2022/05/20 - Can’t Keep A Good Dog Down

[Obbl]

[ Can’t Keep A Good Dog Down ]

Title Text: Draig very quietly shuffles to the back of the room

Oof, expectations are really hard especially when they're from yourself *hugs*

[Welsh Halfwit]

I hope you’re hearing this, Draig,
as, though you’re the nicest one,
when Gods play pool with planets,
it’s mortals that pay for their fun.
With a single comment
Marion breaks Tarot’s dam;
releasing a flood of emotion
from our Pomeranian ma’am.
Release from our fears is hard,
a truth confirmed by Steward.
Now, perhaps if he saves the day
forgiveness may be his reward?

[SeanWolf]

"Dragon raised me to be the Savior of the universe"...So, I wonder if this confirms that Tarot is an orphan of sorts and Dragon is her adopted mother. If so, no wonder why she insisted on being the hero during this (and Temple Crashers 2) arc.

[MrBlueSky7]

Is it me, or has Todd and Steward put on a few pounds more since the last Page?

[NHWestoN]

Suddenly seeing the softer side of Steward.

[Cesco]

Oh wow... I wouldn't put in doubt Tarot's intentions, Marion, especially if you have to express yourself in that way... Do you know what she knows and what she did in past? No, you don't... Yeah, Tarot had a connection with Spirit Dragon till her ending in a mortal life, and that's the purpose. Therefore, I don't think Tarot is the kind of person who does stuff for the own glory, she just goes straight to the point solving the problem. You never got treated well by others, yeah, seeing you weirdly because of such universe saving stuff you care about... You stored hate in yourself, Tarot, let it out now... Good for you to console her, Steward, also if your ambitions weren't good at all.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Forget EVERY SINGLE NEGATIVE and harsh thing I said about Steward before. Him comforting Tarot like that does give me some hope that he can be redeemed. Words I never thought I would say. Maybe he IS decent underneath it all.

[NHWestoN]

Time for a mayhem break - where's Mega-Breel? Or Fox and Mungo? Could Duchess and Cory make up a team? And did they serve snacks on Eudoant's flight?

[GameCobra]

I knew it, but i'm still sad nonetheless it's been brought to this point.

Tarot needs to be taught new tricks before she exhausts herself.

[VeryAngryDeer]

Forget EVERY SINGLE NEGATIVE and harsh thing I said about Steward before. Him comforting Tarot like that does give me some hope that he can be redeemed. Words I never thought I would say. Maybe he IS decent underneath it all.

He didn't start evil, just greedy. Given recent events and his recent behaviour, you can see why he'd empathise with someone who's ambitious and suffering for it.

[NHWestoN]

Poor Tarot - Talented, brilliant, poised, and soooo thwarted.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Tarot really should try to focus on something else. Maybe she can build a better friendship with Karishad if he isn't put on death row for murdering Grimace and decapitating him.

[PhycoKrusk]

Huh. It turns out that constantly putting maximum effort into everything, only for someone to swoop in at the end and take all the credit after you did all the work can be damaging to your emotional state.

It's almost like I was right about Tarot developing a complex if Average Kitsune didn't change the way he treated her. (He doesn't get to be "Great" anymore)

[Harry Johnathan]

I never got the impression that Tarot did all the work or Kitsune took credit for it. Then again, it doesn't really matter. I stopped caring a long time ago.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I don't really think Kitsune did anything or took any credit for protecting the Earth. I think Tarot and Sabrina split their duties equally with each other.

[Vapor]

I don't know how much of the last panel is Steward still under the effects of the "mass remorse" that happened when Kitsune pulled the demon energy out, and how much is him being probably the closest of everyone gathered to knowing exactly what Tarot's feeling, but good on him none-the-less for trying to at least empathize with her.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Maybe he will be redeemed after all. I just hope its not a heroic sacrifice...

[Wrenisprobablyb0red]

I've got mixed feelings on the pomeranian. She seems to desperately want to be in control of every situation, which is understandable, but is kind of annoying sometimes. I hope this sparks some kind of realization in her that she doesn't need to try and control so much. Like I was hoping would happen after the Spa thing. I dunno.
I like badgerman's characterization here. Despite it being sort of a moralistic reverse, I think it makes some degree of sense. With him knowing lanky-heckspawn's extremely nefarious intentions, the mass guilt, and his ability to empathize with Dog-Divine on this, which feels like a more earnest version of how he acted towards the chipmunk way back when he was still living in the woods, despite sorta being the one who transformed him.

[DDeer]

Heart warming last panel, The Pomeranian seems to be the type that assumes that she will have to solve all of the problems she sees, if you want something doing....

[NHWestoN]

There are a lot of folks out there like Tarot.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Those folks like Tarot also need to be treated gently.

[PhycoKrusk]

Heart warming last panel, The Pomeranian seems to be the type that assumes that she will have to solve all of the problems she sees, if you want something doing....

I've got mixed feelings on the pomeranian. She seems to desperately want to be in control of every situation, which is understandable, but is kind of annoying sometimes. I hope this sparks some kind of realization in her that she doesn't need to try and control so much. Like I was hoping would happen after the Spa thing. I dunno.

It isn't that she feels she needs to be in control of every situation. It's that the fate of the world is on the line, and she was literally raised from birth by an immortal demi-god to step in and handle exactly those kinds of situations. Imagine this: You're a skier. You were raised from the time you could stand up without immediately falling over to be a skier. Not just any skier, but the best skier in the world. In the universe. You go through your entire life, and every time a situation arises where it can only be handled by the best skier in the universe, you handle it, no problem. You are the go-to person whenever someone needs a skier.

And then one day, a situation like that arises that needs a skier, and you go in to handle it, and it's the toughest challenge you've ever faced. And then suddenly, along comes someone else who is not only not a skier, but whose only experience with skiing is watching you ski, and they resolve the situation in a fraction of the time it would have taken you, with a fraction of the effort it would have taken you, and they do it not by skiing better than you, but by exploiting the rules as written, so it's not even cheating. When you complain about it, the only answer you get is, "Yeah, but the situation was resolved, so who cares? Stop whining, it's not all about you." Then the next time a situation that needs a skier arises and you step up, you have a handicap imposed on you that limits your capabilities, while your opponent gets to cheat, and the only reason why things start to work out is because someone who, again is not a skier and whose only experience with skiing is watching you ski while in the middle of the current situation, involves another skier who gets to cheat even more than your opponent does. Then, while they go off to finish resolving the situation, you declare that you also have to do something, and the response you get is, "It's not all about you, you're not a good enough skier anyway, stop whining." Skiing is literally, not figuratively, the only thing you know how to do, and upon being sidelined again, you are told that it doesn't matter, you're never going to be good enough to do anything anymore anyway, so just give up doing the one thing you know how to do and that you were raised from the moment you could walk to be better at than everyone else and stop whining about it, because even though you've wasted your entire life, you should at least have the courtesy not to waste someone else's time.

That is what Tarot is going through. She's not upset because she's not getting her way; she's upset because she's being told that her existence is pointless.

[NHWestoN]

Those folks like Tarot also need to be treated gently.

Indeed. "Be kind to everyone you meet for everyone you meet is involved in a great struggle of which you know nothing." George Fox, I think.

[Amazee Dayzee]

It isn't EXACTLY that quote but I looked it up and it says that quote is attributed to John Watson.

[NHWestoN]

It isn't EXACTLY that quote but I looked it up and it says that quote is attributed to John Watson.

Yeah, I've seen various configurations of it, but Watson's is probably the original.

[Amazee Dayzee]

It seems like it though that configuration you posted isn't his. I can't find any trace of it on the internet.

[Cosmacelf]

That is what Tarot is going through. She's not upset because she's not getting her way; she's upset because she's being told that her existence is pointless.

Good summary. Tarot is indeed going through a valid existential crisis. But she isn't a nothing. She did solve the 5000 BC arc without causing the timeline to be invalidated. That was no small thing. And she did make the best of a bad situation in the temple when the demons were unwittingly unleashed by Keene. Even the angels were useless in that situation.

Tarot should dust herself off and keep trying. It isn't as if Kitsune hasn't managed to make a lot of mistakes himself.

[RockstarRaccoon]

It's interesting to see Tarot finally getting some closure on her character arc: it feels like this sort of stuff has been running with her for the entire time she's been in the comic.

Now I wonder if the fact that spirit dragon is technically in the room is going to come up in the next few moments... But we have to wait until after evil Breel shenanigans are done.

[Harry Johnathan]

You've been gone a long time.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I assume that he was busy with real life and couldn't post as much. We'll probably see him again in another 4 years. X)

[RockstarRaccoon]

I haven't been that inactive, have I? I'm going to go check my post history right now...

For the record, I've been perfectly available in the Discord server for the most of this time.

[NHWestoN]

No need to`pologize ... nice to have you back, RR.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I don't think he is back on the forum. If you want to talk, you have to approach him on the Discord server.

[LunarFox]

Tarot's been raised to be the savior
Which seems to explain her rough behavior
Because now she feels useless, her role supplanted
And it stings to the core as she's oft ranted.

She wishes she could learn to be better
That she doesn't have to be the world resetter
But it stings and burns when all your worth
Is balanced on being there to save the Earth.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Hope she gets some recognition since she helped reform Craig and Draig into Pete and Dragon.