“
Stories have changed, my dear boy,” the man in the grey suit says, his voice almost imperceptibly sad. “There are no more battles between good and evil, no monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue. Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my experience, at least the ones worth something, in any case. There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings. The quests lack clarity of goal or path. The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are. And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep overlapping and blur, your story is part of your sister’s story is part of many other stories, and there in no telling where any of them may lead. Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad little girl. And is not the dragon the hero of his own story? Is not the wolf simply acting as a wolf should act? Though perhaps it is a singular wolf who goes to such lengths as to dress as a grandmother to toy with its prey.
”
”
Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus)
“
You don't strike me as the princess type."
"What's that suppose to mean?"
Daniel Smiled. "It means that I'd still go out of my way to rescue you, but you'd probably smack me across the head and try to slay the dragon yourself.
”
”
Jeyn Roberts (Dark Inside (Dark Inside, #1))
“
ONCE UPON A time, there was a king who had three beautiful daughters. He loved each of them dearly. One day, when the young ladies were of age to be married, a terrible, three-headed dragon laid siege to the kingdom, burning villages with fiery breath. It spoiled crops and burned churches. It killed babies, old people, and everyone in between.
The king promised a princess’s hand in marriage to whoever slayed the dragon. Heroes and warriors came in suits of armor, riding brave horses and bearing swords and arrows.
One by one, these men were slaughtered and eaten.
Finally the king reasoned that a maiden might melt the dragon’s heart and succeed where warriors had failed. He sent his eldest daughter to beg the dragon for mercy, but the dragon listened to not a word of her pleas. It swallowed her whole.
Then the king sent his second daughter to beg the dragon for mercy, but the dragon did the same. Swallowed her before she could get a word out.
The king then sent his youngest daughter to beg the dragon for mercy, and she was so lovely and clever that he was sure she would succeed where the others had perished.
No indeed. The dragon simply ate her.
The king was left aching with regret. He was now alone in the world.
Now, let me ask you this. Who killed the girls?
The dragon? Or their father?
”
”
E. Lockhart (We Were Liars)
“
Rule #17: To rescue a princess from magical imprisonment, a handsome prince must first slay the dragon. If one is not available, a large iguana will do in a pinch.”
—Definitive Fairy-Tale Survival Guide, Volume 1
”
”
Betsy Schow (Spelled (The Storymakers, #1))
“
be wary
of the boys who
only ever tell
half-thruths
because they
will only ever be
half in love
with you
-slay those dragons
”
”
Amanda Lovelace (The Princess Saves Herself in This One (Women Are Some Kind of Magic, #1))
“
And sometimes the princess needs to get off her ass, pick up a sword, and slay the dragon herself.
”
”
Amerie (Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy)
“
In this story, the princess slayed the dragon.
”
”
Amanda Foody (All of Us Villains (All of Us Villains, #1))
“
Maybe there aren’t any happily ever afters, or white knights who ride in on valiant steeds to save the day. Maybe, in real life, Prince Charming isn’t always perfect – he’s just as flawed as everyone else in the tale. And that princess, alone in her tower? She’s not perfect either. Birds don’t braid her hair every morning, she can’t serenade wild forest creatures into servitude, and she doesn’t even own a ball gown. But she’s also smart enough to know not to accept poisoned apples from strangers, or prick her finger on deadly spindles.
She doesn’t wait around for a prince to charge in and slay the dragon. Maybe she saves herself and in the end, rides off into her own goddamned sunset.
”
”
Julie Johnson (Like Gravity)
“
Sometimes you have to slay a few dragons before you free the princess.
”
”
Atticus Poetry
“
You can’t just hope for happy endings. You have to believe in them. Then do the work, take the risks. Slay the dragon—though I really think dragons get a bad rap—kiss the princess, or the frog, defeat the bad witch.
”
”
Nora Roberts (Dark Witch (The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy, #1))
“
Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.
”
”
Princess Diana
“
Tell me a story grandma
one where the princess isn't always
quiet and pretty and proud and nice.
Tell me a story grandma,
one where she slays the dragon
who threatens to kill her kind.
”
”
Maya Amlin (If I Have A Daughter One Day)
“
This is not a romance. Romances are filled with valiant men and simpering damsels in distress. Romances have heroes worthy of the title. They slay dragons and climb towers to rescue beautiful princesses they immediately marry and impregnate. Romances end with a happily ever after. This is not a romance. This is a love story.
”
”
C.J. Roberts (Epilogue (The Dark Duet, #3))
“
Well, over here, this is a Sensor. It senses when demons are near.” He moved toward Magnus, and the Sensor made a loud wailing noise.
“Impressive!” Magnus exclaimed, pleased. He lifted a construction of fabric with a large dead bird perched atop it. “And what is this?”
“The Lethal Bonnet,” Henry declared.
“Ah,” said Magnus. “In times of need a lady can produce weapons from it with which to slay her
enemies.”
“Well, no,” Henry admitted. “That does sound like a rather better idea. I do wish you had been on the spot when I had the notion. Unfortunately this bonnet wraps about the head of one’s enemy and suffocates them, provided that they are wearing it at the time.”
“I imagine that it will not be easy to persuade Mortmain into a bonnet,” Magnus observed. “Though the color would be fetching on him
”
”
Cassandra Clare (Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, #3))
“
It feels like a fairy tale from one of those happily-ever-after books where the princess storms the castle, slays a goblin-dragon, and takes over the kingdom for herself. Except I am not golden-haired or fine-boned. I have no bones at all.
I am a rag doll who married a skeleton king.
A rag doll who woke from the impossible daydream and found herself in her own heroine story--a tale whose ending hasn't yet been written; but instead, is only just the beginning.
”
”
Shea Ernshaw (Long Live the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas)
“
she wears her fears, embroidered to perfection. she wears the darkness like a dress. she slays her demons and still looks like a princess
”
”
excerpt from a book I'll never write
“
be wary
of the boys who
only ever tell
half-truths
because they
will only ever be
half in love
with you.
—slay those dragons.
”
”
Amanda Lovelace (The Princess Saves Herself in This One (Women Are Some Kind of Magic, #1))
“
How could you go home again after all that? After slaying monsters and saving princesses and dining in the homes of immortal beings . . .
”
”
Alwyn Hamilton (Hero at the Fall (Rebel of the Sands, #3))
“
be wary
of the boys who
only ever tell
half-truths
because they
will only ever be
half in love
with you.
-slay those dragons.
”
”
Amanda Lovelace (The Princess Saves Herself in This One (Women Are Some Kind of Magic, #1))
“
You have to be in charge of telling your own story. And sometimes the princess needs to get off her ass, pick up a sword, and slay the dragon herself.
”
”
Amerie (Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy)
“
Opera singers hardly ever got to slay dragons.
”
”
Ursula Vernon (Hamster Princess: Ratpunzel)
“
But this ain't Rapunzel's story, is it? This is mine. And if there ain't no Prince running in and slaying the Witch, then that means this Princess has got to do her own damn dirty work herself.
”
”
Sarah Ann Juckes (Outside)
“
Stories have changed, my dear boy,” the man in the grey suit says, his voice almost imperceptibly sad. “There are no more battles between good and evil, no monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue. Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my experience, at least the ones worth something, in any case. There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings. The quests lack clarity of goal or path. The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are. And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep going on, they overlap and blur, your story is part of your sister’s story is part of many other stories, and there is no telling where any of them may lead. Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad little girl. And is not the dragon the hero of his own story? Is not the wolf simply acting as a wolf should act? Though perhaps it is a singular wolf who goes to such lengths as to dress as a grandmother to toy with its prey.
”
”
Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus)
“
There are no more battles between good and evil, no monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue. Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my experience, at least the ones worth something, in any case. There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings. The quests lack clarity of goal or path. The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are. And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep going on, they overlap and blur, your story is part of your sister’s story is part of many other stories, and there is no telling where any of them may lead. Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad little girl. And is not the dragon the hero of his own story? Is not the wolf simply acting as a wolf should act? Though perhaps it is a singular wolf who goes to such lengths as to dress as a grandmother to toy with its prey.
”
”
Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus)
“
There are no more battles between good and evil, no monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue. Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my experience, at least the ones worth something, in any case. There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings. The quests lack clarity of goal or path. The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are. And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep going on, they overlap and blur, your story is part of your sister’s story is part of many other stories, and there is no telling where any of them may lead. Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad little girl.
”
”
Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus)
“
Anyway, I suppose in part I'm telling this story now because I want all of you—and I do mean all—to know that I wasn't always a somewhat-overweight woman without an upper lip to her name who can occasionally be found sleeping behind her face and always thinking in her mouth. I was once a relevant piece of ass who barely knew she existed while much of the rest of the moviegoing world saw me romping through the air in a metal bikini, awake as I needed to be in order to slay space slugs, being whoever I needed to be in the face of affective disorders and otherwise.
”
”
Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist)
“
Rosabella Beauty was the daughter of the famous Beauty, a girl whose love had turned the Beast back into a prince. Darling Charming was the daughter of the renowned King Charming, whose royal storyline stretched back to the very beginning of stories. The Charming men had always been known for their heroic deeds, luxurious hair, and enchanting eyes. Darling's two brothers were expected to follow in King Charming's heroic footsteps by saving damsels, slaying dragons, and basically conquering whatever evil stepped into their paths.
Darling, however, was not a son. She was a daughter. And being a daughter was a different matter altogether. No heroic deeds were expected of her. No quests or adventures. While the activities of the Charming princes had always been celebrated by poets and storytellers, the Charming princesses had a singular destiny- to be damsels in distress waiting for rescue.
”
”
Suzanne Selfors (A Semi-Charming Kind of Life (Ever After High: A School Story, #3))
“
Stories have changed, my dear boy,” the man in the grey suit says, his voice almost imperceptibly sad. “There are no more battles between good and evil, no monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue. Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my experience, at least the ones worth something, in any case. There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings. The quests lack clarity of goal or path. The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are. And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep going on, they overlap and blur, your story is part of your sister’s story is part of many other stories, and there is no telling where any of them may lead. Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad little girl. And is not the dragon the hero of his own story? Is not the wolf simply acting as a wolf should act?
”
”
Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus)
“
Fairy tales are entertaining, but what about after the story? When the knight marries the princess do you think he actually makes a decent husband? Just because he wears expensive armor and rescues her doesn't mean he's a good man. He might slay as many innocent dragons as he does evil ones. The princess married a man, not a saint. Well, unless he's Saint George." He grinned but she didn't smile back.
"That doesn't make saving a damsel in distress any less honorable. And if he stoops to marry his damsel he's the one most liked to be disappointed. A pretty face doesn't guarantee she can do anything useful."
Ah, so they were more alike than he thought. She didn't believe she deserved him any more than he believed he did her. "So a poor maiden can't ever be worthy of a knight, not even a flawed one?"
"What could a commoner possibly do to make a knight happy?"
"You help him figure out which dragons need to be vanquished and which can be redeemed and trained."
She finally looked at him for more than a moment, her eyes as dazzling as the sparkling flakes dancing in the moonlight. "Are we still talking about mythology?" Her voice shook.
"No." He smiled. "I never thought we were.
”
”
Melissa Jagears (A Heart Most Certain (Teaville Moral Society, #1))
“
It’s probably long overdue for us to throw out what we think we know about love. Girls have grown up with too many fairy tale/date movies/romance bodice-rippers racing around in our heads—the warrior with his rippling muscles and the golden-maned damsel clinging to his breeches. The title is something like Savage Heat or Destiny’s Desire. This is the fairy tale world where men and women always orgasm at the same time or where the man wakes the sleeping princess with a kiss, or where the hero slays the dragon and rescues the damsel from a tower, or where, essentially, everyone lives happily ever after and no one writes what happens next.
What happens next is that reality sets in. The golden bubble bursts. There are bills to pay. Someone has to walk the dog and clean the cat litter box and go to the grocery store for milk.
”
”
Stephanee Killen (Buddha Breaking Up: A Guide to Healing from Heartache & Liberating Your Awesomeness)
“
They came from over the hill to slay, the monsters, beasts and bullies. The princesses came with their shiny crowns, two beauties in their flowing gowns. And so they shouted, away away away!” “Away away away!” the A.S.S. sang in response like they knew the words and my jaw dropped. “The monsters said we’re here to stay, raising forks and sticks and sharpened picks. The princesses came with their silver blades, two beauties with their loyal maids. And so they shouted, away away away!” She started up a dance, stamping her foot twice to the left, then twice to the right before jumping up and clapping above her head. “Away away away!” Tory and I joined in between our laughter as Justin Masters produced a flute from his bag and started piping out the tune. Oh my god this is actually happening. Geraldine reached out to us and I shrugged at Tory before climbing up to join her on the table. She started the dance again and I copied her, picking it up as Tory joined her other side, laughing as Geraldine continued the song. “The beasts they laughed with their hearts so black, they pushed, they fought and they attacked. But the princesses came with a swirl and a swoosh, and pushed those beasties in the Lake of Multush. And so they shouted, away away away!” “Away away away!” I cried with everyone else, wiping tears of laughter from my eyes as more and more people crowded around our table and joined in. “The bullies they smiled and they jeered the town, they jibed, they battered and made everyone frown. The princesses showed them the strength of their souls, no bully could make a dent on their walls. And so they shouted, away away away!” We clapped above our heads in time with Geraldine and everyone continued on singing that last line again and again, pointing over at the Heirs who were staring at us with their jaws slack like they couldn’t quite believe what was happening. “Away away away!
”
”
Caroline Peckham (Cursed Fates (Zodiac Academy, #5))
“
Stories have changed, my dear boy," the man in the grey suit says, his voice almost imperceptibly sad. "There are no more battles between good and evil, no monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue. Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my experience, at least the ones worth something, in any case. There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings. The quests lack clarity of goal or path. The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are. And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep going on, they overlap and blur, your story is part of your sister's story is part of many other stories, and there is no telling where any of them may lead. Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad little girl. And is not the dragon the hero of his own story? Is not the wolf simply acting as a wolf should act? Though perhaps it is a singular wolf who goes to such lengths as to dress as a grandmother to toy with its prey.
”
”
Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus)
“
Once upon a time, there was a princess. All of her life the king and queen told her that princesses behaved like ladies, wore beautiful dresses, trained in proper manners and elegance, and were to always wait for a handsome prince to come and save them if ever needed. Princes behaved like gentlemen, wore the finest suites, trained in swordsmanship and sailing, and were always ready to save a princess. This was the perfect formula for a "happily ever after", or at least that's what her parents always told her. What if they were wrong? Could her "happily ever after" look different? One day, this particular human found herself to be in a bit of a pickle. She somehow ended up in the den of a vicious, multi-headed, fire-breathing dragon. She was not about to wait around for a prince to save her, partly because she didn't have time, and partly because she didn't need a prince. She had no sword, no shield, and no idea what to do. (...) She behaved with nobility, wore the most impenetrable armor, wielded her weapon with stength, trained her brain and her body, and never ever waited to be saved. She could slay dragons and fo to afternoon tea with the queen in the same day. She could marry a princess. She was herself, and she lived happily ever after.
”
”
Ashley Mardell (The ABC's of LGBT+)
“
Then first I knew the delight of being lowly; of saying to myself, “I am what I am, nothing more.” “I have failed,” I said, “I have lost myself — would it had been my shadow.” I looked round: the shadow was nowhere to be seen. Ere long, I learned that it was not myself, but only my shadow, that I had lost. I learned that it is better, a thousand-fold, for a proud man to fall and be humbled, than to hold up his head in his pride and fancied innocence. I learned that he that will be a hero, will barely be a man; that he that will be nothing but a doer of his work, is sure of his manhood. In nothing was my ideal lowered, or dimmed, or grown less precious; I only saw it too plainly, to set myself for a moment beside it. Indeed, my ideal soon became my life; whereas, formerly, my life had consisted in a vain attempt to behold, if not my ideal in myself, at least myself in my ideal. Now, however, I took, at first, what perhaps was a mistaken pleasure, in despising and degrading myself. Another self seemed to arise, like a white spirit from a dead man, from the dumb and trampled self of the past. Doubtless, this self must again die and be buried, and again, from its tomb, spring a winged child; but of this my history as yet bears not the record. Self will come to life even in the slaying of self; but there is ever something deeper and stronger than it, which will emerge at last from the unknown abysses of the soul: will it be as a solemn gloom, burning with eyes? or a clear morning after the rain? or a smiling child, that finds itself nowhere, and everywhere?
”
”
George MacDonald (The Complete Works of George MacDonald (Illustrated Edition): The Princess and the Goblin, Phantastes, At the Back of the North Wind, Lilith…)
“
All at once I recognized the face I’d only glimpsed at my uncle’s table. “Sir, are you--are you Iolaus, great Herakles’s nephew?”
He gave an uncomfortable laugh and scratched his head. “I can’t deny it. How did you know me?”
“I saw you at dinner.” That was the truth, even if he’d believe I’d done so from a place at the servants’ table, not the king’s. “I’ve heard the poets sing of your exploits. It’s an honor to meet you.”
His mouth curved into a charming smile. “The real honor would be to meet Herakles. Surely you’ve heard what some of the other hunters say about me? That Lord Oeneus allowed me to join the hunt only because of my uncle’s deeds, not mine.”
“If you ask me, some of the men who scoff at you wouldn’t fare so well if anyone looked closely at their claims to fame,” I replied hotly. “Everyone knows that you were the one who helped Herakles slay the nine-headed Hydra!”
“Yes, well…” He took a deep breath. “Lad, did you ever see a nine-headed beast of any sort, mouse or monster?”
“No, but--”
“No one has, including me and my uncle. But the poets who sing for their living know they won’t earn a full belly from spinning tales about how Herakles and his nephew slew an ordinary swamp snake; a monstrously big swamp snake, as thick around the body as a pillar, but with just one head, after all.”
“Oh.” I was deeply disappointed.
“Now, now, cheer up.” Iolaus put on a jolly face. “No need to lose heart just because my adventures are such trivial things. All the more reason for you to grow up strong and brave and perform truly heroic deeds. Show the rest of us how it’s done, eh?
”
”
Esther M. Friesner (Nobody's Princess (Nobody's Princess, #1))
“
What are you saying, Argus?” Jason came out of the darkness like a murdered man’s ghost. “I heard you mention my name.”
“Only telling Atalanta here about your own exploits as a hunter,” Argus said as naturally as if it were true. “You ought to show her that leopard-skin trophy of yours. It’s a beauty.”
“There’ll be time enough to show her that later.” Jason tried to look annoyed, but I could tell that Argus’s smooth talk had flattered him. “When I choose to do it, not when you try to send me off on an errand. I still lead this venture, not you.”
I hated his arrogant attitude toward Argus, to whom he owed so much, but there was little I could do about it. The best I could manage was a ruse to divert him. “A leopard skin?” I put the proper note of awe into my voice. “You should wear it when Lord Aetes summons us to his hall. One look at such a prize and he’ll know who our leader is without asking!”
“You think that will be necessary?” Jason growled, giving Argus a hard, resentful stare.
I pretended I hadn’t heard that. “A leopard! Not even Herakles could boast such a kill. He wore a lion’s pelt, but brute strength’s all you need to slay one of those beasts. You need strength and brains to overcome a leopard.”
“Would you really like to see the pelt?” Jason asked eagerly. I nodded. “For you, then, honored huntress,” he said in a low, honeyed voice. He leaped back aboard the Argo with so much vigor that Argus had to bite his lips to hold back the laughter.
“I’ll never call you ‘girl’ again,” Argus said to me. “A woman twice your age would envy your cunning!”
“If I were still ‘Glaucus,’ you’d say I was smart or clever, not cunning,” I chided him.
“Pfff! What does one little word matter?”
“So you won’t mind if I call the Argo a ferryboat?” I replied sweetly.
”
”
Esther M. Friesner (Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2))
“
Iolaus, and Milo too, benefited from my new fame. Many of the other Argonauts had decided that the only possible reason for a woman to volunteer for a perilous voyage was to be with the man she loved. They just couldn’t agree on which of my friends was the irresistible fellow. Some argued that Milo’s youth put him out of the running; others countered that he was old enough, and called attention to his first shadowy growth of whiskers as proof. Some said it must be Iolaus, who wasn’t just a hero in his own right but shared Herakles’ glory for his part in slaying the Hydra. Some played it safe and took both sides. At first the whispers made Iolaus and Milo uncomfortable, but it didn’t last long. When a man stops looking embarrassed and starts wearing a preening little smile, I’d say he’s gotten used to his new reputation.
”
”
Esther M. Friesner (Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2))
“
It is the stuff of fairy tales and comic books: a hero marches headlong into the fiery jaws of hell to confront some great manifestation of evil. The odds are impossible. The rationale is laughable. Yet our fantastical hero never hesitates, never flinches. He stands tall and slays the dragon, crushes the demon invaders, saves the planet and maybe even a princess or two. And for a brief time, there is hope. But this is not a story of hope. This is a story of everything being completely and utterly fucked. Fucked in proportions and on scales that today, with the comfort of our free Wi-Fi and oversize Snuggie blankets, you and I can hardly imagine.
”
”
Mark Manson (Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope)
“
I looked like a princess from a fairy tale. But princesses never got revenge - they never sought it and they certainly weren't powerful enough to enact it.
”
”
Clare Sager (Slaying the Shifter Prince)
“
God, in Your Kingdom, The princess doesn’t need rescuing, Except by Your merciful hand. Help us surround her with empowerment. Help us cheer her on and make a safe place For her to land when she’s tired. God, help her slay dragons And stand up when something’s wrong. Help her know that the ways of Your Kingdom Mean down is up And the way out is in.
”
”
Kayla Craig (To Light Their Way: A Collection of Prayers and Liturgies for Parents)
“
I’ll give you a crown of daggers and slay anyone you want me to. Then I’ll make love to you over their remains. Whatever world my pirate princess wants, she will have. Just come out of hiding. I need you, Rinny. Fuck, I need you.
”
”
K.G. Reuss (Ashes (The Boys of Chapel Crest, #2))
“
In the conventional storyline, I’m supposed to be the one slaying dragons to save you, the princess in distress. So, you see, I feel odd being the rescued.
”
”
E. Journey (Welcome, Reluctant Stranger (Between Two Worlds, #3))
“
I realized that the job of a hero is not to save the galaxy, or rescue princesses, or slay all the dragons. That may be part of it, but in the end, a hero only has one job, and that’s to make himself unnecessary.
”
”
Yahtzee Croshaw
“
It had been a simpler time, when she could run carefree around the bailey, pretending to slay dragons and capture magical wisps. A time when she did not have to worry about betrothals, peace alliances, or any of the other duties she was now being forced to contend with as princess.
But she would not have to worry about these duties for long. After Merida taught her how to survive the journey to Northumbria, she would have the freedom to study the region's fascinating artwork and listen to the poets who recited sonnets day in and day out. The freedom to spend her mornings tending to lost or injured animals, and her evenings singing folk songs with all the like-minded new friends she would meet.
”
”
Farrah Rochon (Fate Be Changed)
“
I didn’t agree to any of that, Chiara. And since you’re allowing me to change the subject, let me do it again by telling you that what was truly hot was you, standing there, casually leaning against the windowsill, single-handedly saving me from my horrible family, slaying the dragon, breaking the curse, climbing up that tower and rescuing the princess.” “Vi, now you’re not just mixing up metaphors, but your fairytales as well. All I ever did was help you with your shoe.
”
”
Milena McKay (These Thin Lines)
“
I’m being summoned to another bullshit ball.” “Good.” I level her with a hard stare. “This time, you won’t have your knight in shining armor. This time, you’ll have a fucked-up prince who would love nothing more than to slay the fucking she-devil dragon for his princess who has the prettiest dick sucking lips he’s ever seen.” “I think that was romantic,” she says slowly, narrowing her eyes at me, “in some bizarre, so Ashton kind of way.” I guess I can be romantic then. Who knew?
”
”
K. Webster (Bound Together (Torn and Bound Duet, #2))
“
Well, I hardly rescued you properly. I am far from a gallant knight with a sword, slaying dragons to save a princess
”
”
Florence Gold (Prologue to Love: A Pride and Prejudice Variation)
“
From new title ATOMICAS Shatter the Dream
A WORD from the ATOMICAS
I wake up every morning hearing the bell for Round One
La Porcelana
Fight until they can’t
KISS
US Army
SGT. Team Black
Damaged women are the most dangerous kind, because they already know they can survive. My enemies will not be so fortunate.
OVERLOAD
Mess with the ATOMICAS and I will rust your blood.
Rusty
If I ever let my head down, it will only be to admire my shoes.
Ms. Newton
Throw me to the wolves. I will return leading the pack
RABID and Theodore
Chaos is loved by the wild, not the weak
FERAL and Genovese
I will destroy my enemies in the most beautiful way possible, and when I leave, they will know why storms are named after people.
Sea Wasp
A Princess becomes an ATOMICA when she slays her own dragons.
Shatterdream
I will shake my bloody knuckles in my enemy’s face. A fight with the ATOMICAS is a fight to the death. I’ll slap an egg out of you.
Thunder Girl
I like my sunshine with a shot of hurricane.
CRISIS
In my defense, Mother,
the moon was full, and I was the only witch unburned.
Merga Starpattern
I go from zero to beating you silly really quick.
ZAG
I’m stuck between a rock and someone I want to hit with it.
Conduit
Wink at Death and then beat him down like it’s your job.
VOX
I would rather be strong and scary than pretty and useless. I fight things that would set your soul on fire.
Poltergeist
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D.W. Hill (Girl Wanted: Apply in Person: The ATOMICAS Series)
“
As in our own lives, the story’s outward form must track the inner journey of the hero. When we disconnect from our inner selves and identify exclusively with our ego, that’s when we lose our connection with life’s meaning and purpose and are left facing a void that we try to fill with more money, more sex, more power, more fame. And as we see in all modern literature, when the ego separates itself from the self, the end is always frustration and destruction—whether in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick or Stendhal’s The Red and the Black. We can use the power of story, and our primal need for it, to redefine our own narrative. We’re all on a journey, a voyage, a quest to slay the monster, free the princess, and return home. But too often the goals we seek—those that the conventional notions of success tell us we should be seeking—take us down dead ends, searching for the meaning of our lives in all the wrong places. Mindfulness helps us become aware of our own story.
”
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Arianna Huffington (Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder)
“
Look, I like the prince title myself. Carriage processions? ILove them. Perfecting the royal wave?. His right hand moves slowly through the air. His technique is mesmerizing. I excel. But I'd much rather be seated at a table with the royal cort discussing how to make a cranberry apple soufflé than be out there slaying an actual dragon...
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Jen Calonita (Misfits (Royal Academy Rebels, #1))