i just finished reading the first book in the Tale of Magic series(it's called "Tale of Magic"), the prequal to the Land of Stories series, and i think it's actually quite interesting, at least in the aspect of Madame Weatherberry.
see, it's a common trope among books to show characters, especially the mc, to reject the lifestyle of hatred and choose to be hopeful and nice and all that, but this book, while it does that exact trope with Brystal (the main character) it also does the exact OPPOSITE with Madame Weatherberry.
correct me if i got some parts wrong, but Madame Celeste Weatherberyy was obviously very strong in magic, and even at that time, there was a lot of hatred towards the magic kin, and she saw this, but didn't choose to act on it, insetad choosing to take the more common high road, where they choose to stay above the depraved depths of people who choose to act on the hate in unhealthy ways, and stay above it all. But see, where it gets interesting is that it. . .doesnt really work. Like, she TRIED but she still ended up hateful and spiteful and literally transformed into a murder machine that was her best representation for all of the hatred and anger she had had directed towards her even when she was just a child, just because she was magical.
now, in the end, she/the ice queen are sent off, far away from humanity, too some distant mountain, so that she can't harm anyone else. Now, this is all pretty stereotypical, but i thought it was interesting that the author chose to show what happens when someone internalizes all of the hate, and doesnt deal with it, but still presents them in a (realitevly) positive light. like, yeah, the snow queen was slaughtering folks and all that, but Madame Weatherberry was shown to be kind and loving, and i think that's a good representation of the double-sidedness that can be found in people.
i think that i am hateful and embittered, with a lot of anger bottled up that i occasioanlly deal with by lashing out at people with and just generally degrading the quality of life i experience, so i liked seeing someone who was a major character, who wasn't the villain, and wasn't the main character who heroically fights of the evilness of hate and all that. that's bullshit and i hate that trope. i think, for once, we should have a mc who EMBRACES the hatred and USES it. like, hatred can be used for more than what caused it, you know?
also, i know this might be obvious, but i think that this series might be an alagory for the homosexual experience. like, people are hated for being the way they are(homosexuals and gender queer), and the reason for that is that there is a holy religion (christianity, catholcism and islam, perhaps?) that says that it is immoral and frankly, disgusting to be that way, and there are places you can send your kids to "fix" them (conversion therapy). now naturally, this theor doesnt hold up everywhere, like how the Book of Faith is changed to fit the men's narrative and agenda (the bible isn't changed, which i assume is what this analogy is suggesting) and there are several other things that don't fit, but my theory is further suppoted by how in book three, i think, Xanthous confesses to Emerelda that he's gay, so i actually do think that this series is meant to be a representation for the homosexual/gender queer experience.
idk.
this was longer than i was planning but whatever, i know no one will se it anyway.
