The Writerly Sibling Tag

So I stole this tag from Alabama Rose, who stole it from someone else, who stole it from someone else, who… xD yeah. But it’s fun and full of excerpts… XD

Rules: 
Rule One: Thank the blogger who tagged you & provide a link to their post.
Rule Two: Answer the inquires, including any ones added by means of rule six.
Rule Three: Always use your own characters. No exception, unless you don’t actually have sibling characters (in which case you need to go write up some) or you don’t write (in which case you need to start ASAP).
Rule Four: Tag three other bloggers.
Rule Five: If you happen to have any siblings who blog, they are automatically tagged & cannot count towards your three.
Rule Six: Add one question or prompt to the list of questions the person before you answered relating to siblings &/or characters. Answer the question, and provide a list of all the questions of that you answered so far.
Rule Seven: Close out the post making some statement or other glorifying the King of kings.

*rubs hands* Sibling relationships are my favourites to read and write!! 😀

1. Name the most annoying sibling character in any of your stories (either annoying to you as the author or to any other characters).

Hmmmm. Let’s see.

*thinks*

Philip Erikson from Broken? He kinda bugged me—he was nice, but a bit of a will-o’-the-wisp, and a little unobservant. He also bugged his brother James for the same reason.

Other than Philip, I can’t think of anyone else… I don’t tend to write annoying characters!

2. Name the most caring sibling character in any of your stories.

Oh, my. Now that is a VERY difficult task. My sibling characters tend to be VERY caring.

I guess I would say Edward Carter from Just Allissa. At least, he gave up the most for his sister. But Dougal Turnbull from Notes also went through a lot for his little brother’s sake. And Orlando Randall from The Colours of Life Series is another of the most caring big brothers ever. 

3. Name the most entertaining sibling character in any of your stories.

Orlando? *grins* He’s so much fun to write, especially when paired with his older brother Geraldo. I think he’s definitely the most entertaining character I’ve ever written. 

4. Name a sibling character who was inspired in some way by an actual sibling.

Jennifer Holl from Chords isn’t exactly an older sister, but she assumes that role for Bethany Krammer… and that was kind of inspired by me and my relationship with my special needs little sister. Same with Jerry Gray’s relationship with Brett Miller, from the same book.

5. Name the largest character family (talking family, not family tree) in any of your stories.

Hahaha, I have one short story with a fifteen-kid family in it. 😀 It was a lot of fun but not a very good story, lol!

There was Ismaël, 19;
Chassity, 18;
Obadiah,17;
Nehemiah & Charity, 16;
Joy & Nahum, 15;
Espérance, 14;
Micah & Mercy, 13;
Prudence, Patience, & Piety, 12;
Humility, Verity, & Felicity, 11;
Faith, 10;
Habakkuk, 9;
Zephaniah, 8;
Haggai, 7;
Temperance, 5;
and Philémon, 3.
And then to that you add all two or three husbands & wives. XD XD

6.Provide one to three excerpts from your sibling characters’ dialog from any of your stories

The rest of the walk was very quiet. Finally Orlando spoke. “Can I ask you a question, Jay?”

Jay nodded.

Orlando turned, with a questioning look, and Jay realized that Orlando couldn’t see his movements. 

“Yes.”

“Would you like to read the Bible with me?”

The tone was blunt, but Orlando’s attitude was hesitant. Jay stopped abruptly and stared at him.

“You’d let me read it?” he asked eagerly. 

“Oh, yes, of course. And if you don’t want to read it with me, it’s fine. I understand. You can read it by yourself too.”

“But I want to read it with you,” Jay said softly, looking up at Orlando. “We’re brothers.”

Orlando swallowed, and his mouth twitched. Then he burst into a smile, a bright, joyful smile. “I’d love to read it with you, Jay.”

—“The Colour Red.”

“What’s actually ridiculous is that we have a zoo, but rationed food,” complained Geraldo.

“Didn’t England have that in the Second World War?” Orlando retorted. “And anyways, it’s pfil—pfil—pfilsophical. Mind before body, you know.”

“It’s pronounced fi-lo-sough-fi-kl, and it’s spelled p-h-i-l-o-s-o-p-h-i-c-a-l,” Geraldo said grandly. “You still can’t say that?”

Orlando elbowed him.

“What about photographer? And physics? And—”

“I can say physics!” Orlando protested loudly.

“What about photographer?” Geraldo said wickedly.

Orlando scowled at him.

“Dare you,” smirked Geraldo.

“Foto-grapher,” Orlando said angrily. “See?”

“Well done, my son. The more accepted pronunciation in circulation is fo-tog-grah-fer, but we appreciate your attempt.” 

“Oh, shut up,” Orlando growled. “How come you got the pronunciation for those crazy words? You can’t even talk without sounding like you’re straight from South America or something.” 

“I do not. And it’s just that I happen to be smart.”

Orlando narrowed his eyes at him. “Is that an insinuation that I am not smart?” 

“It could be taken as that, if you wish,” Geraldo answered causally with a nod.

Orlando doubled up his fist and held it meaningfully before Geraldo’s nose. Geraldo smiled infuriatingly at him. “I wouldn’t counsel a fight, hermano querido. You do want to be presentable when you get to the zoological garden, don’t you?”

“And what says I won’t?” challenged Orlando. “Perhaps, horror of horrors, you’ll be unpresentable.” 

“Quite unlikely, I am afraid,” said Geraldo, shaking his head.

Orlando scowled at him again. “Geraldo, you’re an—”

“A,” corrected Geraldo. “A genius. ‘An genius’ is incorrect grammar. Surely some small particles of that enchanting subject remain floating in your grey matter—”

Orlando lunged at him.

—“The Colour Blue.”

Where’s Duckie?” Doug asked, busily wiping down a bookshelf and keeping his face adverted from his brother.

“At the table,” Tony murmured.

“He’ll get lonely there, don’t you think?”

Tony was silent, and Doug waited, still dusting busily. At last Tony whispered quiveringly, “Daddy said that he can’t talk.”

Doug winced a little at the appellation, but replied cheerfully, “Well, he’s right, you know. But that’s actually something you should be glad about. You know why?” 

“No, why?” Tony asked, startled. 

“Because Duckie doesn’t want to talk, and since his mouth can’t open, no one expects him to. But if his mouth could open then everyone would want him to talk and he would be unhappy. So he’s actually very happy that his mouth won’t open. That’s why he smiles all the time.”

Doug was careful to keep his voice matter-of-fact and casual, instead of coaxing or reassuring, and didn’t so much as glance at Tony. Tony digested this information in silence for a moment and then came to stand before his brother, eyes luminous with a sudden hope. “For reals?”

“Of course, for reals,” Doug answered, as if surprised by the question. “Just look at him! He’s as happy as a king.”

Tony darted from the room and returned a moment later with his Duckie. “You’re right, Doug,” he exclaimed joyfully. “He is happy! Look!” Beaming, he thrust the toy towards Doug’s face. Doug looked down, nodded, smiled, and said, “Yes, see? I told you so,” as if there couldn’t possibly have been any doubt about it. 

—“Notes”

7. Name three published books which have an amazing portrayal of siblings or family.

–The Moffats by Eleanor Estes. My heart. <33

–The Melendy Family Series by Elizabeth Enright. THEY ARE SOOOO GOOD. 

-All of Angie Thompson’s books. 😇

8. Name another author’s character family that you wouldn’t mind jumping into.

The Inglefords from Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery. AHHHHH!! I absolutely afore this family!!! <33 They are my top favourite fictional family. <33

9. Provide an excerpt of sibling drama or camaraderie from any title (though be sure to credit it).

“What is the use of staying here?” Bertie asked his brother impatiently, two days after they had arrived at Cuzco. “I dare say these old ruins and fortresses, and so on, are very interesting to people who understand all about the Incas; but as I know nothing about them, I don’t see how you can expect me to get up any interest in an old wall because you tell me that it is one of the remains of a palace belonging to some old chap I never heard of. I shall be very glad when Dias says that the mules have had enough rest and that we can set out on our business.”

“I am afraid you are a Goth, Bert,” Harry said, looking at him with an expression of pity. “Here you are in one of the most interesting cities of the world, a place that thousands and thousands of people would travel any distance to investigate, and in forty-eight hours you are tired of it. You have no romance in your nature, no respect for the past; you are a Goth and a Philistine.”

“I am afraid you are mixing up localities, Harry. I may be a Goth or a Philistine, but perhaps you are not aware that these peoples or tribes had no connection with each other. Your education in matters unconnected with the Royal Navy seems to have been even more deplorably neglected than my own.”

“Shut up, youngster!”

“No, Lieutenant Prendergast, you are not on the quarter-deck of one of Her Majesty’s ships at present. You are not even the leader of a small caravan on the march. We are in this locanda on terms of perfect equality, save and except in any small advantage that you may possess in the matter of years.”

—“The Treasure of the Incas,” G.A. Henty. 

10. Name two characters from two unrelated books that you feel would make for great literary siblings (whether in terms of getting along, or being a constant head-to-head combat).

Hmmm… I think Dan from Little Men would get along well with Dan from the Trixie Belden books. 😀

11. What sibling trope would you like to write in the future?

Okay, so I tend to focus on the big-brother-and-adorable-little-sibling trope… a lot. XD I’d like to try the big sister trope, and the twins/nearly-the-same-age-and-best-pals big siblings + a bunch of little siblings trope soon too. 

12. Which of your own sibling groups would you love to join?

The Randalls, hands down! 😀 Orlando, Geraldo, Jay, Meito… they make a great group. 😀

13. If you could adopt only one of your fictional siblings as your own sibling, who would it be?

Orlando….!!!! <3333

14. What fictional character most reminds you of yourself as a sibling?

Ahem… probably… Nathan from Broken. Crossed with Jay. XD And throw in James Erikson, too… XD 

And I tag…

-Hannah!

-Kate!

-Libby!

The Questions:

1. Name the most annoying sibling character in any of your stories (either annoying to you as the author or to any other characters).
2. Name the most caring sibling character in any of your stories.
3. Name the most entertaining sibling character in any of your stories.
4. Name a sibling character who was inspired in some way by an actual sibling.
5. Name the largest character family (talking family, not family tree) in any of your stories.
6. Provide one to three excerpts from your sibling characters’ dialog from any of your stories.
7. Name three published books which have an amazing portrayal of siblings or family.
8. Name another author’s character family that you wouldn’t mind jumping into.
9. Provide an excerpt of sibling drama or camaraderie from any title (though be sure to credit it)/
10. Name two characters from two unrelated books that you feel would make for great literary siblings (whether in terms of getting along, or being a constant head-to-head combat).
11. What sibling trope would you like to write in the future?
12. Which of your own sibling groups would you love to join?
13. If you could adopt only one of your fictional siblings as your own sibling, who would it be?
14. What fictional character most reminds you of yourself as a sibling?
15. Have you written any sibling dialogue based on a dialogue you had with your own siblings? If so, share it!