i’ve been watching a lot of children’s shows in the past few years. partially this has been due to my state of mind: it’s soothing for me to know more or less what to expect, to know that there’s not going to be any surprise gore or assault, to know that good will win in the end. it’s also partially because children’s shows are really fucking good right now, to the point that i’m a little jealous that kids get to grow up with these shows.
there’s a common thread in these shows i love, which is that they push back against the narratives i grew up with, about gender roles and the ways we communicate and the ways we deal with emotions. they even push back against larger narratives like colonialism and isolationism.
(this is where i pause to note that interpretation is always up to the reader of a text, and that while authorial intent can be interesting and can place a work in its historical context, it’s really just another interpretation, no more or less valid than a reader’s. and yes, i WAS an english major, why do you ask?)
also: mild spoilers for season 2 of the dragon prince after the image.
honestly, i don’t know that i would have included the dragon prince in that category after the first season. i liked it well enough, but something was missing - something i think the second season delivered.
i don’t want to get into too many details, but when i pulled strength for today’s newsletter, i thought of king harrow. in the second season, he talks about the lie of history, as presented as a series of battles, the rise and fall of nations and kingdoms. he says, “but this isn’t true strength. it’s merely power. i now believe true strength is found in vulnerability… in forgiveness, in love. there is a beautiful, upside-down truth, which is that these moments of purest strength appear as weakness to those who don’t know better.”
it’s a perfect encapsulation of the strength card, which is not about “might makes right” but about the strength it takes to master one’s emotions, to be vulnerable.
let’s allow ourselves to find the strength in vulnerability this week, darlings. let’s be brave.
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this week’s deck: mesquite tarot
this week’s crystals: tiger’s eye