Back where the sea meets the ground

[sovay]

I spent most of my day baking honeycakes with my mother, but I also spent a portion of my day discussing fanfiction on the internet, and I am therefore delighted to report that my niece has reached the stage of investment in How to Train Your Dragon where she has declared that she and Hiccup have taken each other's last names. Her parents have gently put it to her that first grade may be a little early for marriage, but she is adamant. It is unclear as yet if she is also married to Astrid, but she has firm opinions about the kind of dragon she rides. I should start figuring out now what dragon-related thing I can give her for her birthday. She is not quite reading at a level where I could just deluge her with books, although I am told she enjoys having books read to her that she can't yet read herself. Recently she asked my mother if a children's fantasy was real and my mother answered that the people are a story, but the ways they feel are real. I like that wording very much. I remember few self-inserts from my own childhood, but I famously put myself into the Chronicles of Prydain as the daughter of Arawn and Achren, the princess of the underworld, fostered with the triple goddess in the Marshes of Morva. My self-esteem was a lot healthier then. That said, I had a day of not feeling terrible about the aesthetics of my physical embodiment, so spatch took a picture.

Comments

[cmcmck]

The aesthetics of one's physical embodiment matter and this is a lovely pic! :o)

[mrissa]

What fascinates me about your self-insert is that it's a very different cultural place in the story than my own self-inserts. I can definitely see the appeal, but I can also see the shape of "where I go is in the north, with trees" that I have that I knew was not universal but had not experienced directly in other people's specifics before.

[asakiyume]

First grade might be slightly young--but probably not, for your niece--for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin. The protagonist in that makes friends with, and is accompanied for the rest of the adventure by, a dragon. The story weaves in folktales that people tell, represented in the book in a different font, and there are illustrations by the author. I loved it (reading it as an adult, but my nieces-in-law--which is to say, the daughters of my brother's sister's brother) read it/were read it at an appropriate age and loved it. If she likes it, there are two more books in the series.

You look beautiful in the photo!

Also, you were so cool to place yourself in that manner into the Prydain chronicles. When I was reading them, I hadn't yet intuited the power (and emotional truth) of choosing such an ambiguous lineage on the D&D alignment scale. I took the most crippling straight-edge characters and wanted to be them (but in my own gender)--so, a female Adaon or a female Gwydion. (This abruptly ended in adolescence.)

[choco_frosh]

There's always Dragonbreath?

[umanothing]

Suggestion: dragon puppet?
Also, you and Sir Fabulous look lovely!

[sartorias]

What a lovely picture--your smile, the shirt, the pretty piece of furniture behind. All a real pleasure to rest the eyes on.

[minoanmiss]

*agrees delightedly*

[muccamukk]

Yeah, my niece is there with yours. I think she's writing comic scripts for different endings of the movies she doesn't like, and her brother's drawing them for her. I should start figuring out what things she might like for the holidays.

That's a lovely picture. I always enjoy your face.

[gaudior]

the people are a story, but the ways they feel are real.

That is very well-phrased, thank you! I may steal it.

[davidgillon]

Looking good!

There were dragons in quite a few BBC children's programmes when I was a kid, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, and The Clangers (that one had the Soup Dragon). The first two did have books to go with them, but a quick google tells me that if I want Noggin the Nog books - the ones I definitely remember reading - then you're looking at £60 for a complete boxed set, which is clearly targeting the nostalgia market, not the kid market. Ivor the Engine seems to have had a more recent run of reprints for actual kids, but availability in the US is likely problematical (and the dragons in both Ivor and Noggin were occasional guest stars rather than series regulars). Apparently The Clangers had a 2016 revival that did get a US release, but rather than Michael Palin narrating, they substituted William Shatner - what were they thinking!

[teenybuffalo]

That's a good likeness.

The Kids These Days seem strong on the dragon front, which I enjoy.

[gwynnega]

Recently she asked my mother if a children's fantasy was real and my mother answered that the people are a story, but the ways they feel are real.

I like that she asked, and I love your mother's reply.

That is a lovely photo!

[ethelmay]

She's probably a little old for The Dragon in the Clock Box (and I haven't seen it in years, so don't know how it holds up), but it was a school reading assignment years after I first read it as a picture book, so who knows. (I am still furious at the teacher for her interpretation of the ending.)

[rinue]

I would be interested in your honeycakes recipe, if you're interested in sharing. (No pressure if it's too personal or too much of a hassle to write down.)

I've been reading Dealing With Dragons to an eight-year-old who has been thrilled every time dragon society challenges the idea of fixed gender or gender-based roles. It felt very sensible back when I was a kid, so I'm relieved it's held up.

[alexxkay]

Your mother is wise. As Alan Moore points out, the idea of a thing is a *real* idea.

I am glad you are sometimes able to perceive your loveliness :-)

[selkie]

I would attempt to pass along Noel’s animatronic fuzzy dragon but I would be sliced to pieces in my sleep, as we still hear it secretly roaring from their room occasionally. (It is a good toy for a kid with aphantasia, I think. It looks the tiniest bit bovine but then, so do I, and I am critical adorable mass.)

I particularly like that you can see the actual hue of your eyes in this picture; they tend to photograph lighter and less emphatic than they are.

[radiantfracture]

the people are a story, but the ways they feel are real.

That's a lovely way to hold onto the value of identifying with a story.

I famously put myself into the Chronicles of Prydain as the daughter of Arawn and Achren, the princess of the underworld, fostered with the triple goddess in the Marshes of Morva.

Well, that's magnificent.