Welcome to the Golden Trio AU 🍂!
Hey there!
I'm Lore, and I'm semi-new to the Our Life community. I've been popping in and out while playing Our Life: Beginnings & Always since the earliest demo release and haven't strayed since. However, Our Life: Now & Forever came during a time where I haven't been... the best.
So, when I stepped foot in Golden Grove, I got pretty attached to the newest kid in the cul-de-sac Desmond "Dez" Atwood who is one of the three protagonists, alongside Tamarack Baumann and Qiu Lin, of The Golden Trio series otherwise known as The Golden Days AU.
Let me tell you a little about them, with a bit of help from Desmond.
Desmond Atwood is the only child of Opal Atwood or Mama, as they called her, and the littler half of the terrific duo known as the Atwood Seconds!
When they were young, Desmond learned that adults didn't know everything. The doctors, and other people, who told them they were a girl all the time were definitely wrong.
They were only a girl sometimes, and people would have to call them by she or her, or they wouldn't say anything at all!
Other times, they were a boy and he or him was fine.
Other times, they were just Desmond, and they or them was just as good.
And everyone who called them by the name Mama gave them when they were born got a really stinky eye - and a talking to from Mama, which was never fun.
Their mama said they've always known just who they wanted to be, and she was learning new things about them everyday. Just like Desmond learned that Mama would always be on their side - whether it was in the cramped apartments and hotels they'd lived in for as long as Desmond could remember or when they moved to the brightly colored mountains and woods of Golden Grove.
Either way, as long as Mama was with them, anywhere could be home and fun because they were together.
Of course, that didn't mean Desmond couldn't go off exploring on their own! Whenever Mama turned her back, Desmond was off to the races, exploring every nook and cranny of their new home until she called them for food or needed help with cleaning. And when Mama shooed them out to play, they were more than happy to take her up on it.
Golden Grove was a new, mysterious place just waiting to be explored and Desmond Atwood was a bona fide detective! So how could they resist it when a paper airplane came out of nowhere with their name written on it?
Adventure was calling, and they would answer it everytime.
With all that being said, let me take over again for a bit. Desmond's a kid with a lot of spunk who grew up in environments where all they had to rely on was their mother and their wits. When it comes to making friends, they try to be as honest as possible and keep their listening ears open. Because of that, they usually can tell when someone is telling a lie or if things aren't exactly how they're supposed to be.
Their mother taught them to be open and accepting of others' opinions, but that doesn't mean they like everything someone has to say. Bullies are the absolute worse, and they can't stand shouting or arguments when people say mean things to be right.
No one wins when family is fighting, or at least that's what their Mama says. And that meant friends too!
When Desmond met Tamarack Baumann, she was a breath of fresh air! Finally, someone who got it on the first try that they were a girl sometimes and asked. It was easy to fall onto the same step as Tamarack and wiggle through the rules mischievously. Although, there were moments when Tamarack went a little too far and they couldn't be the same if they disagreed. But Desmond never wanted to be friends with Tamarack because they were the same - they weren't! There was only one Desmond, and one Tamarack, and they liked it just like that. They liked her just the way she was.
On the other hand, there was Qiu Lin, or Qiu-ulet as Desmond liked to call him. Qiu was really nice but he didn't seem to know how to take a thank you pretty well. When Desmond was little, the adults around them talked about being humble and grateful to the point where it made them feel icky. But Qiu always took thanks by brushing it off, or seeming so confident that it was coming that it never was a surprise. Yet, something seemed off about that. Qiu didn't seem to know what to do when someone tripped him up from what he wanted to do, or when they disagreed with him, and he always was looking out for everyone else. It made Desmond wonder what Qiu wanted at the end of the day.
As for Desmond, they liked to draw a lot and had plenty of pictures from the places they lived with their mama or ones they visited while moving around. And moving around was something they were used to because they had a really hard time staying still. They always had to be on the move, and outside was their favorite place to be. The wilderness was amazing and the newness of their surroundings wasn't scary at all.
When they were younger, they didn't have anything to fear and the future didn't frighten them at all.
But everyone grows up, and things change a little and sometimes not at all.
In Step 2, Desmond had grown into a self-assured demiboy.
Sometimes, he felt like a boy.
Other times, he just felt like Desmond.
He didn't see himself as sometimes a girl as much anymore, although those feelings were pondered on now and again. But with ninth grade looming and the exhilaration of finding out something new about himself - they couldn't wait to tell their friends! Everything was changing in Golden Grove, and he was reminded of what Tamarack said about things growing, changing, and dying.
Their feelings for their friends had definitely grown over the numerous seasons they'd spent together, but they couldn't help but notice how their friends had grown apart. Qiu would brush it off by saying it was nothing important, but they didn't think a lot of things were important these days aside from making sure everyone knew they went by they/them (which definitely was important) and being as mysterious as possible.
On the other hand, Tamarack had gotten quieter. Sometimes, Desmond would notice little glimpses of his best friend in her smiles that she'd still show him at least despite how much she hated her braces. But then she would become quieter, withdrawn, and her mind would go somewhere far away that Desmond worried he wouldn't be able to follow.
Another autumn was coming, and the two of them were changing. They were still his friends, and he was still theirs, but something was different. Mama reassured him that it was just what getting older did - and that she would always be there to talk, which Desmond knew because Mama was always there.
But they had a fear. An icky, creepy one that they'd never felt when they were little and the world was in the palm of their hand.
If they didn't catch up soon, Tamarack and Qiu might leave them behind altogether.