What's with main characters and dead relatives?

[Ten]

Seems like main characters always have to have a dead parent or sibling, or the family is somehow incomplete or split up -- unless the whole plot is about the family, in which case the main character tends to be a parent. Maybe I'm just imagining this (after all, I haven't taken any statistics on the matter) but there don't seem to be many (minor age) main characters who live with both their living parents. Does having two parents get in the way of the plot somehow, inhibiting main characters to make their own decisions?

Of course, with plots that take place in school, it's a different matter, since the parents tend to be absent from there, but those can still fall prey to this idea. It might be that the writers don't want to develop yet another character, and juggling lots of characters in one scene is difficult. But I also think that families have a difficult dynamic to write about, when you don't rely on cliches.

Even if the MC is young (something like nine years old) the writer has to compile a detailed history of the family's life in order for conversations to be accurate, because when arguing or reminiscing they'd bring up little things from years ago, and the writer has to develop a family routine -- the mom's in charge of these things, and the dad's the one who always does these other things, and the siblings' fights are always started by that, and on the average Saturday the day always flows like such. That sort of thing. Because even in a disorganized, spontaneous family, there are patterns, much more so than there are with friends. And it's hard to come up with that stuff without just copying your own family.

Of course, writers become better writers in part by experiencing life and the world and getting more material to draw from, but I'm thinking that it's easier to create individual characters than it is to create families because, while we may have met many people in our lives and maybe even met many other families, it's hard to get lots of experience being members of lots of different families.

/rambleramble.

On a somewhat unrelated note, the phrase/word(?) "tl;dr" bugs me, but that's a different rant.

Also on a somewhat unrelated note, we (sister, mother, and I) went to the pumpkin patch last fall and Sister told me that I should get the white pumpkin, because it reminded her of me. When I asked her why that was, she replied (gach, now that I think about it, I'm surprised she didn't tell me "because you're so pale") that it's because I'm "simple". ...Simple? I don't think of myself as all too simple (it sounds like a word you'd use to describe a neanderthal or an protozoa) so I inquired further and got an answer like "just the way you walk, and how you act, and just I don't know."

I'm not sure if I walk like a neanderthal. Maybe. I'm sure not as graceful as I'd like. And I suppose I can be taciturn at times, and other times quite childlike and easy to please compared to her.

Therefore, I am simple, like a white pumpkin.

That line should be reason enough to read the whole thing if you haven't already.

[Cloud]

Well, I suppose she could have meant simple as in absence of color. White is simple because it's not made of any other color, and it's not very bright or showy. It's just itself.

[Ten]

"White is simple because it's not made of any other color,"
--
That's in pigments.
In light, it's the combination of all the colors.
But I see what you mean.


So what do you think about why or if there are these trends in fictional families?

[Cloud]

Well, it supplies angst. I guess it could also give the character an excuse to be more "mature" or on the flip side "rebellious".

[Ten]

Could be. But sometimes it's not even addressed much.

Also, check this out. luminous.elcenia.com/

Also x2, I want to see Rango when it comes out, even though I don't have very good reasons for that and the plot seems cliche from what I know of it.

Things that Rango has going for it:

1) It takes place in the desert.
2) There's an adorable opossum girl.
3) There's a mariachi band. And they're owls.
4) The opossum girl has an accent like Paije.
5) It's in the desert.
6) It might be funny.
7) The soundtrack music is cool.
8) It's in the desert.

[Cloud]

XD I want to see Rango too.

All those reasons, (all six of them) plus one of my mom's favorite actors is the voice of Rango, so. xD o.O I didn't know the plot might be cliche, though. Then again, I know very little of the plot besides the fact that Rango was on vacation and he got lost in the desert somehow.

Plus, there's the hawk and the thing that looks like a rock.

[Ten]

"the thing that looks like a rock" = horny toad?


This trailer shows some of the cliches. In particular with the hope~ thing. And evil snakes.

[Cloud]

True...gotta admit though, that snake has an AWESOME hat.

[Ten]

Didn't even notice the snake's hat.
Snakes don't wear hats.


So today my parents decided we'd head out of town to some barbecue joint. Seemed pretty random from my perspective (we never go to this place), but there was an explanation about Uncle Bob in California bugging them for having never eaten at Smitty's or something. Because it's supposed to be really good? I dunno. I don't much like beef or sausage. Unless it's in chili. Without beans. You only put beans in your chili if you're a yankee without access to any good beef. But I digress. The beef was okay -- better with the "hot sauce" they provided, which wasn't very hot (even by my standards, and I have a low heat tolerance) and tasted all vinegar-y like watered-down ketchup. But they had cheap ice cream. It made the trip worthwhile.


Also. Today's linguistic lesson: farm =/= ranch.
Correct: "I'm a cattle rancher."
Correct: "I'm a corn farmer."
Incorrect: "I'm a lettuce rancher."
There is at least one person in the world who has made this mistake; of that I am sure.


My dad likes to complain about things. When they put in a tower (cell tower?) near our house, he complained. So they planted some palm trees around it.

The palm trees died.

It's like, lolguys. This isn't Florida. Try planting cactus.

[Cloud]

...Ten I love your random anecdotes.

CACTUS. That makes me think of the cactus minions from Larklight.