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The Keen Legacy - End of Generation 3 TODAY - January 29

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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Write to me and escape...

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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    To see
    To sell
    To get
    To bring
    To make
    To lift
    To go to the Festival!


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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    edited May 2018
    And the summer is almost over :-(
    Post edited by superkyle221 on
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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Snapdragon and Chelsey come to collect Harvey and take him back home.

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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    So I guess the question is... who is Lulu??? Let's find out now!


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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    I didn't update this yesterday (my bad) but there was a chapter yesterday and there's a new one today.



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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Harvey and Stacey are back together, hurrah!
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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Harvey deals with yesterday's news...

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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    It's time for Harvey's senior year to begin!

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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Two new chapters today (because I can't read a calendar, apparently)




    (as you can probably tell, it's probably for the best if only because they deal with very similar subjects)
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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Rose has something to say. Rose has something to saaaaaaaaaaay!!!


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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Alright - this is the chapter that was super difficult to write, and one I've not been looking forward to releasing. Content warning.


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  • CathyTeaCathyTea Posts: 23,088 Member
    Hiya! I'm behind the keyboard, not on my tiny designed-for-squirrels tablet, so I can actually type in a way that keeps up with my mind! Yay!

    I've really found the last several chapters insightful, and, in regards to them, I've been thinking a lot about parenting styles.

    For a neurotypical, healthy kid, without any special needs, the parenting style used by Harvey's parents would probably be sufficient: they're looking out for the child in a very basic way, meeting the basic physical needs, providing some standard basic guidance, and offering enough stability to counter Rose's extremes.

    But for a child like Harvey, who is gifted, not neurotypical, and needs some extra supports for his mental health, this environment and parenting style falls so very short.

    While reading the last few chapters, I kept reflecting on this pattern I'd noticed growing up: Some kids, shortly after reaching puberty, would fall off a cliff, metaphorically. One neighbor, who'd grown up playing tag and hide-and-seek with us in the street on summer evenings, became addicted to heroin by the time he was 16. Other kids would drink, smoke pot, become "stoners," or fall into depressions. I saw it often enough that by the time is was 10 or 11, I was sort of afraid of becoming a teen. Usually, it was very bright, very sensitive kids who had moments of sullenness and extreme quiet, though they could be cheerful enough at other times.

    The style of parenting, at that time (the 1960s and 70s), was very much like the approach Harvey's parents take: making sure the kid goes to school, does homework, keeps up grades; keeping the kid fed, clothed, and sheltered, and that's about it.

    Reading about Harvey has helped me realize that these kids who had especially rough times just weren't getting the extra support they needed. Being grounded and shamed, which was the disciplinary tact when I was young, along with some corporal punishment, just doesn't offer these kids what they need.

    I really hope that Harvey is able to get the support he needs and that he can not blame himself. His parents aren't to blame either, since they're doing their best. It's just a shame that there's such little education about mental health and the nurturing of sensitive, gifted kids. :/
    Cathy Tea's SimLit Anthology

    Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    @CathyTea

    Thank you so much for your comments! I grew up a few years later (in the 80's) but I think even then the parenting style was the same - and even now, working with the students I work with, things have changed only in that there's a lot of pressure on kids to be perfect - and for somebody like Harvey, that's not easy, because he doesn't even know what perfect is, let alone how to reach out to his parents.

    I think a lot of the time it manifests in boys (but not always!) - where they're told they have to be a certain way to be a man - and unfortunately, this is a situation where no matter how hard Harvey tries, he'll never live up to that ideal, because it doesn't exist, even though everybody is telling him that it does. He's a sensitive kid, who likes to tell jokes and who thinks about how terrible the world is, and his family doesn't really know how to deal with that because what worked for them doesn't work for him. He fell into a depression, and very well may have gotten addicted to all sorts of drugs, because it helped him cope. And his guide into that world (Stacey) has just as many issues as he does, and doesn't know how these will affect him, just that they'll make him feel better, like they make her feel better.

    I've been reading The Outsiders with one of my classes (though I started reading it after I wrote this), and it's like Cherry says - things are rough all over. Some kids would do just fine, getting an entire island to explore and grow up on, and live a happy life. Unfortunately for Harvey, he has different gifts - and growing up in the family he grew up in helped him, but it would have helped him more had people been more open and honest, and there. Part of that isn't the parent's fault - Rose is the only one who's really around all the time, and they're not a wealthy family by any means, plus they think they're doing the best that they can by not actually harming him; but on the other hand... he's needed more attention and care than maybe they realized.

    I can say that Harvey will get support and will come out stronger. As for his parents... I can't really say. They've got a lot to learn as well.
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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Harvey wakes up in a strange new place...

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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Harvey gets more information about his surroundings. Where is he? And when can he go home?
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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    It's time for Harvey to meet his fellow residents...

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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Harvey ventures out into his new world...

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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Harvey reconnects with an old enemy...

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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    I meant to publish this this morning, but got the times wrong. Oops! So here is the latest chapter.
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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Prom was last night so I'm updating this a bit late. Here we go!
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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Harvey tells us in his own words...

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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    In this chapter, Harvey comes face-to-face with his previous decisions.

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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Harvey and Mae have a heart to heart.

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  • superkyle221superkyle221 Posts: 1,119 Member
    How long has Harvey been in this place anyway?

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