The premise of my magic college novel is exactly like that kid
tw: self harm, drug use, parents fighting, animal dying, domestic violence, etc.
The idea is that the main character is born on a farmstead with a brother and a sister. He's homeschooled to speak the equivalent of Latin, an ancient dead language, and given a Latin name. His father never wants them to interact with the outside world and their parents argue bitterly about it. For example, MC wants to go see a play in town b/c he heard about it at the market, so he asks his mom. His mom begins to argue with the dad because he adamantly refuses to exchange any of their precious metals for currency. He feels that her wanton spending will send them into poverty and she feels that their lifestyle due to his frugality is poverty. One time the father catches the MC with a lewd poster from a manga so as punishment, MC has to slit a (chicken-equivalent)'s throat over the poster, gather wood for a bonfire, and burn in to ashes while the father chants in Latin. He has to read some ancient Latin philosophy about how saints are supposed to act for homework. The parent's arguing turns into a messy divorce where the mother tries to take the kids while the father is yelling, but MC is hiding in a closet too petrified to move. MC becomes bored & despondent and, like his father, has trouble coping. While his father uses drugs, the MC decides that slicing at his wrists silences the horrible feelings, including guilt for not going with his mother, for a while. When his father finds him in the act, he punches the MC which is the final straw so the MC decides to run away to go to magic college (where he has trouble affording tuition which sets the narrative in motion).
The the novel is supposed to be, at some level, a reminder to myself that running off to start a farm somewhere sounds good, doesn't work. It's also one of the greatest flaws with the manuscript because after revealing the backstory, I do absolutely nothing with the characters introduced in the backstory again. With the sequel taking place in a foreign continent, I doubt that he'd run into his siblings there.
The premise of my magic college novel is exactly like that kid
tw: self harm, drug use, parents fighting, animal dying, domestic violence, etc.
The idea is that the main character is born on a farmstead with a brother and a sister. He's homeschooled to speak the equivalent of Latin, an ancient dead language, and given a Latin name. His father never wants them to interact with the outside world and their parents argue bitterly about it. For example, MC wants to go see a play in town b/c he heard about it at the market, so he asks his mom. His mom begins to argue with the dad because he adamantly refuses to exchange any of their precious metals for currency. He feels that her wanton spending will send them into poverty and she feels that their lifestyle due to his frugality is poverty. One time the father catches the MC with a lewd poster from a manga so as punishment, MC has to slit a (chicken-equivalent)'s throat over the poster, gather wood for a bonfire, and burn in to ashes while the father chants in Latin. He has to read some ancient Latin philosophy about how saints are supposed to act for homework. The parent's arguing turns into a messy divorce where the mother tries to take the kids while the father is yelling, but MC is hiding in a closet too petrified to move. MC becomes bored & despondent and, like his father, has trouble coping. While his father uses drugs, the MC decides that slicing at his wrists silences the horrible feelings, including guilt for not going with his mother, for a while. When his father finds him in the act, he punches the MC which is the final straw so the MC decides to run away to go to magic college (where he has trouble affording tuition which sets the narrative in motion).
The the novel is supposed to be, at some level, a reminder to myself that running off to start a farm somewhere
sounds good, doesn't work. It's also one of the greatest flaws with the manuscript because after revealing the backstory, I do absolutely nothing with the characters introduced in the backstory again. With the sequel taking place in a foreign continent, I doubt that he'd run into his siblings there.