Latest Posts by sweetheartsoldier - Page 2

“Some people read with their feet,” is a quote that’s been relevant since the day I heard it (and before that, to be so honest), and something else that’s rattling around in my brain is some post (I’ve got no hope of finding the original as I can’t even recall what website I saw it on) saying something along the lines of “it tracks that the Pevensies are British and that the moment they found themselves in an unfamiliar place they declared themselves its royal family.”

If you want to talk about colonialism, talk about colonialism, but it does frustrate me to see a point missed so thoroughly. I hate to see it missed and I love this particular aspect of the series, so I’m going to take a moment to talk about it.

The Pevensies did not declare themselves royalty. Becoming kings and queens was not their idea. This was an expectation that the people of Narnia had for them, and when the kids were informed of this expectation, they found it daunting, to say the least.

This theme recurs almost beat-for-beat with Caspian, who is very openly unsure of himself and his ability to rule Narnia. It evolves with Eustace, who begins his arc unable to even consider the possibility of himself doing something important for Narnia or vice versa. It returns with Jill, who gets angry at being saddled with a mission that feels altogether too big for her.

The premise that keeps coming up throughout the series is this concept of worthiness and capability. The takeaway is not that some people are made superior or that people can make themselves superior. The takeaway is that you will feel inferior. In fact, if you feel superior, you are probably delusional: a danger to yourself and others. You will feel inferior, but that is neither a sentence to accomplish only little in life, nor an excuse for only accomplishing little in life. You will be afraid and insecure and uncertain and embarrassed, but you can and must do great things nonetheless. We are, all of us, made for greatness.

*slaps roof of uncanny valley*

This bad boy can fit so many of my drawings in it!

Currently color-coding my subplots and fellas. I fear I need the shrimp colors now.

I know it’s been said a million times, a million different ways, but Dumbledore was crazy right out of the gate with the whole Philosopher’s Stone ordeal. Imagine approaching your longtime acquaintance and saying, “Hey, pal, can I borrow your life support? I want to lure a genocidal maniac in so I can test an 11 year old against him in combat. I’d like to do this on school property, while in session.”

Your life is such a beautiful story. You were made to overcome the specific challenges you’re facing. You and your circumstances are a match made up in Heaven. I wish you wouldn’t talk about yourself like someone who’s not interesting, not inspiring, not worth watching. I wish you wouldn’t spend your whole story waiting for the happily-ever-after. The part you’re at is just as lovely, just as touching, just as momentous.

“The Devil works hard, but AO3 authors work harder,” I mutter to myself like a mantra as encouragement while I trudge my way through my 10 year old WIP, which is not published on AO3.

Tired of stories where the author worldbuilds a whole religion only to chicken out at the last moment by making the main character a skeptic. You mean to tell me that there’s all this richness in lore and culture, but you’ve trapped me with the one person in this society who doesn’t care about it? So bland. I could meet an agnostic easily enough by walking down the street, but your story is my one chance to hear the perspective of someone who follows whatever religion you’ve contrived. You made this whole world; convince me that your character really is from there.

“In order to be loved, you must submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known.”

In order to fulfill my own goals, I must edit this writing from ten years ago no matter how embarrassed I am to have written it.