Hi, everyone! I hope you are all safe and healthy. If you need emotional support, please reach out to me. I care about you and I am here for you. In the meantime, please enjoy this exclusive essay I wrote that I will only be publishing on this website. As an elementary schooler, I was never a huge fan of Star Wars. Movies were a family thing and with my feelings toward my family often being rather complicated, I preferred to find shelter with more personal enjoyments-- mostly books like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Warriors-- that I could hold in my hand. The strongest memory I have of watching Star Wars in my elementary school years is of viewing The Empire Strikes Back with my aunt during a snow day and I was more focused on the fact my aunt napped through the whole movie than on the film itself. Fortunately for today, in eighth grade, my opinion of the franchise was shaken after I experienced one of the newer films, The Force Awakens, in theaters. Now, as I am at home with my mind overloaded with worries for my extended family members losing jobs, for my friends struggling with complex home situations, and for my country scrambling to find an adequate solution to handle a deadly virus, I can find validation, unity, and hope in a galaxy far, far away. One thing I love about being a Star Wars fan: you are never alone. Even though the story takes place in another universe and is rife with fantasy, so many issues the franchise tackles are visible on Earth. Although, of course, on Earth, these challenges are much more serious because they are real. One parallel is how the original trilogy centers on imperialism with the main antagonists allying with the Empire. On Earth, we do not have to fight a galactic authoritarian government, but we do have a long history of colonialism. Additionally, similar to how Star Wars’s sequel trilogy concentrates on the difficulty of escaping past horrors, we humans on Earth are still combating the negative effects of European and East Asian imperialism. Just a quick listen to the podcast Illuminative can paint a powerful picture of the struggles Native people in America possess right now during the COVID-19 crisis due to the ramifications of colonialism. On a personal level, Star Wars can be quite validating. The Star Wars prequel trilogy is all about the harmful impacts of emotions as seen by Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side. Chronologically, in the following trilogies, viewers watch Anakin’s son Luke and grandson Ben encounter similar hurdles. On my mother’s side of the family, we, too, have a pattern of mismanaging emotions. We jokingly label the matter as the “Yee anger,” but it’s a serious issue that has led to emotional, verbal, and, at times, physical abuse in my extended family. Star Wars has always reminded me that the troubles I face with my family are universal and that I am not alone. As a sensitive person myself, I feel acknowledged by how, in Return of the Jedi, Luke illustrates by trying to save his father that emotions can be healthy as long as you use them to selflessly help others. Besides solely relating to life, Star Wars can also unite and inspire people. Although, as a child, I disliked the community feel of the franchise, I have now grown to respect the way the movies brought my family together. In my middle school years, watching films became a highlight of my weekends. Movie nights were a time when my family could be with one another, all focused on the same thing, in peace. Recently, during the lockdown, my family was privileged to a free two-week trial of Disney+ and for three nights, we were able to quietly watch The Mandalorian together. My family are not the only people connected by Star Wars. Just visit Star Wars Wikipedia, a.k.a Wookieepedia, and see how the site has over 155,000 articles and updates daily. Wookieepedia is a glimpse at a vast and motivated fandom. With my family’s Disney+ trial having ended, I have relied on YouTube to provide me with summaries of the most recent Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes. Even during this global pandemic, channels like Star Wars Explained, ScreenCrush, and StarForceOne, among others, are steadily producing videos. To further showcase the inspiring nature of the franchise, on the activist side of things, one young supporter of the Green New Deal wrote on their protest poster, “We grew up on Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Marvel. Of course we’re fighting back.” One thing Star Wars is able to offer, especially now with the spread of the coronavirus, is hope. I am so anxious. Every single day brings more and more bad news. The longstanding inequalities in the US are sharper. Scapegoating is prevalent everywhere from the United States to India to China. With so much negativity in the world, it is difficult to feel optimistic. Yet, just reading Star Wars books like Last Shot, Master & Apprentice, and Black Spire can comfort and encourage me. In Last Shot, Lando Calrissian and Han Solo try to prevent an evil alien from controlling all droids. Master & Apprentice centers on two Jedi struggling with the intricacies of politics and slavery. Black Spire follows a Resistance agent setting up a base on a remote outpost. The common thread between these three stories is that the characters persevere and do good despite how powerless they may feel. Even though I find myself in despair at times, I remind myself that there are things I can do to aid others. I can help my parents deliver extra grocery bags to the local food pantry. I can knit scarves for my friends and family. I can simply listen and read the accounts of those who are suffering and need a platform the most right now. It’s funny how a franchise I disregarded as a child became such a motivator for me as a teenager to assist others. But, as one episode of The Clone Wars states, “Never give up hope, no matter how dark things seem.”
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Hi, everyone! I hope you are doing well. I hope all your mixing dreams over this year have aided you. This year has been pretty good for me storywise. I have solidified what mediums I use as well as created a Patreon account, which at the moment you can subscribe to for free. Now, onto my essay "Stickers on Scars." See you in April! I grew up with eczema on my arms. Orangey cuts stung my skin and red bumps crowded one another. At night, I wore socks on my hands and decked lotions on my arms to stop myself from scratching. At school, well-meaning friends barked at me to leave my pick-marks alone. My parents watched, disappointed, as every morning, I came to breakfast with more blemishes. It wasn’t until later that my view was trembled. I was working at a summer camp when a child noticed the abnormalities on my skin. Instead of simply asking what caused those scars, the child placed sparkling stickers on each of my injuries. Then he said, “Now they’re stars.”
I wish that those stickers had fixed everything. That I immediately stopped injuring my skin and instead peered at my body with acceptance. While the picking did not cease, the child’s words clung to my thoughts. How could a bruise become a star? After all, the stickers the child had placed were gone by the time I came home. Left abandoned on concrete. Still, I yearned for an answer. I feel like the day hiding the stars. On mornings that I wake up with white and red speckling my arms, I adorn long-sleeve shirts. I know my cuts still linger and I itch them through the cotton every now and then. In the evenings, when the stars glitter far over my head, again, I see my wounds as I change into pajamas. These marks are not beautiful. They are not stars that leave during the day and return at night. They are scars, burdened with pain impossible to banish. But maybe, I wonder as the boy’s words trickle into my mind, it’s my perception that needs the most assistance. Maybe it is my body that is the star hidden under my eczema. I am the one who needs to simply let it shine. Hello, everyone. As you've probably noticed, it's not March, meaning I lied. I'm going to change my big update schedule to every three months: April, August, and December, or AAD. This goes for the Zyanya Ridge website as well. I'll try to fit at least one review between each of those months as well. I don't have that much to say and I don't want to bore you with rambling, so I'm going to keep the rest of this post short. I have lots of stories and art projects to be published soon. I've also realized that I am genderfluid, asexual, and aromantic. Finally, I'm still struggling with mental illnesses. Life has been a mixture of a windy storm and a calm snowfall, but I have hope for the future. Well, see you in August! Have a good next few months!
Overall, I think a lot of people can agree that 2017 hasn't been the best year. Insensitivity, selfishness, and an unwillingness to meet change has sped through the atmosphere and plummeted into people's minds. I, myself, have battled with all three of those descriptors and will probably have to continue to do so next year. It is an ongoing fight, but one I must take in order to lighten the future. This year personally has not been an especially good year. I've dealt with depression, suicidal thoughts, and generalized anxiety. I sometimes wonder if a lot of it is a result of spending more time on the internet. I received a Chromebook for my birthday last year and ever since, my consumption of social media has increased. Still, I don't regret it. I've learned much since the change that has positively affected me as a person. I've made a hard, but important decision to no longer promote myself as a musician. After taking a course in music theory, I've realized I have not music talent what so ever. Sure I can learn if I really put myself up to the task, but with work, family, friends, my other creative activities also being significant parts of my life, increasing my music talent is low on my to-do list. Despite having a mostly negative year, I still think there can be hope for 2018. For myself, since I've found professional assistance for improving my mental state, I've become better. For my creative works, I've become more determined to improve while continuing to be entertained. For the world, there have been incredible people doing awesome work to make others' lives better and as long as people keep promoting their voices and listening to them, I believe we can make society better.
Recently I've been thinking about hard work and privilege. I believe that hard work helps people improve, but without the kindness of others, it's not always acknowledged and not always able to help a person succeed. I also believe that privilege comes hand and hand with hardship, but hardship does not block out privilege. I remember in school how sometimes we had to choose our own groups to work on projects. I was always a hard worker, but if I didn't have a friend in my class, it made me less likely to be chosen for a group. In school, I realized, the only the people that seemed to acknowledge hard work was my teachers. My classmates, not so much. If you weren't their friend, it was unlikely they'll pick you. If you wanted to get into a group, you had to take the initiative to ask around and hope someone would be kind enough to take you in. The same thing happens in gym class when captains are chosen to choose people to be on their teams. I didn't really try that hard in PE but when my friends were the captains, I was one of the first people chosen. These school experiences have taught me that hard work doesn't always get you where you want, but it does help you improve. Having to take initiative to get into project groups gave me more confidence. The experiences also taught me that the kindness and acknowledgement of others plays an important role in helping me succeed. My school memories have taught me a lot about privilege as well. In classes where I had friends, I was privileged. I didn't have to awkwardly stand in the corner, waiting for an invitation to join a group. Although I was privileged to have friends, that didn't block out troubles like the lazy worker or stress. Yet, these hardships didn't block out the fact I was privileged to have friends to work with instead of being with strangers. Outside of school, I've learned the same lesson. When I was in middle school, a friend who was much less financially fortunate than my family lived at my home for a couple of months. I remember my dad said he would pay us $0.25 for every dandelion we picked up in our yard. I got about $5.00, Hunter got a little more, but my friend got $12.75. I never really had to worry about money in my life, so I wasn't that motivated to pick dandelions because I knew all I had to do was wait for the holidays when relatives would pile me with gifts. My friend, on the other hand, knew the value of the dollar and was willing to work hard and pick much more dandelions. My family's financial privilege didn't block out all trouble, but our hardships didn't make us any less privileged. What are your thoughts and experiences on these topics? Thanks for reading and see you next month!
If you haven't noticed, I recently started a tumblr blog. In no means am I going to stop adding to the ones here, but I'm going to start posting updates there to save space instead of having tiny posts that don't do any good. I'll also delete old, unpopular posts on my website that aren't helpful as time goes on. I'll be using my tumblr blog to give sneak peeks of my upcoming works, to interact more with readers, and to share updates on my life and work. I even have a section for items relating to the Keldar Chronicles and another for topics relating to Zyanya Ridge. I hope to see you there!
This was me when I realized there might actually be snow this Christmas. Where I live, it's uncommon to get snow in December. We may get some, but it always melts by the next day. Usually, snow doesn't stick until the middle of January. The fact that there's snow outside my window is exciting. This could mean my April might not be weird. I might have more excuses to hang out inside and watch movies (I mean, writing books). I might even survive the beginning of 2017 with little snow. The list just goes on. Then it hits me. Snow means shoveling and trudging through icky mud. Snow means tripping on black ice and sitting in freezing cars.
It's sad how something so good can suddenly seem so bad. With this coming season, I'm trying to hold onto the positive, but we'll have to see how long that lasts. Now, what about you? What are your thoughts on weather this year? I recently started making premade covers on Canva. Feel free to use and edit them for free.
I won't be doing my Sunday updates with all other sites beside my blog. Sorry and see you soon. You know those days where you can't really focus on one thing? Well, I'm having one of them. You can probably guess from reading the title. So I'm asking you, how do you deal with those days?
I find taking walks or reading can help. Writing can help as well. These activities let me focus on thing and the randomness goes away. Thank you and see you next Sunday! |
AuthorI'm Darcy Ridge, creating stories that all revolve around family and identity in a myriad of ways. In the past, I have shared multiple stories and published a novella online. You can find me on Wattpad and many other social media websites. They/them [Image Description: black background with the words "Social Justice and Mental Health Resources" in white in the center /end ID]
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