Lucky Girl - Completed

Haha yes we're very into Christmas here, I guess because it's so dark and so cold during the winter that we need to have something to look forward to. Christmas goes on forever! Most people don't go back to work until after new years, the party (drinking) keeps on going and going...

Thank you for noticing! They were fun to do but my GOD did they take a weirdly long time. It was all of the gradients, old apps were so detailed. Haha I know I've been there, I used to be such a stalker, I'd spend hours looking through profiles like a huge creep. Yeah! It's never happened to me really, so I can only imagine what it must be like. Someone once sent me candid photos of myself that were taken kind of.. affectionately?? But it's got to be another level to see that someone's put work and time into drawing you. It's there to really drive her confusion. She's like "He doesn't like me! I'm sure!" and then she gets confused all over again when she stumbles across the drawings. Jude is never that far from her mind.

Haha! Major props to people who can, 1. hold 3 or more full pints at once, and 2. carry four massive dinner plates in their arms. Wizards.

The sibling dynamic thing has come up a few times, and I suppose he was a violent brother, strictly speaking, but Kelly was also a violent sister to him. As a child my brothers gave me black eyes, split lips and broken fingers (all by mistake!!) So i guess the idea of Shane and Kelly being absolutely feral seems quite ordinary to me. I can't relate to a dynamic whereby your sibling is nice to you, seems like wishful thinking to me :lol: Anyway, I think Shane's dynamic with Evie is nice, he's a bit watchful of her, perhaps, and feeling a little bit too much responsibility towards her, but I don't think it's a bad thing for her to have that kind of energy around her at this point in her story. She could use a little bit of protecting.

I've tried to show Evie's inner fury a few times, like way back at the start when she was explaining her violent fantasies to Claire who was like "Um, what?". I felt it was only natural for the anger to seep out when she was drunk and vulnerable, and what more vulnerable time than this? It took a bit of provoking from Kelly, indeed, but she got there.

Thanks for your comment <3

Nah, not at all. But she hasn't allowed herself to process it either, she's just running and running from it at every turn. The truth of the situation has become so unclear to her now and she's convinced herself of all of these things that will make the situation hurt less, one of which is that she didn't miss out on romance with him because he didn't like her. In fact, he thought she was pathetic. I wanted these drawings to be in the chapter to catalyse this intense confusion about the stories she's told herself. If he didn't like her back, why did he draw her? It's proof that he was at least noticing or watching her, but not proof of his feelings. The expressions he captured on her face, was it just that he could see that she liked him and was flattered by her infatuation? She doens't know - and neither do any of you. (but i do hehe)

Her father is the worst role model, he taught her to use alcohol as a way to escape from problems, but it will only cause them for her. Maybe it's not rock bottom for sure, but it's not healthy, and the ways that she's using it are concerning for those around her, so that's a red flag.

Shane is a gem, he's always been a secret gem only Evie didn't see it because he was always on his worst behaviour around her and Kelly. From the beginning he was watching out for Evie in small ways, trying to stop her from drinking beers on the beach, not letting her have the joint that his friends were sharing, breaking up the fight in the rave tent and calmly ushering her outside while Jude flailed around uselessly. There's a soft side that Claire was able to see, and that's why she loves him.
Unfortunately Claire is a little ineffective, I can't imagine her getting involved in anything serious or heavy, she's a real head-in-the-clouds gal and maybe hasn't seen the warning signs in Evie and quickly as Shane has.
I have no immediate plans for Kelly's return, and perhaps Evie will let it die at this point. I'll have to see where the story takes me.

Thank you as always for your super thoughtful comment <3

Yes! I can't believe you've been to curracloe! (I mean, I can, but it's so funny that you could recognise the source of the inspiration.) The beach in the story is fictional, hence why I always call it "The Beach" and it's a blend between two County Wexford beaches. Curracloe, of course, for the surf shack and cafe/bar and Rosslare Strand for the holiday village & golfcourse, as well as the beach houses nestled in the dunes. I know both beaches very very well and feel very nostalgic for my teenhood whenever I visit them now that I live far away. There's a real magic in the South East that I've never found elsewhere, it feels like this glorious little pocket of sunshine.

The festival is directly based on Oxegen - if you’re older than I am you might remember it. Some of the bands the characters go and see are actually from the 2011 lineup. I cannot remember if Oxegen was in Laois, but sure like, probably.