you guys wanna see my favorite discord gif emoji
at a bar in lower manhattan and they’re playing catholic choral music. on the wall there’s a giant mural of gregorian monks on a raft
the only other people in here are talking quietly about japanese verb conjugation. there are many statues of gargoyles and gnomes
reading reviews while quietly sipping my drink. i feel like i’m in an alternate dimension. it’s called Burp Castle btw
probably goes without saying this is now my favorite bar in the world
new yorkers are so fucking spoiled it is unbelievable
t shirt that says YOU DONT UNDERSTAND MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD and the back says NEITHER DO I
Yearly Reminder that C.S Lewis encouraged his fans to write fanfiction about Susan Pevensie becoming a friend to Narnia and reuniting with her family once again.
Literally inviting his fans to write Susan’s adult, angsty character development with a happy ending.
Do your duty fans. Write that fanfiction.
Also a friendly reminder that the reason Susan was no longer a friend of Narnia wasn’t because she was girly and liked lipstick, but because she stopped believing in Narnia due to wanting to seem grown-up. Like the Lewis quote about having a fear of childishness and wanting to be very grown-up, Susan put the appearance of maturity over actual maturity.
When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.
The problem with Susan being “interested in nothing nowadays except nylons and lipstick and invitations” isn’t the nylons, lipsticks, and invitations, it’s the being interested in nothing except that. It’s the fact that she stops believing in Narnia and in Aslan.
Nylons, lipsticks, and invitations are more or less just the English version of what she liked back in Narnia in a queen, and she’s always presented as being a good queen. We even meet a similarly girly character in The Horse and His Boy, Lasaraleen, and the story explicitly tells us that the more tomboy-ish Aravis is wrong to belittle Lasaraleen for being girly.
It may also be worth noting that we get the nylons, lipsticks, and invitations quote not from any of Susan’s siblings, but from Jill Pole. Some disdain coming through in the quote would be in character for Jill, who’s young and decidedly a tomboy and not big on “girly” things. The other Pevensies are pretty silent on the matter of Susan- like maybe it’s too painful for them to talk about, or Lewis can’t have them talk about it because the discussion wouldn’t fit well into a children’s book.
Lastly, I think it’s worth mentioning that Susan’s story is the closest to that of Lewis himself. He was raised religious, became an atheist as a teen, and then went back to religion as an adult. And Susan’s name means “lily”- a flower that’s associated with Jesus in real life and with Aslan in Narnia. Her siblings have significant names, so Susan’s name was probably carefully chosen too.
And what flower covers the sea at the uttermost east, closest to Aslan’s country? Lilies.
Finally, someone ELSE who understands the so-called "problem" of Susan. Some good fucking analysis FINALLY. I owe you my LIFE.
Best trick I ever picked up. Seriously.
I have also learned this is great for [PICK A COOL NAME FOR A SHIP] and [LOOK UP THE FACTS ABOUT OXYGEN LEVELS] and [WHAT’S THE WORD] and [DOUBLECHECK CHARACTER’S EYE COLOR] and ALL KINDS OF THINGS.
Anything that isn’t critical in the moment, and could be filled in later while I’m currently trying to burn through writing pages that will be lost if I don’t get them out right now? Brackets.
This is seriously the best advice, and it really helps put it into perspective that the first draft is just that- a draft. There’s no reason to agonize over a particularly tricky bit of writing when you could just leave it in brackets and skip to the good parts, the parts you’ve visualized. I also use brackets for [fact-check this], [use a stronger verb], [is this in character?] and other notes as I write, just so I don’t forget what I want to work on when I go back and edit.
This works for academic writing too. If you know where you’re going just leave yourself notes to fill in later. I do this all the time,
I've been unable to break through the wall of stuff i have to research in the latest chapter of my fic. I think this will help!
I have to try this!!!!
Polyamorous relationships are not for everyone. Monogamous relationships are not for everyone. Romantic relationships are not for everyone!!! We are all different people with different needs, maybe just stop trying to condense the human experience into a homogenous gray monolith!!! aaaaaaaa
And at different stages of your life, different things may be for you ✨️
