Wish

[lucida]

TITLE/PROMPT - Wish {Table 1, #90}
AUTHOR - lucida
WORD COUNT - 929
RATING - K
UNIVERSE - Post-canon
SUMMARY - No one understands Natalie.
LINK TO TABLE - here
AUTHOR'S NOTE - Natalie's storyline in Claudia and Crazy Peaches really just broke my heart. :( Even though she eventually ended up making friends with Becca and Char in the book, I couldn't help

Comments

[isabelquinn]

Oh, poor Natalie :(

Even though they’re nice to her, she knows they probably don’t want her around.

This is pretty much exactly how I understand the dymanic between Natalie and the others. The nicer ones tolerated her, but they weren't actually her friends.

I love the little glimpses into the other kids as well. Everyone seems so in-character, just older :D nice work!

[lucida]

I feel bad for Natalie. :( I had fun with her, though! I may have to revisit her in the future.

Everyone seems so in-character, just older :D

Aww, thank you! I know how much you love all the LS characters, so it means a lot to hear that from you. ♥ Glad you liked it! :)

[luxken27]

Oh, this is absolutely heartbreaking! *sniff* Poor Natalie - I really feel for her. I was painfully shy as a kid, so I definitely understand the aversion to the others, especially with her bad experiences with them anyway. And it feels even more cruel that her parents don't understand or seem to empathize with her problems with her classmates. Shit like that doesn't get better, especially in a small school with a small class of people that you always see.

I just want to give her a hug!

[lucida]

Shit like that doesn't get better, especially in a small school with a small class of people that you always see.

Exactly! Maybe I'm a pessimist, but when I read the books that featured Natalie, I just really couldn't see her situation (at that school) getting much better. She'd already been around those kids for years, so why would anything suddenly change? I didn't even necessarily see Natalie as an extremely shy person in the series, but she always seem so very out of place/awkward and desperate to fit in (yet didn't seem to have the confidence to go out and make that happen). Combine that with the fact that her classmates were just constantly making fun of her. :( I think it would be easy for her to just become sort of... broken.

I'm definitely making plans to visit teenage!Natalie sometime in the future -- maybe it'll be something a bit lighter. :P Thanks for reading and commenting! :D

[luxken27]

Well, I've not read a lot of the BSLS books, but even just rereading the subplot to #78 reminded of just how empathetic I felt towards Natalie. I don't think she was shy so much as just...awkward, but being introverted and shy myself, I could definitely relate to those feelings of loneliness and isolation. Worse, I think, is that Nathalie doesn't seem to have much of an inner life, other than desolation. And my heart just breaks for her.

I'd love to see where you take her character, especially since she had that little spark of life at the end, though it was quickly snuffed out. Beautiful work!

[meroure]

Natalie!!!! This is lovely. I like how you didn't introduce Natalie until the last paragraph. It emphasizes the fact that although the story is from her observations, she is also an afterthought in her own life. And those last two lines: She blinks. // She’s really not going to miss recess. absolutely killed me.

also: the Nancy, Hannie and Karen dynamic here is perfect, it seems like a scene pulled straight from canon. If you ever decide to write more post-canon!LS, I would love to see more of their interactions!

[lucida]

I like how you didn't introduce Natalie until the last paragraph. It emphasizes the fact that although the story is from her observations, she is also an afterthought in her own life.

Oh, I'm glad you liked that! That's really what I was trying to show by writing the story that way. Poor Natalie :( but I enjoyed writing her!

I have about 1500 words of another post-canon!LS story written (tentatively titled "Fame") that has a lot of Karen/Hannie/Nancy... so hopefully I'll eventually get around to finishing that. (Way, way too many WIPs.)

Thank you! ♥

[lucida]

Thanks!! :D I was never a huge LS fan either, but I've found that I enjoy writing about them for whatever reason. :P

[gloriafan]

*sniff sniff* Beautiful! I don't know where the hate for LS comes from, because I think it has a load of amazing characters begging to be explored.

Poor Natalie. I very nearly cried towards the end (I know, I know, guys shouldn't cry to BSC fanfics, but I did cry in E.T. after all), heartbreaking.

Can't wait to read more from you!

[lucida]

Aw, thanks for the comment! :D I feel so sorry for Natalie. :( (I used to hate LS until very recently, actually, but all the characters have been growing on me lately---especially Hannie Papadakis and Natalie Springer.)

[gloriafan]

Hannie is SO amazing. I think right next to Andrew (and dear Natalie) she has to be my favorite LS character.

[lucida]

I love Hannie. ♥ I have a WIP with her as the main character... we'll see if I ever finish that. loll