dannnex

What makes stories like Coraline, Howl's Moving Castle, Alice in Wonderland, A Wrinkle in Time, or Chronicles of Narnia so appealing? I've had this thought brewing in the back of my mind for a while and I think I'm ready to put it to paper.

First off, you might be wondering why I'm grouping these together in the first place. They're very different stories with different themes, settings, styles, etc. I myself find it hard to describe, but there's definitely some je ne sais quoi that they all have in common. Something that makes them all feel... wonderous. Fairy-tale-like. They all feel...soft. Both in magic system and in tone. Like a bedtime story. Not soft as ih gentle, these stories can still be very intense, but they all have a similar underlying feeling of quiet wonder, don't they?

I don't know if I've managed to define exactly what qualifies a story to be in this category, but I do think I've found a very strong common factor.

They all value courage over nearly any other attribute. A character will almost never be punished for bravery. And I absolutely love it. Its an ancient archetype, and one of the best imo. Our most ancient myths and legends are filled with characters like these. 

I'm not really sure what else I'm trying to say here, I just really appreciate stories like these, and I'm very happy I've managed to put a finger on at least a portion of what makes them so special.