Played With Hard
Sep. 12th, 2021 10:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithI got to thinking about heroic figures and how much they get banged up. A common explanation for this is that the Gods / Fates are cruel. While this is possible, and fits with some of the bleaker storylines, it doesn't really sit well with the majority.
That reminded me of a phrase from the collectible toy community: Played With Hard. It means the teddy bear with one eye and no fur left, the doll with lipstick stains and half her hair hacked off, the toy soldier with scratched paint and missing limbs. While this sometimes happens because children can be little sadists, more often it happens because they won't let go of the thing.
The toys bought by well-meaning relatives who don't know what the kid actually likes are the ones that stay on the shelf -- or even in the box -- and thus remain as beautiful as the day they were made. Pristine. Ignored.
It's the favorite toys that get all banged up. The ones who are loved to bits. The ones who get dragged everywhere. The ones who go on all the best adventures, and come home covered in mud and burrs. They may lose some pieces along the way, but they gain a wealth of memories.
I thought about my favorite heroes, whether mine or someone else's, and yeah, that fits. They're the ones we take out over and over again, the ones we keep playing with -- sometimes for millennia! -- because they always have new stories to tell. They inspire us. How long did we tell tales of heroes who could fly before we built hang gliders and airplanes? How long did we talk about those with magical replacements for lost body parts before we invented myoelectrics? If it weren't for the epic emergencies and the injuries, we wouldn't have that inspiration, or those inventions.
So think about that when you're looking at people who've lived wild, rich, wonderful lives and show the scars of it; and when you're looking at people who are merely well-preserved. Nobody's meant to live in a box. There's no malice in it if the Gods or the Fates drag you backwards through a bush, just unbridled enthusiasm to see what happens next, and utmost faith in the fact that you will never be boring. It's not cruelty. It's just normal wear and tear.
It doesn't matter if your paint is scuffed, your finish is stained, and you're missing some of your original parts. When you've been played with that hard, and loved that much ...
... that's how you become Real.
That reminded me of a phrase from the collectible toy community: Played With Hard. It means the teddy bear with one eye and no fur left, the doll with lipstick stains and half her hair hacked off, the toy soldier with scratched paint and missing limbs. While this sometimes happens because children can be little sadists, more often it happens because they won't let go of the thing.
The toys bought by well-meaning relatives who don't know what the kid actually likes are the ones that stay on the shelf -- or even in the box -- and thus remain as beautiful as the day they were made. Pristine. Ignored.
It's the favorite toys that get all banged up. The ones who are loved to bits. The ones who get dragged everywhere. The ones who go on all the best adventures, and come home covered in mud and burrs. They may lose some pieces along the way, but they gain a wealth of memories.
I thought about my favorite heroes, whether mine or someone else's, and yeah, that fits. They're the ones we take out over and over again, the ones we keep playing with -- sometimes for millennia! -- because they always have new stories to tell. They inspire us. How long did we tell tales of heroes who could fly before we built hang gliders and airplanes? How long did we talk about those with magical replacements for lost body parts before we invented myoelectrics? If it weren't for the epic emergencies and the injuries, we wouldn't have that inspiration, or those inventions.
So think about that when you're looking at people who've lived wild, rich, wonderful lives and show the scars of it; and when you're looking at people who are merely well-preserved. Nobody's meant to live in a box. There's no malice in it if the Gods or the Fates drag you backwards through a bush, just unbridled enthusiasm to see what happens next, and utmost faith in the fact that you will never be boring. It's not cruelty. It's just normal wear and tear.
It doesn't matter if your paint is scuffed, your finish is stained, and you're missing some of your original parts. When you've been played with that hard, and loved that much ...
... that's how you become Real.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-09-13 04:50 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2021-09-13 11:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-09-13 05:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-09-13 09:33 am (UTC)Yes... this is the defense I'm using if my characters ever confront me a'la James Joyce.
Well ...
Date: 2021-09-13 09:54 am (UTC)