20 / 80
Jan 2024

I realize that; that's why I put "unique" in quotations. ^^;

The difference is that, 9 times out of 10, a sibling will have some awareness of what's going on in their fellow siblings' lives. They may not know that they were suicidal in high school, for instance, but they'll be able to see their lonely daily activities and their negative attitude while at home.
If anything, if they DON'T notice, it would likely become a point of contention in the story, like a "you call yourself my brother, but you were never there when I needed you; you didn't even care!" sort of thing.

The point is, besides not getting to do things like inventing a brand-new country or family history or fantasy race or social dynamic along with the introduction of such a character, there won't be as many "new" revelations involved in divulging their backstory: there's always going to be that large probability that their sibling is already familiar with what you're about to reveal, and a necessity to write with that familiarity in mind.

Ahh, sorry, guess I just misunderstood the quotations. I would agree there's a good chance of siblings having some inclination what you're going through in a lot of instances, though that likelihood decreases the older the siblings are. (As in my story, "Damsel in the Red Dress" where they are both adults, and her little brother, though they are close emotionally, lives in Mexico, so all sorts of things go down in her neck of the woods in the first book without him even knowing.)

I personally feel like siblings is a dynamic so specific that no other person could possibly fill it (unless they were raised with you, making them your sibling imao):

"Thereā€™s nothing there but a Christmas card from Andrew and Jinho, ostentatiously addressed to ā€œHer Majesty, The Queen of Baltimore.ā€"

*

ā€œJinho told me to say hello to the Queen for him. Gosh! Itā€™ll be so awesome to see you again. You have no idea how much Iā€™ve missed you since the move. He always says I talk about you like youā€™re some long-deceased relative and not just a phone call away. But calls are just different. Weā€™ll probably be able to get lunch somewhere, the four of us, at least once before we leave. You, me, Jinho, and Kat. I just realized we haven't even introduced them, yet -"

*
ā€œIā€™ll text you when weā€™re back in the country so we can arrange to get lunch - but hopefully sooner if we can. Our schedule has been hectic. P.S. I saw the news report for your exhibit online. Iā€™m totally telling everyone that my older sister is a celebrity! (Jinho says we have to fix your house so we can start name-dropping XD.)ā€

*

It's just different fam

12 days later

My story has two important characters who are siblings and their dynamic is an important part of the story.

My story has a protagonist, who saves his sibling from fae hands :slight_smile: They are both positive characters (even if overall the novel has a very dark mood).

that's what i want to see more of! great siblings!

Their dynamic is fairly strained as one looks up to the other and wants to be more like him and the others needs her in his life but can't admit it due to the sense of responsibility instilled into him that comes with self-sufficiency at all times.

As an older sibling I feel like light duties are common (from 13 I was "in charge" of my younger brother while my parents were out, which usually meant "don't fight with him and make sure he doesn't leave on his own") but proper psychological "parentification" is a lot rarer as it's a form of abuse to force an older sibling to take on the same duties as a co-parent from a young age. I'm talking being responsible for a much younger siblings food, health, cleanliness, etc regularly to the point the sibling is dependent on you rather than the actual parents.

Like I'm an older sibling but I still had a childhood and space to explore who I am as an independent being from my parents and my brother rather than needing to put my brother first because I'm his carer, and I'm not particularly more responsable than him at heart (I'm an anxious bean who's a workaholic though so sometimes it looks like it). He also often comes off as the more responsable one because he presents as this very serious socially awkward tech dude meanwhile I'm the coloured-hair, delirious from overwork artsy one. More than once at gatherings with extended family people have assumed he's older than me.

Yes, light duties are entirely normal and common. But that wasn't really the case in my childhood, as when my mother was deported, I had to care for my younger sister (specifically haircare) because she was too small to do so herself, and my father has a hand injury that makes it tend to lock up. And before that my mother and I had moved without my father and older brother so I spent a very large amount of time caring for the household mostly alone while my mother went out to deal with other work.

I'm so sorry you went through that šŸ«‚ deportation as a whole is a cruel industry, I hope you've been able to reunite and are safe.

I can totally see why in cases like that the older sibling steps up into a parent role despite it not being fair on them, and the parents letting it happen despite probably not wanting to have to put the kids through that.

19 days later

With my main siblings in "Damsel in the Red Dress" I really wanted to express the struggle of an older sibling in really trying life situations trying to protect their younger siblings from the reality of their lives. My siblings and I have gone through pretty trying circumstances, on memorable night being sleeping in an abandoned building. These emotions of terror, and sadness while trying your best to comfort your younger siblings are the sort of feelings I imagine Alicia having for Andrew as she tried to shelter him from the reality of their parent's divorce as much as she could

17 days later

Spot-light on siblings from large families:

Shannon Carmichael from Damsel in the Red Dress has several siblings, coming from a very large American-Islamic family. Though they're only mentioned in passing, he's the only boy and the only one of his siblings to have gotten a degree

My comic has sibling pairs, with one of them being a pretty big spoiler, and the other being Hugo and his sister. The spoiler siblings are pretty dysfunctional, but Hugo and his sister are pretty fine with eachother even if theyā€™re not exactly best friends.

My siblings in both "Hushabye Prince" and "Damsel in the Red Dress" are pretty close, but things are very different for both sets. Both Alicia x Andrews and Jinwoo x Jimin love each other to death, but one set is complicated by a divorce that meant growing up separately and the other by...spoilers lol

15 days later

An interesting factor of Alicia's (Damsel in the Red Dress) character that I've noted brought out by Jinho is the subtly of the different ways she views things. Kattar grew up with a very loving mom who spoiled him in a lot of ways, and Alicia has commented before that she thinks she's jealous.

But after their parents divorced, Alicia's little brother went to live with their dad and their father's sister, who basically treated him like her own child, babied him, and loved him like a mother, but Alicia never once said she was jealous of anything her little brother received even though she should have had the same.

While she envies other people, she'd give her left arm for her little brother, and so I didn't even realize when I wrote her that he's the person she never comments on being jealous of in any way, though he received a lot she didn't.

This is one of those things about a sibling connection that is very real, and while it doesn't have to be literal siblings, I think really only can be felt in people who have struggled to survive together. While I don't know anyone who is as completely unselfish in this respect as Alicia, this 'I'd sacrifice everything for their sake' mentality that often is written for mothers, is also present in siblings who have gone through a lot together.

1 month later

The leads in my new story "Damsel in the Red Dress," ARE the pair of siblings, but their relationship is entirely the flip of Alicia and Andrew's. I find it interesting to explore the dynamic of siblings who can be 100% furious with each other often, but can always get over that because in the end they're there for each other.

17 days later

I know heā€™s not interested in talking, but turning the radio on would still feel like telling him to shut up.

I could think of a thousand things to say if left to my own devices - but my body has felt like one big system error for the last five years.

I have a thousand things I want to say and I donā€™t feel like saying any of them, staring at the back of his curly head as he studies his scrawny arm resting on the windowsill, with something like stubborn pride that unsettles me.

ā€œHow do you calculate the length of the hypotenuse?ā€ I blurt brusquely, like itā€™s a dare.

ā€œI donā€™t need you to quiz me, Lady Licorice,ā€ He doesnā€™t turn his gaze from his arm, rolling down his sleeve until it hides his bloodless hands.

ā€œExcuse me for trying to keep you out of summer school,ā€ I sniff with more than genuine vehemence. ā€œRemind me who got a ā€˜Dā€™ on their last test?ā€

ā€œI didnā€™t study for that one. I studied for this one,ā€ he says in an exasperated monotone, crossing his arms over his chest - leaning forward against the seat belt like heā€™s a ragdoll just barely being kept upright.


This is available for free for everyone to read on my Patreon public posts

Both Dominic and Essence have siblings in "A Dozen Morning Glories" and they are extremely essential to the book.

Dominic's sisters' emotions lead him to better understand and sympathize with the feelings of the female lead, while the difference in the way she is treated versus how her sister is treated is a huge part of what wakes Essence up to the reality that the way she lives is not acceptable.

While these things could technically be expressed with female friends, the impact is different when it hits, literally closer to home. Both watching someone be mistreated your entire life and watching someone be treated better than you for your entire life will have a different impact than just seeing bits and pieces of these realities occasionally.