SILVER LINING #2
<< #1
Hey Cloudheads! (I just thought about it on-the-fly, so I apologize if it sounded off) The recent chapter looked like it would see a decline in votes before I went offline, but in the end, it pulled in a flood of votes near the payout and turned into my highest-voted post to date! Big shoutout to @curie, @steemtrail and @fiction-trail for the huge boost, to @ezzy and @dreemit for the continued support of the series, and to everyone who voted either manually or via bot/streemian!
You might've noticed a sharp drop-off in the story from the first chapter. One might say that the story was ... brought back down to the ground (*puts on sunglasses * YYEEAAHH!!!! ( • _ •) / ( • _ •)>⌐■-■ / (⌐■_■) )
On a more serious note, I consider the latest chapter as the beginning of the story, while the first chapter as sort of a prologue. To give you guys a clearer picture, I'd like to use this installment of Silver Lining to explain my cousin's family structure, highlighting the supporting characters in Zepp's story.
This is a recent family picture, so they have aged a bit since the story's setting. I hope to fill in the gaps with this brief explanation. At least, I'll try to keep it brief. People who know me know that I have a tendency to talk a lot. And now I'm rambling again.
Erwin, the father and breadwinner. Ever since I've known him, he has always worked as a transcriptionist for a US-based company. He was a stay-at-home freelancer even before it became a trend. Always up-to-date with pop culture, he has a quick wit, well-versed in geeky stuff and has a very easygoing attitude. He earns quite enough to provide for his family, and he's a real hands-on father. I'm just using the earning of A Day in the Clouds and Silver Lining to help them with the expenses of Zepp's treatment, which makes a real dent in the back account. If it isn't obvious, he's Dadier in the story. Pronounced in however way you want, but I envisioned it as sort of a French-sounding version of "daddy."
Kirsten, the older sister. She's the ever-dependable sister and daughter that most parents dream of for a kid. Her shy and quiet demeanor often hides the fact that she's excelling in her academics. I mean, her grades are off-the-charts! She's currently a highschooler studying in a Science school (one of the preeminent learning institutions in the country). Her character's name is Teten, based on her real nickname.
Thiella, the mother and my cousin. The mold from which Kirsten was shaped. She's the eldest among my father-side cousins, and she really exemplifies that guiding force role to the tee. Nowadays she's a dedicated mother, but in the past, she had been involved with several businesses and ventures, even going to other countries, to help out with the family savings. She even went back to college for a time to learn occupational therapy to better understand Zepp. This woman would go to any lengths for her family, and is the main reason why I'm alotting all of the earnings I make for this series in aid of their situation. She's obviously Mamie, and she's just as loving (if not more) in real life.
Vedder, the younger brother. His character's name is Eddie, get it? Eddie Vedder. I wasn't kidding when I said that this family is rocking. From Led Zeppelin to Pearl Jam. He's grown up a bit in the picture, but he was such a chubby baby when he was born. The pillow scene didn't really transpire in reality, but I wanted to root it in such a way that it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. If anything, I drew the inspiration of the scene from my own experience. Not that I went through with it with my younger sister, but during times when I felt jealous of the attention she was getting, I admit it crossed my mind. I was a kid, sue me!
And, there we go. I'll expound more as the story goes, but for now, I hope the overview of the family gives you a clearer view of the (real) dynamic. Thanks to everyone who has supported this initiative so far. All the comments and reads are highly appreciated. Words alone can't describe how grateful I am. I hope this brief explanation adds a layer to the experience when you read it from "Zepp's/Ledd's" perspective :D
Profile Progress
No updates on this end yet. I've been asking my cousin about it, but they seem to be very busy, understandably so. For now, I'm holding onto the earnings until they are ready to be transferred. I'm planning on donating to the charities/funds/researches with every $100 earned. Since 50% goes to Zepp and 50% for others, that's $100 for their 50% and not the total.
Thanks for reading! I love supporting other people's work, but I follow people based on who's commenting on my post. So be sure to leave your thoughts down below.
They sound like really awesome people. This is such a groovy thing to do to help. Rock on @jedau!
I really wish I could've done more. I think I raised a little over a thousand dollars and that was it. I've seen charities here that was just begging for money raising more than 15k, so I don't know... I didn't want to beg, because that's just not me. I wanted to provide something for something, in this case a story for a vote. Heck it's not even a straight donation, it's not like people are getting money from their own wallets for this. But yeah, it is what it is.. I'm happy about what I achieved, no matter what amount :D
This makes me think of the saying, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." I feel you on preferring an exchange. I know it can be frustrating to work at something for a cause only to see little return. 1K is a drop in the bucket to 15k, definitely. I try to keep that silver lining in mind, though. For example, even though I missed the initial window for these posts, we receive from the comments. So, every time we bring attention back to a piece, there's the potential for continued SBD/SP. That makes the long term game plan even more important. How can we bring people back to this story? How can we bring new people to steem and to this story?
The long term potential is staggering. A few years ago, I read something about one of Kanye West's fans thinking that Paul McCartney would have a great career because Kanye knows talent. The comment is hilarious, but also eye opening. With the internet anything is possible and time can bring new interest to "old" posts.
HAHAHA! WHAT! :O How did I miss that quote haha! I guess we owe the success of one of the most legendary bands EVER to Kanye West haha I feel like even if I shake my head, that won't be enough for that. The world should collectively shake our heads at that statement.
You're right about thinking long-term, I just can't help but feel like with all of the new content coming out, not a lot of people would even bother revisiting the older ones buried under everything else. It's somewhat thankless. To think, this just wrapped up less than two months ago, and already it feels like a relic haha That's why I'm grateful for people like you who still spotlight this past its prime.
I just went looking for that quote...apparently it blew up twitter...can't find the one I'd originally seen. Too funny. I totally hear you on that count, in this age, with so much at our finger tips, 2 months can feel like old news. Which is really trippy, when you consider that 100 years ago a 2 month old news paper would have been considered "new" news. lol.
Haha! Yeah! Super crazy. I've actually started writing a post that briefly discusses it. In the future, we'll hear the news as it happens. I mean literally. It's broadcasted directly to our minds haha!
I'll need an off-switch for that. LOL. I'll have to keep an eye out for that post!
Thank you for sending the rewards of the comments for Zepp! That's so kind of you :) Did you know it totaled 0.666? Haha! I've already forwarded everything to @zeppelin now, if you're going to donate again, please feel free to send it directly to their account. I'm sure they would be highly appreciative of the gesture :D
I was about to shut down for the night, and this popped up! Hopefully I am entirely coherent, since it is Happy Whiskey Wednesday, (though wino wednesday would be more appropriate for me right now, ha!)
I love this insight into your cousin's family dynamic! They are seriously the coolest...I love Eddie Vedder, in fact there is not one song that he's not only written but sung that I don't know, LOL. Pearl Jam is my favorite band of all time. And Ledd Zeppelin, they arguably paved the way for Eddie's music :)
This is such a fantastic idea all the way around, the story is brilliant, these follow ups are stellar, and you my friend, are a beautiful soul.
Wow! Really? That's such an awesome coincidence :D "Of all the bands, in all the countries, in all the world, Pearl Jam had to be your favorite..." Jeremy said, in class today. My mention of your support in the post is truly warranted, all the comments that you leave are such great additions to posts! I truly appreciate it, my friend :)
Wino Wednesday has a great ring to it as well! I'll continue my praise on that post haha! You can reply in the morning. Have a great night!
I know, right? There sure is a great deal of synchronicity in our developing friendships! Love it!
I take solace with that thought. Nice to have comrades in this long journey!
Hey my brother!
Man, an awesome little familial unit you got there! All smiles and with two cute little fellas! :)
So these are the guys that are providing the bases for your current projects of brilliance. Fantastic, man. In some ways, the best stuff is written by those who have a personal attachment or grounding to the source content. So this fits perfectly for you!
A kind soul and all round great guy, I know "A Day in the Clouds" and "Silver Lining" will just shine like they're supposed to. I sense this is the beginning of many awesome masterpieces from you. And I, for one, can't wait to see what coming next.
Bless you, heart and soul, my brother! Wishing you all the best and our little trio of united writers bigger and better recognition. :)
Hey, brother, thanks for dropping by! I kind of got a little too ahead myself when I said that the previous chapter was the highest voted post I had, because this post just became the lowest voted and earner of the series. I hope this isn't indicative of things to come. This post is the very definition of bombed. I don't why it is but things like this always happens whenever I inject more passion than usual haha! Stuff like this is what discouraged me from ever posting again here, but yours and @dreemit's comments keep my head afloat so I thank you for that. I'm always looking forward to reading the thoughts of my only two readers :D
I have hit and miss days too, but overall besides those few people who are constantly getting the megabucks, we're still doing well in comparison to a lot of others. It's a drought here at steemit, we just have to press through until it turns around :)
Arguably, I have more misses than hits, and even though I re-adjusted my mentality regarding that, it's still hard whenever I fall into these traps. I try not to compare my success to others anymore, it's just hard whenever my comment is the only one not replied to or my posts aren't commented on while other posts are raking it in in terms of interaction. I mean, I'm happy for others' success, I truly am, especially yours and @ezzy's as I feel that you two are extremely deserving of even more, I just wish that I get a taste of the same treatment. I'm not asking for a slice, just nibbles would do fine.
During my stay I've had a lot of down days, so much that I've spent time away from Steemit a number of times. This really does a number on my emotions, which isn't that healthy, so I try to stay away or re-adjust my time. It's hard when I put extra effort and it results to even less than usual positive outcome haha! I appreciate the support, my friend. It's just one of those days :D