Fluff, Relationships, and Traditions

[scribblemyname]

This entry is part 52 of 52 in the series 365 Challenge

So characters have habits, ways they interact with certain people and situations, things they do and like to do, stories and histories together. I've known a lot of my characters' for a long time but getting them all into fic is interesting, particularly for the ones I don't know that for.

I've got about five novelettes I want to turn out plus a short story, created out of the 5 Things Meme and then the whole Pieter/Ashen dynamic that originally played in my head before I even wrote that first Ashen drabble (and it is awesome to me, but got sidelined drastically with a deluge of other prompts), but, but, but...

I'm on day 265 of my challenge and story count 157 and I'm still plying angles and there's all those little things above that I'm itching to nibble at. Want to help a girl out?

Particularly of interest to me are things like where does Wesley work (not sure actually), and then relationship things that I haven't gotten to like how Justus always recognizes Shift regardless of her current form or demeanor, friendships, sibling relationships, Ilsa and her husband, etc.

Calling for prompts, as promised:

1. character(s) and/or canon/fandom
2. random word, quote, or other prompt

Oh, and I'll try to keep it short and fluffy or sweet. Try is the operative word. :grins:

Prompts

• Meld, couples, prank war
• Justus + Special Unit
• From thecatisacritic's fluff-fest
• Justus' family + Shift, Rachelle
• dancing, quotes, and not without you
• who is Justus when he's Rachelle's?
• undercover Justus
• more quotes
• From Daily Scribble post 1 AND from previous promptfest
• Ilsa prevents
• the work they do
• finding Justus, about that memory

Ficlets

Seven Days

• Wesley/Lena: Shall We Dance?
• Wesley/Lena: Stubborn
• Wesley/Lena: You are My Photograph
• Wesley/Lena + Angelita: Learning to Tango
• Wesley + Connor: Just Saying
• Wesley + Connor: On Practical Uses for Journals
• Wesley + Connor: A Spaghetti-Flavored Aftermath
• Wesley + Connor: Maybe Next Week
• Wesley + Connor: The Apple Don't Fall Far
• Wesley + Mom: The Joys of Motherhood
• Connor + Ashelynn + dogs: On the Acquisition of Dogs
• Connor + Ashelynn + dogs: Girls

Kingdoms and Thorn

• Shift + Team ensemble: That'll Work
• Shift + Meld: Soon
• Sear + Meld: Bone-Weary Need
• Rachelle + Meld: Between
• Rachelle + Meld: The Leash
• Rachelle + Special Unit: Anywhere But Here
• Rachelle + Heather + Shadow: An Absurdly Dangerous Shadow
• Rachelle + Joseph: What the Emptiness Fills
• Justus + Joseph: Cracking the Ice
• Justus + Team Ensemble: In the Business
• Justus + Larique: The Unsuspecting Suspect
• Shift + Justus: Self-Preservation
• Sear + Justus: Gratitude in an Off Note
• Rachelle/Justus + Heather: Backfire
• Rachelle/Justus + Sophocles: Comfort Objects
• Rachelle/Justus + Sophocles: On the Care and Feeding of Cats
• Rachelle/Justus + Sophocles: The Taste of Coffee
• Rachelle/Justus: Living with Hope
• Rachelle/Justus: Tiny Significant Pieces
• Rachelle/Justus: Side Effects
• Rachelle/Justus: Remind You to Dance
• Rachelle/Justus: Family
• Rachelle/Justus + Red Wolf and Whisper's kids: Cure to All That Ails
• Storm + Red Wolf + Anya: We Can't Have That
• Red Wolf and Whisper's kids: Don’t Forget the Ice Cream
• Red Wolf/Whisper: The Fox and the Wolf
• Red Wolf/Whisper: Taste of Regret
• Red Wolf/Whisper: Business as Usual
• Red Wolf/Whisper + Ashen: A Gift Well-Chosen
• Red Wolf: Rearranging Assets
• Storm + Minder: The Five W’s of Declaring War
• Storm + Minder: Tell Me in the Morning
• Storm + Minder: Moral Support
• Storm + Mirage + Surge: Waiting for Blood
• Hasheni/Ilsa Killinger: Homework
• Hasheni/Ilsa Killinger: Catalyst
• Ilsa Killinger: Linger
• Ilsa Killinger | Special Unit: Reality Check
• Keeper/Brushfire: When Memory Burns
• Anna/Lightsculpt: Dinnertime Distractions
• Anna/Lightsculpt: Needing a Break
• Anna/Lightsculpt: Worth Something
• Anna/Lightsculpt: Working Up the Nerve
• Anna/Lightsculpt: Would That It Were
• Sketch + Team ensemble: Something Other Than Smoke
• Shift/Kilter + Watcher: Wedding Gift
• Shift/Kilter + Elisabeth: You're My Heart
• Shift/Kilter + Elisabeth: The Answer to All Problems
• Shift + Elisabeth: Little Girl Reminders
• Surge + Maker: Embrace of Freedom
• Watcher + Team Ensemble: An Ounce of Protection

Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.

Comments

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: Don’t Forget the Ice Cream

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

To a point.

To me, it drives me bonkers when a kid's thoughts are nothing like their age. Personal preference, but if I'm reading a kid, they should sound like a kid.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: Don’t Forget the Ice Cream

[scribblemyname]

Ah. Well, I did the best I could at showing you the world from where he was sitting—not his thoughts. And like I said, didn't turn out how I wanted, but ah well.

I can't describe his thoughts except as describing the image he's looking at. He understands the concept of deaf but not the words and does HEAR the words said to him even when he doesn't understand them, etc., but I also didn't feel I went beyond his age-level because whenever my aunt brought home her charge (she's a nanny) at his precocious one-year-old self, he actually was comprehending at this level quite fine, just not talking very intelligibly.

I also have a very similar memory that my family later confirmed was from when I was barely over a year old, where Dad was passing in the hall and I thought he told me to come out of my crib, so I started sliding in between the bars and one of my siblings told me he'd said to stay in, so I was confused and stopped right there, not sure how to ask someone besides the sibling which Dad had said. So yeah. The comprehension there. The words... It would require some doing to reduce it to the vocabulary of someone who doesn't have one.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: Don’t Forget the Ice Cream

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

I'm watching my three year old honorary niece at the moment, and as much as she is a smart and sometimes very devious child, I could not see her having any thoughts like "bring ice cream" or knowing that her aunt could "hear" if she was called.

Kids do understand a lot more than we give them credit for, but he still didn't seem much like a one year old to me. Then again, I wouldn't have tried to convey the world from a one year old's perspective. I still feel like I overage the ones I write at nine or ten if I try and get into their heads, and sometimes I think that even the ones I refused to try and see the head space of (Mouse, Squirrel and a few others) are too old for their ages at times.

I... had times where I was babysitting my sister's kids so much it was more like I was raising them, and I started avoiding all kid fics when I read fanfics because I didn't see realistic portrayals of kids of almost any age. I am a bit oversensitive to it, I think, but I was having a hard time with the kids being so far from ones I lived with and knew as well as I did.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: Don’t Forget the Ice Cream

[scribblemyname]

Fair enough, and I'm predisposed to not see it because the few kids I've been exposed to ARE in that range of intelligence.

And like I said, showed what was happening to him, NOT his thoughts. This was not a close POV piece and that makes a big difference. I showed the world from his position, not his perspective. He does not understand all of it, as noted several times.

And if they know if they scream, mom comes, why wouldn't they know if they holler mentally, aunt comes? (they grew up with mindreading) And I've seen plenty of kids that age want a food item they knew to ask the adult for when said food wasn't at hand.

I don't have a lot invested either way, but I don't think his brain is unable to comprehend an interest in the taste of paper, strange pants with flowers on them that don't feel like flowers, sister's being loud and I can't ignore her like other sister but she's going to call... Auntie who sometimes brings ice cream? Ice cream!

So yeah. It wasn't a big effort piece anyway and didn't turn out how I wanted, and even if it had, it's okay if you don't like it.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: Don’t Forget the Ice Cream

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

My sister's kids aren't stupid by any means. I guess maybe I just don't want to see it because I honestly hope they weren't aware of some of the stuff going on when they were younger.

Or even now.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: Don’t Forget the Ice Cream

[scribblemyname]

I noticed a lot of things, but I forgot most. My memories from before five were full of details my parents really wished I hadn't caught but I only have about seven memories from before five.

It's a different stage of brain development. Learning is going on at a huge rate but it's process learning and cognition, not episodic, which btw, is the difference in Wesley's memory too. It means that learning how the kid's personal world works (in Joel's case, the babysitter barely blips, but a call from a sister means auntie hearing) registers, not incidents.

Be reassured. They probably won't be traumatized, but yeah, I'll aim older if I bring in the kids' side again.

Re: Kingdoms and Thorn Ficlet: Don’t Forget the Ice Cream

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

All I remember from that age is being terrified to go down the stairs at our house because there wasn't a railing. We moved when I was three, but apparently that was traumatic enough to stick with me.

That and crying at the hospital when my younger sister was born. I guess I didn't want another sibling.

There are things I think I should remember and don't, too.

Still...

My nephew I think already knows too much. This morning, I found myself thinking he might actually like Quinn's story because he would be able to relate to that a bit and he likes to read books for "grown ups" (he's eleven.) That kind of... depressed me.