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I’m glad it’s a little intriguing! He wrote it because he always told himself he would, but he has weird physical and mental conditions that make it hard for anyone to take him seriously. He’s trying to feel content.
The letter isn’t even going to make it to the school because of plot conflict.
I am out of signature ideas
@whalekeeper Well now I’m sad too lol. Love it though
⭐️World's Slowest Writer⭐️
*“Love it” referring to your writing, not being sad
⭐️World's Slowest Writer⭐️
@loopylin @whalekeeper @freed_and_redeemed,
Tauren spins around under the evening rays, filtering down through the canopy above. He laughs, pushing his curls out of his eyes.
“Les..!” He shouts, breathless from running around. Lesli smiles as Tauren spins her around, her bare feet gliding over the grass. She laughs, but it feels forced.
“Doesn’t this feel so great?” Tauren says, gazing off into the sunset.
“The sun?”
Tauren pauses, looking back at Lesli. “Starting over.” He smiles.
Lesli’s breath catches in her throat as she looks up at Tauren. “Oh—”
“—I guess.”
“It’s hard to make changes, but I couldn’t be happier with this. Thanks Les. I never would have had the courage without you.” Tauren smiles, wrapping Lesli in a hug.
“Yeah.” Lesli smiles, her head resting against his shoulder.
“What are we going to do next? I think there’s a river down the way—” Tauren’s voice fades as Lesli looks around the beautiful forest.
“Beautiful things are meant to be shared.” Martha smiles, warm and bright, as she hands Lesli a copy of her photo collection.
***
“Mommy! Picture!”
“Please?”
“Please!
“Here?”
Lesli nods, running in front of a bright pink shop sign and posing for a picture.
“Aww isn’t that a good one!”
*Snap*
“Look at these Les! “Tauren says, crouched over a pile of mushrooms sprouting from the ground. “—I should write home about these—did you see—”
Tauren turns around. “What’s… what’s goin on?”
“I dunno Tauren…” Lesli sighs, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her overalls. “I’m having fun too…” She kicks a pine cone out of the green grass of the grove.
“I like it here but it doesn’t feel like home.”
Tauren scratches the back of his head. “Oh, yeah. I miss home sometimes too.”
“I… feel like I’m missing a place that doesn’t exist.” Lesli says, pacing across the grass. “It never goes away, I just forget about the feeling when I get busy. Whenever we’re trying to reflect or enjoy a moment, it comes back.”
“Couldn’t you like—”
“Well—”
“It’s just hard because I know you’re really happy right now, and I don’t want to bring you down. I mean that I want to be happy with you, but I’m getting tired of pretending.” Lesli sighs.
“—You mean you haven’t been happy this whole time?” Tauren frowns.
“—Well not the whole time. But I’m only happy when I forget how I was feeling before.”
“Hmm…” Tauren sighs, plopping down on the ground. “Maybe—Maybe you can just forget more often.”
“I mean we’ve got a whole new life here.”
“I know I know. It should be out of sight out of mind but it seems to be the opposite. I can’t stop thinking about the past.” Lesli sits down next to Tauren.
“You could just start over completely, I mean I’ve only ever heard you say bad things about your past. You’re in the new place, you’ve got new friends… I mean you have a new life here practically. Isn’t that what you came here to do?”
“Hmm… I wish it was that easy.” Lesli pulls at the grass.
“Come on Lesli! This place is the best thing to ever happen to us, and we’re in the prime of our lives.” Tauren smiles, his eyes sparkling in the dawning starlight. “Live something worth writing about!” Tauren says, squeezing her arm.
Lesli leans over, covering her face with her hands.
What was I thinking, I can’t expect you to understand.
“Ah! I’m sorry Les—did I say something? What was it…” He wraps his arms around her, holding her.
“—It’s ok Tauren.” Lesli gets up, wiping a tear from her eye. “I’m just a little overwhelmed right now.”
“Oh ok. I thought I did that to you!” Tauren laughs relieved, starting off towards their cabins.
“It’ll get easier Les.”
Lesli fakes a smile, turning away to wipe a tear.
I really hope you guys get all of the nuances of this interaction because I’m so happy with how it came out lol ??
"Past or future... let them be."
Yayy! <3 Poor Les. She just needs to find the words right now. I like how she needs time to figure it out, because it’s honestly more realistic than reciting your inner conflict easily.
I am out of signature ideas
Tyyy
Yeah I want it to take some time so she can have a negative character arc hehe
Also idk if you noticed but Tauren literally told her her pain wouldn’t be worth living/writing about ?? he just doesn’t get that it takes time to process trauma. But he has good intentions of course.
tyyy
?
"Past or future... let them be."
Yeah I noticed! It’s a hard balance between trying to keep up someone’s spirits and trying to erase the problem with positivity. I bet Tauren just hasn’t had enough time to think about what qualifies as one intent or the other.
I am out of signature ideas
Yeah I think he just wants her to move on and have some fun ??
"Past or future... let them be."
I’m bringing this topic back after a million months because I don’t like to make new topics. XD
For those of you who love sibling stories, what do you like most in a story about a sibling relationship? What tropes and dynamics do you like? I’m mentally exhausted from thinking about this too hard and I need more people’s ideas, just to wake me up.
@mineralizedwritings @hybridlore @esther-c @koshka @elishavet-pidyon @grcr @theducktator @highscribeofaetherium @ellette-giselle @linus-smallprint @keilah-h @liberty @lydibugI am out of signature ideas
Well…I love the trope of the older brother protecting his younger siblings. Or even an older sister. There’s also the dynamic of the action sibling and the book sibling…but perhaps that gets used too much.
I also love the dynamic of having a strong sibling and a weak sibling. Or siblings that have a big age gap between them. I’m not sure if you’ve read “Hand on the Bridle”, but in there, they have two brothers who are around 15 to 20 years apart. It added some tension that the younger brother had to work through (they didn’t know each other that well since the other brother had been away from most of the younger brother’s life).
Those are some random ideas. Does this help at all?
“Do what is right, let the consequences follow.” -Truth and Treason
Oh hmm, lemme think. I agree with Liberty—I love big age gaps…
I don’t know if the following fit the criteria (I’m feeling dumb today and I don’t know what these terms mean sometimes) but I sure do love these:
The angry middle child… with the “perfect” older sibling and the lovable younger sibling. The angry middle child who does their own thing and is possibly on their way to a villain arc. I love angry or feisty middle children. When the older sibling (who loves both their siblings with all their heart) is like *shaking middle child shoulders* “what is wrong with you??” “Why are you like this??”
I like when there’s two crazy siblings who share one brain cell, but then there’s the (usually younger or middle) sibling who is extremely chill and quiet. The one usually can’t persuade the other two to chill out.
Weird younger sibling who is kinda the sidekick of the older sibling in a chill kind of way. Like the older sibling is self absorbed, and the younger sibling is just kinda “slouching in the background with a lil smirk on their face”. Maybe not a serious thought in their head.
The vain of self centered older sibling who is protective of their younger sibling. Really cares about younger sibling, even if it doesn’t look like it.
Younger sibling who thinks they’re smarter than their older impulsive (or just generally extroverted) sibling… lol love that one. Constantly annoyed by the older one. The older one probably teases the younger a little bit or something.
Oh also the oldest sibling whose lil siblings run wild and they casually or barely keep track of them until the end of the day. But they’re all warm and chill and really care about their siblings. Strong sibling bond—I love siblings that love each other…
…
Also um… kinda off topic-ish… shorter older siblings (particularly brothers)… top notch. XD
wa wawawa waaaa
Honestly, I just love them all. ? I’m sorry, I know that’s not really helpful.
If you want to share more about the characters, maybe we could try to throw out some more specific ideas?
"Don't shine so that others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see Him." ~ C.S.L.
Hi I actually haven’t read that many sibling stories but when I think about sibling stories I think about my sister and I. We’re really different people but I really feel like no matter where I am in life and where she ends up I could never stop caring about her and wondering how she’s doing. Even if I get really busy or get married or whatever. Maybe it’s because I don’t have other family members I’m on good terms with. So I guess I think of people who become really different but still have the same family bond. A lot of siblings in stories are either rivals or go on the same journey together, but there’s so many other options. Maybe their stories don’t connect how they expect them too but it’s still just as meaningful to meet up later and see who you have grown up to be? Just some ideas.
Oh I also kind of think of Cinder, have you read it? One of the stepsisters had a good relationship with Cinder and I really enjoyed reading it.
I guess when I think of these kind of things I try to think of what I haven’t seen before in book but happens in real life. I think people like to write something that is dramatic, such as a strongest brotherhood, sacrificing life ect, but I find more value in the things that feel like they could have come from my life, so I can feel like I lived through it with the other characters. Like the smaller things, if that makes sense. Getting a gift from your sibling that only they could have known you wanted is no less special than a larger show of love.
Also, I think that why the siblings have the relationship they do is important. People are not destined to spend their lives together just because of blood relation, so if your siblings do spend time together what thoughts or feelings bring them to do so? Do they feel a duty to help one another, is it because they have fun together, or just because there parents told them to do so and they want to honor that? I think the kind of love people have for one another is often times shown in the kind of relationship they work towards. People aren’t always what they want to be but if they are trying it shows there heart. Maybe they don’t have the picture perfect relationship, but if they are trying there best and the readers can see that effort than that’s more powerful imo. Anyways there is a rant for you lol.
(I was just remembering a interview from one of my favorite bands where when asked about one of the other members, the guy said something along the lines of “No one is perfect, but he tries to be and to me that is perfect.” and that reminded me of how that dynamic is in relationships and also in siblings lol)
"Past or future... let them be."
I love the joyful chaos vibe, when there are at least four kids, (the more the better), they’re all somewhat crazy, and they love each other dearly. Examples: The Penderwicks, The Vanderbeekers, The Melendys, The Sound of Music, Rainbow Valley, The All of a Kind family.
Favorite tropes are: Planning a big surprise for the parents…and boy are they ever surprised, and not necessarily in the right way. Friending a lonely kid and making them part of the chaos. Family meeting with only the kids. Enormous house. Knows all the neighbors.
?For our Blessed Lady's sake, bring us in good ale!?
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