100 Days of Wonder – #21

Maleficent. In dragon form. She’s spectacular. The first time I saw her I just stared. I was actually speechless. The engineering, the steam punk beauty, the heat of her fire breath and the way she utterly and completely commands attention – awesome. Then, in 2016 and 2019, I got to run past her in a backlot on the marathon course and get even closer. Mind blown.

I was looking for a quote and there are loads saying something along the lines of ‘Evil Queens are just Princesses that weren’t rescued’ and that’s just nonsense. Princesses don’t need rescuing! They rescue themselves and they certainly don’t turn evil because Prince Charming didn’t arrive on time. I prefer the idea of villains just being heroes whose stories haven’t been told. That I get. Although I do think some villains in our stories are just villains. I’ve had a few in mine that however I try and position it and re-tell it from their perspective, I can’t see them anywhere near hero like. But I can also see that in their own stories, they’re probably not villains. In fact maybe I am. Because how we think of ourselves and others is shaped by our stories and how we choose to tell them. All we can do is try and tell them with empathy and kindness but also with a firmness that allows us to stay in control of our own narrative. We need to keep the power to tell our stories and allow others to tell theirs. Don’t let your wings be stolen from you!