Exactly! I love it when an arrogant character gets knocked down a few pegs (which is prevalent in my writing lol, looking at you Darius, Samuel, Oberon, Oleander, Trix, Victor, and more-) and it gives the chance for flawed protagonists!
I love my flawed babies too! And yeah, it feels good when characters realize something new and learn more about the people around them
Alice started off being part of that trope. She thought she was the best around just because she read a stupid book and became super arrogant and self-centered, but her arc through book -1 really messed her up and gave her a sense of humility,
Honestly at this point actually having the phrase "I'm not like other x" written out in the book is an instant cringe from me unless it's later called out, subverted or parodied somehow
I'm so sick of the "I'm not like other X" tropes…
Same. Even though it's hardly stated outright, if a character so much implies that they're not like other people it's an immediate eye roll from me.
Especially when the character thinks they're not like other characters for something that's totally normal. Like when you have a girl who thinks she's special because she doesn't like to wear makeup. Lots of girls don't wear makeup, it doesn't make you special.
I use girls as an example because I find that it often is female characters who tend to be like this.
Theoretically speaking, no girl is "like other girls" - everyone is different.
This isnt a complaint, more like a question, but do u guys feel like the "dead mother trope" is overused? I don't mean the trope itself, but the fact that when there's a dead parent, its usually the mom.
Theoretically speaking, no girl is "like other girls" - everyone is different.
That's not a theory, but a fact!
This isnt a complaint, more like a question, but do u guys feel like the "dead mother trope" is overused? I don't mean the trope itself, but the fact that when there's a dead parent, its usually the mom.
Yep!
The dead mother trope is definitely overused. I remember watching a lot of movies and such as a younger child and thinking that my mom would die soon because of it lmao
Jeez.
Theoretically speaking, no girl is "like other girls" - everyone is different.
This isnt a complaint, more like a question, but do u guys feel like the "dead mother trope" is overused? I don't mean the trope itself, but the fact that when there's a dead parent, its usually the mom.
Is hella guilty
Let me think…
Sorace's mom and dad.
Zol's mom.
Karok's mom.
Daniella's mom.
Actually I'm going to say that's not too bad. Of course the first three are from the same universe but…
But wait. Yarri and Krisano wouldn't have parents either crap!
And technically there are a few others…
Bean: “I’m not like otHeR GiRLs, I listen to EMO MUSIC”
Me, hearing that exact same emo song on the radio for the 13th time that day: mmk
I have a lot of dead mothers, but that's because I have a lot of dead parents in general.
But in my realistic fiction I have more dead dads than dead mothers.
I have a dead mother
but also a dead dad to match
I only have missing parents, can't remember if there's any confirmed dead ones. I hav one tiny baby bean who got separated from their parents. They get reunited with their dad, but Narion's mother is never confirmed to be dead - should i bring her back? >.>
I think if you do, she's gotta be very important to the story
But like, not a la Evelyn Eaton, ya know? She was just…..ew
It's confirmed that Juniper and Wisteria are dead (Juniper via assassination, and Wisteria via suicide), Julia I might not kill off or have her run away instead. Most of the human characters in my fae story have dead parents because of the raids (aka the fae torching a ton of towns and villages and leaving behind a lot of orphans).
Huxley's mom is mentioned to have died giving birth to him because she was on a ship and didn't have proper medical care, and Nell and Joan's parents were killed by corrupt government agents, all of the other parents are just not really mentioned because they're not relevant.
Della's dead is dead and I'm trying to figure out what's up with Victor's mom (if she's dead, neglectful, or just trapped in a toxic relationship with his father).
(uuh, idk who dat is, enlighten me please)
So far, my goal is no full sets of dead parents. No one in Vera City has dead parents, in Spellbound there’s only parents who are jerk-butts, and same for the Death of Charlie Bell (those are the temp names for my stories lol)
Kijitaro’s parents get assassinated partway through the book but he doesn’t really care.
………I have many dead parents. Many
Freud may have something to say about that.
Lets see
WTC: rona's parents were killed in a genocide of her people. taran's mom is dead and his father the antagonist.
TTD: both ara's and baz's parents were killed by the antagonist
TOS: Sora's mom dies shortly after she was born, her dad shortly after she was conceived. Tenzo's mom died of an illness when he was a child, his dad gets murdered by the antag
TTK: the triplet's mom died when they were children, dad dies in war
TNU: praetor's are taken from their parents at 5 years old. Alias' parents are alive (<—hey look at that!!!). Tora's parents are dead. The twin's parents could be alive. Im not sure yet.
TM: Rhyece's parents are live!! Fen's are not.
TBT: Cleo's mom died in a car accident, her dad get's murdered by antag. Vian is immortal his parents jut kinda faded into the ether.
SS: no mention of parents soooo they could be alive.
OS: Liam's parents are alive. Helena's parents are alive. Tasha's parents are alive too! (WOOT)
MZ: Everyone's parents are dead.
KOT: Kian's mom is alive, his dad a fae lord so yes he's alive, but not in kian's life. Enyo's parents are hella dead.
D: Sol's parents are dead. Zana isn't human so she doesn't have parents. Tessa's parents are alive. The Twin's mom is alive, dad died in a raid. Dom's father is alive, mom was killed.
DS: Safe to say everyone's parents (accept Jensen's) are dead. But Marus was raised by his grandmama
CF: Everyone's parents are alive, but irrelevant. Except Kira's dad.
BTSATS: Suna's dad is alive, mom dead. Cole's mom is alive, dad dead. Rhea's parents are alive.
ATC: heh spoilers.
ACOS: Mina's mom is dead, dad is–well alive. Elias' parents are alive. The Squad all have parents.
Edit: I am very death happy apparently…
I only have one character with dead parents but that’s cause the character’s a ghost
Dom's father is alive,
?
I have a lot of characters I’ll admit that might be missing a parent or both, Freya had a mom and dad but one got sick and died and the other got taken by the government ‘temporarily’ for ‘questioning’
Nevihata’s biological father just wasn’t there, biological mother gave him up to give him a better life at least (so he doesn’t really count because both are alive, but they weren’t really there for his majority of life)
Versin’s mother dies from a monster that wiped out almost all of life in her home dimension
Zombie girl’s parents are long dead because she’s a zombie that died 100 something years ago and there’s no way they’d be alive now (so they were alive when she was around at least)
And then I just have some characters with no parents because they were either born in a test tube (figuratively sometimes) or their species just doesn’t do that, and if they don’t have that sort of concept in their culture. Generally when it’s the latter they have some sort of figure though that they look up to as their parent, (e.g. a god of some sorts which could be true)
So I’ve just tried to give my characters a figure of some sorts if their parents are dead. I’ve also tried to make less characters following that sort of trope.
My siblings Sinistra, Vryllost and Acigokon’s parent is dead because they ate them, it’s not that unusual considering their species at least though
I think it’s safe to say a few of us are guilty of this dead parent trope though lol