SILVER LINING #13
Cloudheads, are you with me? Can I get a "woot! woot!"? Until I posted this, I had been very hesitant to divide this into two parts. If you've been following along, you probably know by now how much I hate breaking chapters up into parts. Thankfully, there was a small opening in this one, so I took it. I just hope that I didn't make the wrong decision.
I've been aggressively editing the entire story since we're past the halfway point. While lots of things have happened, I'm aware of the slow burn of the recent chapters. Unfortunately, the pacing is intentional, so that you can experience the same doldrums that Ledd feels. I thank you for powering through it.
In any case, this chapter dealt with one of the recurring themes of the series. It's hard for kids to get a solid grasp of their differently abled peers, and they can't be blamed for their lack of understanding. While the earlier depiction was mostly fictional, this time around the event is rooted in reality. Fortunately, no one was pushed or shoved, but squabbles brought upon by Ledd's condition is something that really sadddens me. I just hope that the parents would do their part and educate their children to be more compassionate of others. The whole world will be better for it.
This scene really made me think about my good friend @dreemit's story entitled The Playground Series (It's currently on hold, but that just means you have time to catch up with it). While the only similarity is that it's set in the playground, it made me realize that there are so many lessons that can be told through the interactions there. It's a microcosm of the real world, and it's a place where a lot of formational thought can be shaped.
When I was a kid, I've never been a big fan of playgrounds that have a lot of people in them. I blamed that on my anti-social tendencies, but found out much later that it's because I'm a flaming introvert. I'd much rather go to playgrounds when I'm the only one there. Even though my future kids would have the same tendencies, I'm going to force them to interact with others so that they would have a much easier social life when they grow up. I wanted to send a strong message about how children are dealing with people who are different to them. I just hope that it translated well.
Really though, I don't want this post to become a web therapy about my social anxiety, so I'll move on with my discussion.
"Coche" is the the Spanish word for car, as I've mentioned in a previous installment. So, I'm posting a picture of Zepp boarding it instead :D
I envisioned their relationship similar to Aang and Appa (Avatar: The Last Airbender). If it's still not evident, it's one of the biggest influences of this story. I was huge fan of that series growing up, and I really wanted to tell my take on it. For those wanting to connect the dots, I'm going to list the similarities between the characters. Aang is the last airbender (as of the series). Ledd is the last Sachaphoyan. Both of them can control air/wind (viento), although one might argue that Aang has a wider skill set. As to the reasons for these similarities, you'll have to continue reading the story :) (hey, you know I had to sell it somehow, right?)
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One notable difference here is that they're not riding on Coche's back. That would've been cool though.
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Instead, Coche's more like Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro. Complete with glowing eyes ;)
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Also, the phrase ha anak which Ledd was fixated on in Part 1 is just a common expression said by parents here. Ha can be roughly translated as something that could take the place of "okay" when used in a question. For example, "I'm going to go now, okay?" would be "I'm going to go now, ha?" when you use "ha" in an English sentence or its translated equivalent "Aalis na ako, ha?" While anak is the Tagalog/Filipino word for "son", "daughter" or "offspring".
Here's a song by renowned Filipino singer Freddie Aguilar that's inspired by that very word:
For those interested in its translation, you can find it here. It surprisingly became famous in South Korea a while back. It was even translated and used as the main theme of a TV series.
Oh, and one other thing, be sure to check out @zeppelin's intro post. It's not a long read, but it's official verification of his existence. It was made just in time for World Autism Awareness Day. You can find the intro post here.
Wow, this turned out longer than I anticipated. So I'll end it right here. Until next time, sports fans!
Thanks for reading! Follow me, @jedau, if you want to live.
Leave this post a feedback, and I'll be sure to return the favor!
I was wondering about ha anak as well, so good to know.
It's always been the way that children are cruel to those who are different, but I do wonder if it's changing with the new generation. My friend's son is high functioning autistic and has been able to go to main stream schools for most of his education. He had a teacher's aide, which helped. But also he had many friends who looked out for him and protected him.
I wanted to hold off on the explanation long enough to make people wondering about it :) From what I've observed, it's changing for better or worse. With social media and advancements in technology, there are new kinds of avenues for bullying. Having adults who are more compassionate and understanding definitely helps sway the trend to the positive side though.
Wow! That's awesome for your friend's son! I'm super happy that he didn't need to go through a rough childhood. Definitely a huge win for differently abled individuals :D
I am in two minds about whether this would be a good thing. I am an introvert as well. My mother has sometimes said she wished she had made me be more sociable when I was a child. But I think that possibly that would have made me more anxious.
Knowing that being introverted is largely about what uses up your energy and what restores it, that would always need to be taken into consideration. But maybe offering small opportunities would be good.
Wow, you've almost caught up with the latest! I am so humbled and appreciative of the gesture. Thank you, my friend. I'm not shy to admit that it definitely made my eyes moist.
Ohhh.. This is actually the second time it's been commented on, and it's definitely nice to read about this perspective. I might have to readjust that approach. Since my future kids are a few years away, I'm fortunate to have enough time to plan everything to make them feel more comfortable. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, my friend!
Now that I think about it, it did make me more anxious whenever I was forced to interact. The energy consumption thing is something I would be very mindful of, but the social interaction thing might be something I need to reassess. It's great to have friends who share their two cents about this. Makes me feel like I'll be on the right track :D
It won't be an easy thing to manage, but at least we know and understand more now. When I was young, being shy was a fault, and most of my life I felt that I was somehow wrong in being that way. I was thinking some more about this today, and wonder if teaching strategies for introverts to be able to interact might be better. Not that I would even know how to do that!
That thought was pervasive even when I was young, and even after I've grown I think. People kept pushing me to interact, thinking that it will "get rid" of my anti-social tendencies. Really though, I didn't know it at the time, but I was just so drained. This book really helped me to understand how to strategize, so maybe it could be of use to you as well. The author has very interesting thoughts on how to grow up and deal with introverts.
Sounds like a good book. This one is the one that shed light on being an introvert for me, which really helped. Of course, I was shy, AS WELL, so learning social skills while honouring being an introvert would have been helpful. But it is what it is, and I'm ok with all of that now.
I think online communities like Steemit are great for us introverts. The extroverts can still be as spontaneous as they wish. But we can go away and really think about what we want to say, which works much better for us.
Ooohhh looks interesting! It's awesome that we got to swap the big introvert books that influenced us. Definitely going to use the gift card I'm saving for this one. Thanks for sharing, my friend!
I agree with your sentiment. While we're still the minority, I have hope that it'll trend to favor us in the future.
Always line the extra nuggets of info you get here. You know in the playground scene I never even thought for a second of the other kids reactions bring because of his different able-edness. Having seen the same behaviour with my daughter and many other kids. It's good to read that though as it adds in that extra layer!
Ha anak! I did wonder!
Woohoo! I'm so glad that the SILVER LINING series really adds value. Thanks for saying that, dude! Though, I do have to wonder, was there something lacking in my writing that it didn't evoke that during the first reading?
Now you have a new term to call your kids that sounds exotic haha!
Some kids (and people in general) definitely do need to be shoved out of their comfort zone, but I'd be wary of how much you pushed/forced kids into social interaction. My daughter was cripplingly shy from the ages of 2-6 and I think if I'd forced her to interact/play with other kids, she would be an anxious mess today. I let her deal with things at her own pace and now at 10 with the number of friends she has and socialising she does and how well she responds to people, you would never have guessed that she was a limpet who always hid behind me when confronted with a strange adult and who would not budge from my lap when there were other kids on the playground XD
It's probably just the proximity but "anak" means child in Malay/Indonesian in the unlikely event you didn't already know that :) I can't remember if that's biological child or any child though, I know there are specific words for son and daughter.
My kids love Last Airbender, can see the influence now that you've pointed them out, though I wouldn't have picked them as I didn't really sit down and watch it myself.
I've found with a lot of kids if you explain it to them straight up they're usually pretty understanding, the squabbles happen when they don't realise that the kid that's not playing by "the rules" isn't doing it because they're a spoilt brat. Explaining it is always fun though -_- I feel a bit for Dadier there as I'm the one doing the explaining and my kid is high functioning enough that his behavioural issues are really easily mistaken for simple brattiness/bad parenting.
I'm feeling like everything I say is a little bit terse atm because I've been carrying this epic headache all day (yay for caffeine withdrawals DX) so apologies in advance. Am on holiday visiting relatives atm so want to squeeze in comments when I can so couldn't just wait for it to pass like I normally would :D (actually normally I wouldn't even have caffeine withdrawals as I'd just be feeding my addiction, however we currently have a milk shortage and I am a terrible milk consumer DX)
Thanks for that story! You always write very entertaining and thought provoking posts, my friend. It's not at all terse. I'm very appreciative of the feedback, especially coming from a seasoned parent. Since I don't have kids of my own yet, I'm just accumulating all the knowledge I can. I do realize that now, and it's good to know different perspectives regarding those things. Since I was raised the same way you raised your daughter and I still turned out into an anxious mess, it's interesting to think about the factors that contributed to the difference. Perhaps environment and the people we interacted with? I hope I figure it out just in time so that I could raise a daughter of my own some day that turns out like your daughter. Look at me, I'm a ball of anxiety as we speak haha!
I know basic Bahasa (Indonesian), and I've actually traced back the roots of some Filipino words. And, you're absolutely correct! :) Since we trace our ancestry to Malay/Indon/Chinese/Spanish, our language is basically a hodgepodge of those influences :D Great catch! I should've expected that you, of all people, would spot that :D
I really like how SILVER LINING provides that kind of realization. As much as I wanted to make it relatable for many generations, I had to ... I-I ... I don't want to say to much :/
Yeah, I guess you're right. Kids are pretty malleable, and I mean that in the best possible way. Given proper guidance they could turn out to be great people. It's great that you related to the giants here. I really wanted to emphasize the struggles they go through without telling their side.
Ah! I see you're already on Christmas Island! Enjoy the holiday, and leave your normal worries behind. I'm so grateful that you took the time to post Viento when you did! It really made my week and, I feel, the whole of next week as well! :D
Ohhhh, I did not know this was influenced by the Last Airbender. But now it's made me curious, I will have to check it out! I remember at one point meaning to anyway, thinking it may be something I would enjoy.
Thanks for the shoutout :) I remember our conversation about this chapter well now.
Also, it's really cool to learn the tagalog words. I'm listening to the song while I write this, it is quite beautiful.
And I will definitely go to the intro post, as I am very interested!
Also, this is off topic, but did you notice that my friend nonames has returned? I am very relieved and happy. He made a post today that you might like. It's not heavy on the colors, just the black and gold in the thumbnail, and it's different than his usual stuff, deeper and more serious than usual.
https://steemit.com/life/@nonameslefttouse/i-woke-up-today-for-the-first-time
EDIT: Actually, I'll add one of his sillier posts too. But more for the comment section, as it had me laughing pretty hard. Though I'm in no way telling you to start coming to them, unless you just find you enjoy them like I do. He doesn't have the time to do much commenting beyond his own posts, so it most likely won't be reciprocated.
https://steemit.com/funny/@nonameslefttouse/i-refuse-to-hold-back-on-my-talents-just-because-the-payouts-seem-low
I'm sure you would enjoy it, my friend. Talking about the cartoons and not, I repeat NOT the M. Night Shyamalan live action version (avoid this at all costs). The sequel (Legend of Korra) deals with a lot of social issues, I've been told. I haven't watched that, but yeah, it looks good.
I still find it funny when I realize how long it took to get to this chapter. I remember hyping up the connection, and I just hope that it didn't disappoint. Two very different takes of a playground scene.
It's awesome about your reception to the Tagalog words! I really wish that I used more though. You'll discover why I used Spanish words soon :)
My cousin and her husband are currently on a weekend getaway because it's her birthday weekend :D I've already told them about the comments in the post, and I'm sure they'll reply to it once they get back.
Oh! That's great regarding nonames. Will check out the posts in a bit.
One other thing, @ryivhnn as kindly provided A Day in the Clouds with fan art as well! Check it out https://steemit.com/art/@ryivhnn/viento :D
Just wanted to make sure I start catching up on these posts since I finally have some down time from all the craziness and business. Lovely Filipino song you provided above, he is a talented singer indeed. But yeah you definitely executed the problems of the differently abled children and how they interact with the autistic children or any disabled children and the division and misunderstanding that is between them. It saddens me as well, but luckily there were no physical altercations with Ledd. Great silver lining, this novel turned out to be amazing and beyond my expectations indeed. Now time to show our dear friend dreemit some love on her neglected novel lol :)
Thanks for all your help, bro! And I'm glad you liked how the story unfolded :D Glad to have you back on here. Do spread the love more now and catch up with @dreemit's Reborn. The story is now back in London, and I'm sure you're in for a treat!
You're most welcome bro, so pressed for time, it is nonstop over here lol, trying to catch up with Reborn now.
Oh, yes, do catch up on Reborn :D I've heard through the grapevine that it's already heading to a climax. So get back on it to catch it as it's posted, brother!