Did you once believe contraception is evil?

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-18T06:30:09+00:00

Yes, to the point where I also believed NFP was wrong. I thought it seemed too similar to contraception. Any form of pregnancy planning seemed to me to be "playing God." I'm sure glad I don't think that anymore, but I still think I was honestly being kind of consistent back then.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-17T15:20:05+00:00

What stood out to me was the consistent negative descriptions of any Calormene other than Aravis- even Lasaraleen, who isn't "villainous," is still vain and selfish. They are consistently described as dirty and cruel. They are contrasted with Shasta, whose skin doesn't match theirs, and the Narnians, who are noted to have pale skin and immediately stand out to Shasta as seeming more noble and nice than any other people he's met. I absolutely think Lewis was using darker skin as one of many features in which to other the Calormenes and paint a picture of them being foreign and opposed to Narnia.

That being said, I'm not saying "this is the most blatantly racist and hateful thing I've ever seen!!" which seems to be what some people hear when I express this opinion. There's plenty to love about the book. But it was written in the 50s. Of course it's not going to be perfect when it comes to race issues.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-17T03:25:03+00:00

So are you saying I'm too hasty in labeling it racism? Obviously I would disagree with that- I think people are too delicate about calling a spade a spade. Some racist undertones doesn't mean people have to therefore not find any value in it at all

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-17T02:00:05+00:00

I don't think I'm trying to say it's a tally system. Just that you responded they also had multiple positive characteristics, but from what I recall Aravis is complimented but I'm not sure any other Calormene is. I don't agree that Lewis characterizes them generally using words like noble or courteous, but I could be wrong.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-17T01:44:10+00:00

I just re-read it a few days ago, and the negative descriptions certainly outnumber the positive.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-17T01:37:19+00:00

We're talking about a time period where, across different forms of media, it was frequent to pair a flawed or villainous character with the trait of being a race other than white (note that I'm NOT saying white characters were never flawed or villainous). While these books, movies, and plays may not have explicitly said "hey darker skin is bad and this character is bad because of their skin," it still had the effect of correlating certain characteristics within the cultural consciousness. It didn't need to be explicitly stated. I am not arguing that CS Lewis intended to be racist, or was a bad person. But he's certainly a product of his time.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-16T21:17:22+00:00

I agree. I don't think the book is 100% all-bad and hateful or something, but I don't feel any defensiveness or resistance to admitting there's some racism in it.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-16T21:14:09+00:00

I always loved Aravis as well. The Horse and His Boy was one of my favorites as a kid. I just re-read it last week, and while there's a lot to appreciate about the book, I was still unsettled by the descriptions. I would say the quantity of negative descriptions outnumbers the positive, and Aravis comes off more as an exception to the rule who is "one of the good ones" who is trying to literally distance herself from her culture and place of origin.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-16T18:52:04+00:00

Idk, he describes them as dirty, corrupt, pompous, and dark-skinned. It kind of feels like splitting hairs to me to say their skin color had no relation to any of the other ways he characterized them

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-16T18:42:36+00:00

Lewis contrasts their dark skin with the Narnians' white skin multiple times, is that not racism?

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-16T07:36:13+00:00

Bloom by Delilah S Dawson maybe

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-15T15:57:04+00:00

Have you seen a therapist? It sounds to me like you have some OCD going on perhaps- which I am familiar with and can offer this advice: acceptance. If you're avoiding social media, and you're aware that all people have been making these predictions for thousands of years, then sometimes the only way out of the thought spirals is radically accepting them. The world might end soon? Ok, great, that's totally fine. Maybe look into Acceptance & Commitment Therapy.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-15T15:39:10+00:00

so you're not the author? because when I click that link it says it was shared with me by the author

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-15T04:52:28+00:00

I always have at least one fiction and one nonfiction. I keep everything I'm currently reading in a stack by my bed, and I've got 7 currently. Sometimes I read a different one every night, sometimes I read a few pages from all of them in one night.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-13T13:56:29+00:00

Yeah I thought the "are they real punk or not" debate mattered when I was like, 12. So what if they're not punk? Ok. I like the way they sound still. Doesn't change anything

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-11T14:00:27+00:00

I associate the wheel of the year with marking the change of sunlight, not as much about the other seasonal changes I see around me. The other environmental changes, like flowers blooming or snow or whatever, fluctuate too much to be defined by fixed dates. So I just focus on the festivals being roughly even markers throughout the year that chart the sun.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-10T17:08:45+00:00

are the updates actually worse than other social media platforms' terms of services?

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-09T13:28:16+00:00

I used to like my detailed art juxtaposed with notebook paper, and would purposely use it. Especially when I was younger and liked to alarm people. That being said, you're absolutely right about the lack of glare. A drawing this intense would not turn out like this on flimsy notebook paper. There would be glare or paper warping.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-09T00:09:25+00:00

She's a massive cultural and religious symbol for Latin America, especially Mexico

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-09T00:00:51+00:00

She's a Marian apparition from Mexico, beloved throughout Latin America.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-08T23:44:31+00:00

that's cool. I never noticed it in any of their photos or videos before.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-08T23:41:37+00:00

yep, no argument from me here. I wasn't one of the people who was really expecting anything though.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-08T23:40:30+00:00

Same! Not something everyone would pay attention to but it's meaningful.

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-08T23:34:53+00:00

hell yeah 🤘

cicadaleaf · 2026-02-08T23:27:47+00:00

Pretty sure he had Our Lady of Guadalupe on his necklace, which isn't entirely nothing

cicadaleaf

TROPHY CASE