Eglantine Part Five

Well, I've been a bit tardy with updating it (sounds about normal for me), but Eglantine Part Five has been posted over on my Siege Works blog.

This is one of my favourite parts of one of my favourite stories. The whole plot behind Eglantine just sort of fell into place all by itself, spurred on from various points of inspiration. Occasionally stories write themselves, and I just get to go along for the ride - more a reader of the story than the writer.

It's at this point of the story that the central theme behind Eglantine is revealed, in the words of the elegant witch:

"We are as we are. We can change ourselves to an extent, as it is within our power to do so, and we will still be ourselves. But, if we allow someone else to change us, then we will become someone else. Do you understand?"

Eglantine isn't happy with what people see when they look at her, and all she can think about is how much she wants it to change (extreme make-over style). What she doesn't realise is that the person she is cannot be completely divorced from the rest of the package - face included. If she changes her face (in a way that doesn't come organically from her) she changes the person behind the face as well.

The idea of a "kind of beauty that rests in all things" which must be appreciated before it can be seen isn't new, but I think it is often forgotten - even by those who should know better.