,” Dirk replied.
“Finally, some good news,” Doctor K said. “Speaking of which, I’ve been trying to upgrade what surveillance we have in the city. It’s coming along slowly, but that’s to be expected with the low tech available to us.”
“Here, let me see if I can help with that,” Layla offered, reaching a hand out.
“…I’d shake your hand, but I’m told that I’m horribly anti-social,” Doctor K replied. “Also, I’m not even really here. I’m transmitting my physical parameters from my location on a parallel Earth.”
Layla’s eyes perked excitedly. “Wow, really? How’d you manage to send a broadcast through the dimensional barriers?”
“The barriers run on unique energy signatures, like radio waves,” Doctor K explained with a shrug. “Once you’ve figured out each one, it’s just as simple as tuning to match it. Took weeks to figure this one’s out, but who needs sleep when you have the unrestrained power of a sugar rush?”
“Y’know, that approach might help with tracking the Blots,” Layla realized. “Can I see your computer?”
Doctor K nodded, leading Layla to it as the others watched slack-jawed, Dirk finally piping up “…Oh dear God, there’s two of them.”
So, let’s talk a bit about the team presented here and why I chose some of them. Adam, Kira, and Tori were all chosen because they’d previously worked on a team like this and thus knew each other fairly well, making them easier to gel as a team. From there, though, it was a matter of choosing Rangers confirmed to still have their powers and would round each other out well, not only in terms of powers but in terms of getting more characters from various points in PR’s history. I mean, there’s a larger presence on the team that’s from the Disney Era, but it’s a bit more spread out. Eric seemed like an obvious choice, both in being the only member of the team from the post-Zordon Saban Era, as well as being both a sixth Ranger that could fill in the Red Ranger position on the team. Plus, as someone who has led the Silver Guardians, he fits well as Adam’s second-in-command. RJ was likewise an option that made immediate sense in my head, both for having martial arts experience that even Adam hasn’t grasped and for being the first Purple Ranger in PR history. In addition, he also has a purpose from a story perspective, but we’ll get to that later. From there, all that was left was to choose a Pink Ranger, and I felt as though I should really have someone from the Neo Saban Era, my own personal feelings on it aside. And, since these Rangers are all members of teams prior to Megaforce, Mia is the only real option, though she does bring plenty to the team that’s unique to herself with her samurai skills and Symbol Power. Finally, because I just couldn’t resist (and really, how could you blame me?), I decided to have Doctor K be the team’s technical support. Hell, I’m honestly even considering having her pop in from time to time even after this, though I suppose I shouldn’t be pushing the idea too much.
Adam, Eric, Kira, Tori, RJ, and Mia
Anyway, I’m hoping to have this done for the beginning of this Fall, if not sooner. When it’s done, I’ll be sure to post a notice here on my blog. Until then, though, lemme know what you think about how this is shaping up thus far. Also, I have a question: Would you like to see all of Always A Ranger posted at the same time, or would you prefer to have each chapter posted when each is done? Let me know, and I’ll see what I can do either way. Ja né!
Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia Season 2 Preview
Yup, it’s finally time. I’ve decided to begin work on ‘Season 2’ of my PR fanfic, Guardians of Gaia. As such, here’s an early preview of the first chapter of Season 2, entitled ‘Always A Ranger’. 🙂
Within a few minutes, the team were walking along a sidewalk that ran alongside one of the main roads in the city. And yet, as even Patrick could tell, there didn’t seem to be a single person in the streets today, be it on foot or in cars. On top of that, a lot of the buildings seemed to have their blinds let down, and in some cases, they were even boarded over.
“…Okay, this is creeping me out,” Layla admitted. “What happened here?”
“I dunno, maybe the zombie apocalypse happened while we were gone?” Madilyn suggested. “Or the city had to be evacuated because of some natural disaster?”
“What kind of disaster doesn’t leave a so much as a scratch in its wake?” Nikki pointed out, as sure enough, there wasn’t the slightest sign of damage to the city anywhere.
“Maybe everyone was bamf’d out?” Drayden guessed, causing Dirk to look at him like he’d grown a second head. “…What?”
“A Nightcrawler reference?” Dirk asked. “You had a massive brooding phase as a kid, didn’t you?”
“Kinda,” Drayden acknowledged with a shrug. “To be honest, being the Guardian of Darkness shouldn’t have been a surprise in the long run.”
Nikki rolled her eyes before looking over to Patrick, who had to be guided along the sidewalk by Madilyn. “How are you holding up?”
“Not so great,” Patrick replied. “Without my wind sense, I’m completely blind.”
“Didn’t you train with blindfolds before that, though?” Mad inquired.
“Yeah, for fighting with a sword,” Pat answered. “Not so much with just walking down the street.”
“Actually, we’re on a sidewalk,” Madilyn corrected him, causing him to groan slightly. “And anyway, for once, I’m just glad that we’re not having to-“
Before Madilyn could finish her sentence, though, the team heard a loud gurgling echo through the streets. Within moments, a series of familiar-looking shadowy figures emerged from the shadows of the buildings and the cracks of the sidewalks, forming a pack of at least thirty red-eyed monstrosities that readied their claws threateningly before the team.
“…fight,” Madilyn finished, looking depressed.
“Blots?!” Dirk demanded as the team formed up. “On Earth?! How?!”
“We’ll figure it out later!” Nikki yelled, pulling her crystal free of its chain. “It’s Morphin Time!“
Patrick, Layla, Dirk, and Drayden all nodded, pulling their own crystals free as the five set them in their respective Morphers, all while Madilyn stood off to the side. “Guardians of Gaia, AWAKEN!” the five called, their Morphers aimed at the Blots as they shot out rainbow coloured blasts…only for them to fizzle out before they made contact.
“…Oh, that’s not good,” Madilyn observed.
“Our connection’s too weak!” Layla realized. “We can’t morph!”
“Then we’ll just have to take ’em the old fashioned way!” Nikki insisted as the Blots charged them. “Let’s go!”
With that, the six rushed the charging Blots, immediately taking on smaller groups each. Nikki found herself dropkicking one Blot square in the chest before springing off and catching two more in the eyes with her heels, causing them both to evaporate. Landing on her front, she spun her legs around, tripping up another pair of Blots before getting back to her feet. She then threw a leaping roundhouse that took out yet another Blot, then followed this up by blasting the three she’d knocked down with her Morpher.
“Well, at least THIS still works a little!” Layla noted, weaving between Blots and blasting them down to the ground. “How are you holding up, sis?!”
“Oh, just peachy!” Madilyn yelled, ducking slashes and kicking Blots down wherever possible, blasting them in the eyes when she got the chance. “I really, REALLY miss my daggers right now!”
Patrick chose to ignore this, trying his best to focus his senses on the Blots. Just barely managing to catch one’s wrist as it tried to slash him, he swung his feet up, catching another Blot in the face, and proceeded to kick from one Blot to the next and to the next before he landed and tossed the one he was holding over his shoulder. Just as it started to get back up, though, another Blot was body slammed down onto it by Dirk, who then charged at another and caught it shoulder-first in the gut. He then picked it up in a fireman’s carry, spinning it around.
“Patrick, up high!” Dirk yelled, tossing the Blot off his shoulders. Patrick nodded, springing up and catching the Blot across the eyes with his shin. The two then stood back to back as more Blots started to swarm them, emptying out of nearby alleyways. “So, you wanna take the couple dozen on the left?”
Before Patrick could retort, a primal yell from Drayden rang out as he ran in, cleaving Blots down with the Dragon Buster. “C’mon! We gotta bring these guys down!”
“They just keep coming!” Layla called, just before getting caught in the gut by a Blot’s elbow and backhanded to the ground.
“SIS!” Madilyn yelled, charging and tackling the Blot down, only to get clobbered in the back by two more.
“We’ve gotta regroup!” Nikki shouted, kicking down another Blot. “Everybody! Let’s-“
Just as Nikki was about to order a retreat, however, a single figure in black jeans and a tank-top leaped in, kicking a Blot with so much force that it tumbled into six more before coming to a stop in the middle of the road. Nikki blinked in shock at the newcomer: An Asian man in his late-30s, staring down the Blots with a determination the likes of which she’d never seen. The Blots quickly started to group up, preparing to fight him.
“Whoever you are, you better get outta here!” Nikki advised. “There’s too many!”
The man simply smirked, reaching into his pocket as he muttered “Not for long.” To Nikki’s amazement, the man pulled out a very familiar-looking silver and red buckler with a gold coin in the centre, emblazoned with the image of a mastodon. Before the Blots could advance, he thrust it forward and yelled “It’s Morphin Time! Mastodon!” A burst of energy ripped out from the device, coating his body in a black and white costume before placing itself on a white belt, a black helmet appearing over the man’s head.
“…The Black Ranger,” Nikki whispered in awe. “The original.”
“Actually, I’m the second, but who’s counting, right?” Adam Park, the Black Mighty Morphin Ranger, snarked.
If you haven’t guessed, the opening chapters of Guardians of Gaia will be a team-up with veteran Rangers as the team tries to make their way back to Gaia. And yes, I do have the ulterior motive of basically redoing Once A Ranger while fixing everything I felt went wrong with it. lol Anyway, be sure to check it out once it’s been posted, and until then, check out the new logo made by Bilico86, or click the link below it to check out Season 1 and get caught up or refresh your memory. Ja né!
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10041621/1/Power-Rangers-Guardians-of-Gaia-Season-1
Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia Continues – New Rangers, Upcoming ‘Season 2’ Story
So, as you all know, I tend to get distracted a lot by varying projects and plans of mine. As such, one project of mine that has suffered a long hiatus is my PR fic, Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia. However, I’ve recently gone back to writing it, focusing most of my efforts on finishing this story by the end of the year…sort of. We’ll talk about that later. For those that have no idea what this is, I HAVE posted an article on it once before, but here’s the basic premise of the story, which includes newer details since the story was first posted: A parallel world to Earth called Gaia, which is tied to the natural elements of the world, is facing disaster. The dark zones of said world have been taken over by a powerful being called Dradarius, who is looking to take over all of the other zones, cities, and locales of Gaia. Its ancient protectors, the Guardians of Gaia, disappeared millenia ago, and the source of their miraculous powers, the Gaian Crystals, with them. However, the crystals weren’t lost, instead passed down through the Guardians’ bloodlines…who wound up on Earth. As such, when five of them are brought back together by five college students, said students are brought to Gaia to protect it, not only as the newest Guardians of Gaia, but as the newest team of Power Rangers.
The story is very much connected to Power Rangers mythology, with name and location drops, powers and weapons based off of ones previously seen, and the previous Rangers’ existence is very much a fact, with this team at first hoping to get home and calling them in to help with the crisis on Gaia. The Zords are based off of mythological, legendary, or ancient creatures, though some are simply animals that are related to various mythologies or religions. The monsters are also usually legendary creatures, though there are some basic animals tossed in as well. Now, if you’ve read the original article I posted, you know the five Rangers’ back-stories and quirks, though they have of course developed over the course of 18 chapters, and new details about their pasts have become apparent. I won’t spoil those, since I want you to read…but that said, I WILL discuss what else is new since the beginning: The two newest Rangers.
Jowar, the Wizard Ranger: Jowar specializes in Light attacks and, unlike the other Rangers, doesn’t possess a motif based on a creature, but of a wizard. He started off as the team’s mentor, teaching them about the world they’d arrived in and giving advice and guidance where possible. While he isn’t the most effective mentor to a Ranger team, he DOES help however he can, and genuinely cares for the team. However, as time went by, the truth of his past, namely that he is the father of Walker, the Shadowmancer that has been tormenting the team since they arrived, and his own past tragedies in how his desire for a family was twisted against him by Dradarius, were brought to light. His genuine desire to help the team, despite being unable to use his powerful light-based magic much outside the boundaries of the Ancient Library, their base of operations, led to him earning the ability to become the Wizard Ranger. His personal weapon is his staff (which I just now realized I’ve never given a name to in the story…whoops), which possesses a unicorn motif, due to being guided to the library by the Unicorn Zord. The staff allows him to harness light in various forms of magical spells, or to emit powerful light-based attacks, which most of the monsters are severely weak to, thus making him a powerful ally in the field when he’s able to join the team. He tends to experiment with the limits of his magic through various botany experiments, providing plants with the light they need to live, which has become a favoured hobby of his. While he currently doesn’t have a Zord of his own, the Unicorn Zord instead being one of three auxiliary Zords that form weapons for the Megazord, he DOES control the Magna Buster, a massive crystalline device that emerges from the library roof, which can erect powerful force fields, or emit bursts of light to either destroy monsters or recharge the Zords.
…Also, if you guys could do me a HUGE favour…can you give me suggestions for what the heck to call Jowar’s staff? I mean, it’s his primary weapon/Morpher, and it doesn’t have a name. And most of the names I come up with in my head sound dumb. Wizard Staff, Unimax Staff, Gaia Staff Morpher, Wizard Force Morpher, and so on. Please, HELP ME. lol
Drayden Snyder, the Indigo Gaia Ranger: Drayden specializes in Dark attacks and possesses a Dragon motif. He’s the son of a professor, Charles Snyder, who studied various archaeological digs in his own search for Gaia. Despite being proud of him, Drayden always felt like a cheap imitation of his father, never seeming to be a unique person of his own making. As such, when he’s dragged into Gaia through the sixth crystal, his mind and body are merged with the spirit of an ancient Shadowmancer, Dargoon, and is lured into helping him with the promise of becoming his own man. However, when people start getting hurt and it’s clear that Dargoon is insane, looking to actually destroy Gaia, he tries to break away, only managing to do so with the Rangers’ help. Despite this, he felt the darkness was still with him, and alienated himself from his father and the group, thinking himself evil. Once he learned that darkness was just another element like any other, though, and that it was the people that had usurped the dark zones in Gaia that were the problem, he joined the team, taking his place as the sixth Guardian of Gaia. While he isn’t the sixth Ranger by order of appearance, he is in the more spiritual and philosophical sense, and more-so by the fact that there were originally six Guardians of Gaia, and that the Wizard Ranger is something entirely new. His personal weapon is the Dragon Buster, a massive sword that can channel the energies of three separate Gaian Crystals at once. He pilots the Dragon Zord, which can fly and breathe dark flames, but also controls the Wolf and Lion Zords, which combine with the Dragon Zord to form the Dragoon Megazord, or swap arms with the Gaia Megazord.
Now, I said that I’m planning to have this story done by the end of the year. However, I should probably put an asterisk over that, as the story I’m writing now is actually only the first half of the bigger story going on. After this, I plan to post what I’m referring to as ‘Season 2’, or the second half of the story. And for those worried, NO, I am NOT calling it ‘Super Guardians of Gaia’, although I will say that such a title worked a lot better with Megaforce than Samurai, and that I can actually buy Super Megaforce as a legitimate second season, whereas Super Samurai was just the remaining 20 episodes of Samurai being aired a year later. So, why the second season story? Well, primarily because of all the ideas I have for GoG that will ultimately stretch the story out much further than I had originally planned. New weapons, twists in the story, possibly a new Zord, hell, maybe even a team-up with a previous Ranger team. Plus, there is a point in the story coming up that serves as a major turning point, which I felt would actually work pretty well as a cliffhanger.
So yeah, ‘Season 1’ will end before the year is up, and then next year, ‘Season 2’ will ultimately tell the second half of the overarching story, and provide closure for it. But that doesn’t mean it’s lame sailing from here until the end of this half. Trust me, this half is ending with a bang in a way that I don’t believe we’ve seen before in Power Rangers. I mean, we’ve seen occasions where the bad guys send a massive army of monsters to the front doors of the heroes, and we’ve actually seen it already at around the halfway point of ‘Season 1’. However, this ending coming up is something I don’t recall ever seeing in Power Rangers: A massive army marching on the front door…of the BAD GUYS. 😀
Anyway, lemme know what you think of this decision, the story in general, and of course, click the link below to read the story itself. Ja né, and may the power protect you!
Click this image to go to the story
Jyger's Rant 