Characters having families
May. 18th, 2020 01:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI was thinking about how female characters get defined as Mothers, to the point where that's their name, whole big stories where someone only gets called Mum.
And that is annoying, flat, cliche, bad stereotype writing.
But a lot of the memes on tumblr about more interesting versions of F&SF tropes kind of add up to: what if Mom, but Personality.
Like, there are a lot of ways to parent. So you'll see meme about orc parenting and hobbit parents and elf parents. Ways to make any race more interesting: make them, by at least one definition, good parents.
A lot of the time though that's like the cat finds kittens stories, like, find spare child? Adopt them! Good parent now!
... Witcher and The Mandalorian are, according to tumblr, much very about this.
That's dads though. Is it de cliched only by making it dads? I'm making a face like blech right now.
Is it because adoption is optional?
Like, I get annoyed when people say Rupert Giles is Buffy's father figure, and then call him a bad dad. He's a librarian martial arts teacher, he teaches her, she grows up, he leaves. That's how teaching works. Eventually they graduate, become peers and maybe colleagues. Giles is allowed to go home. He isn't her dad.
Nut that's like if parents start from 100% and get marked down, but everyone else starts from 0 and gets credit.
Like Leonard Snart and the idea he pretty much raised Lisa. He's her brother, so it's all bonus points if he looked after her. If he was her dad, the thing where he was in and out of prison and unable to continuously look after her would count against him. Just like their actual dad. And also we dont know if he was any good at it, we just get this hint that he tried, and everyone likes that.
The bad way to write a mom is like a hugs and food dispenser. Like she might be a person but she's only in the story for mom functions. Like the lamp test but for pasta and warm jumpers.
Is the good way to write it to start with The Mom Friend, but, like, actually a mother? Everyone memes on who the Mom Friend is. They like that idea.
I guess I'm turning the ideas around because it's one thing to set out to write Strong Female Characters but if you only write the kicking sort of strong they're still not very character. Something having been written poorly a bazillion times doesnt mean you can just like nope out of a very common human experience. And we do value the kind of nurturing side of people, there's plenty of meme about that.
... I have been reading Teen Wolf fic again and the number of stories that seem to exist to have that one character make sure everyone is fed and warm and has the right knowledge for this weeks monster is like... a lot. We seem to crave these mutual support setups. Avengers Tower breakfasts. Tony Stark making everyone what they need. All of that.
But character pregnancies... I mean, I read and watch a lot of F&SF, but it is still screwed up that I'm having a real difficulty thinking of a wanted pregnancy... aha, Keiko O'Brien and the whole baby transfer situation. But I have no problem thinking of a dozen demonic alien parasite surprise babies. Which is messed up.
I'm thinking of several more now. Maybe it's because the oh yaay a baby stories are less dramatically presented?
And then the baby is only ever in the next room until they're school age, obviously.
... the exigencies of visual storytelling in a live action context have skewed what gets told, huh?
I mean, there's not a shortage of child actors in child centered stories, but more stories choose a demographic to center on and like, vaguely gesture at the fact other ages exist in the world.
... I am also bitter at how characters stop existing at a certain age. Some shows are better at that, but you know what I mean.
But like, actors want to retire too? So that's got to factor in.
ANYway
I want to play a character whose main motivation is Start A Family.
Which obviously includes goblin orphanages and adopting whatever doesnt stay still
but also
actual bio children.
Adventure timescales dont lend themselves well to this one, which is weird. Like, there are hardly any level 15 characters in the world, but when characters get to such a level, they probably did it in less than a year? That seems weird.
But adventurers make bank and can pay for the really fancy magic, so if someone has a few biological impediments to the whole family starting plan, they can budget iut how much the magic will cost to make that happen anyway, and then head out to get it.
And obviously end up getting a bit carried away as they go.
But like, suitable magic could make uterine replicators or other box that makes babies a regular thing in a fantasy universe.
Why do they never do that?
More ways to make a spider person than a regular baby person.
That would be cool though.
The only pathfinder fertility spell I can find is third party (cleric 3, can be potions). The herb pBloody Mandrake' mentions fertility but not as part of a useful rule. Fertility potions are mentioned in the main Gamemastery Guide as things that exist, but only in passing in the category of things where "You don’t need detailed rules for them because they don’t affect the world of adventure in which the characters operate."
And I'm like... boggled. In the realm of human actions there are a few most powerful driving forces, and this would be one of them. If there was a potion that guaranteed a baby then the whole of history eould be different. In Britain for certain sure.
... cure disease would also change everything, sometimes in relevant ways.
They do have a rule for contraceptive alchemical potion though. Calistria's Kindness, apparently. To be taken daily. 3gp a month. Kind of the opposite of this search tho.
Elixir of Sex Shift mentions pregnancy, cause then it wont work. 2250gp to find that out. Awkward.
Could check first with a Pharasmin using an Icon of the Midwife, which is a nifty sort of thing. 3500gp though, probably not common.
Spells to answer a yes or no question are a lot more common though, come to think.
... as you can tell, I wandered of to the Archive of Nethys to look for rules and suchlike. Not finding many. Oh well.
But, concept: adventure who is doing all this for their family, ie to have one. Make a nice place for them to live, put enough by to look after them, and get some healing magic involved, to get started.
In Golarion they'd probably worship Pharasma and save up for one of those icons, or study up on how to make them even.
Seems like a solid set of motivations.
Huh, wonder if Leadership type feats with Followers could include potential family, or family makers. They're certainly people who already game mechanically like you.
Maybe they could start as a Wizard archetype Instructor, so they have a student already. Be a look after and teach kind of person.
https://aonprd.com/ArchetypeDisplay.aspx?FixedName=Wizard%20Instructor
... am I reinventing a Giles? ... with the Restless dream sequence and the empty pushchair? ... maaaybe.
I mean, putting off having children until the restless undead problem is under control seems like a solid life choice, but then...
Oh, also Giles is an example of an older but relatively low level character, because a Bad happened so he stopped. He was claiming not to have done magic in season one. First casting, hah. But no, he just got shy.
I like having characters older than the randomly generated ages. I suppose I could just switch to playing longer lived races, but it's not just a calendar age thing, I am not a teenager.
Okay, story idea: middle age woman who gave up on magic once already dusts it off when she realises she missed her window yet does after all want a family. Gathers an adventuring group with an eye to persuading at least one of them they too wouldnt mind having children. Which puzzles at least some of the ladies in the group, but an elixir of sex shift could solve several difficulties at once, if it weren't so expensive...
(That wouldnt be a game character idea because other players. No rudes to players.)
Character who wants a family so much they adopt everyone in sight is a fair PC to play. ... funnier if they're not a support caster. Like if their primary work role is heavy artillery, they just also feel motherly.
... aaand I'm back to the Mandalorian and Witcher examples.
I watch too many the same sort of stories if all the storytelling keeps defaulting to fight sequences.
I mean if you really adopt EVERYthing then you're going to go around figuring out what they need and how to get it for them, not just fighting things.
You could still fight undead. Or put them to rest, that being what undead generally need.
There's a character in Rise of the Runelords who ends up worshipping the Mother of Monsters after a whole complex tragedy leading to miscarrying a monster baby.
But like, what if living monster baby? Then she's just being a good mom. Has monster baby, decides she is on monster baby's side now. Simples.
Actually I like that a lot better. I could use that instead of the stupid illogical patriarchy thing that the book has.
One of my favourite Tradewinds games has a character set out to find a cure for her children, who are cursed. So she's adventuring eith three children in tow. Baby on her back. And their curses give certain combat advantages if I remember correctly.
That is so much more fun the the creeptastic Rise of the Runelords sort where she was so beautiful everyone treated her really badly so she decided to be a monster instead.
I mean also a power move, but, everyone else has to be creepy first.
If the desired end result is worship mother of monsters, just have the mother of monsters bless her and her think it is in fact a blessing. Side with monsters. Become monster in solidarity, so as to better understand the monster offspring. No creeps anywhere.
... much less conflict and fewer reasons to attack the town, of course.
Oh well.
Stories, though. There's a lot of them in being a parent, and starting the story off with new minted teenagers every time just... does not explore that.
And that is annoying, flat, cliche, bad stereotype writing.
But a lot of the memes on tumblr about more interesting versions of F&SF tropes kind of add up to: what if Mom, but Personality.
Like, there are a lot of ways to parent. So you'll see meme about orc parenting and hobbit parents and elf parents. Ways to make any race more interesting: make them, by at least one definition, good parents.
A lot of the time though that's like the cat finds kittens stories, like, find spare child? Adopt them! Good parent now!
... Witcher and The Mandalorian are, according to tumblr, much very about this.
That's dads though. Is it de cliched only by making it dads? I'm making a face like blech right now.
Is it because adoption is optional?
Like, I get annoyed when people say Rupert Giles is Buffy's father figure, and then call him a bad dad. He's a librarian martial arts teacher, he teaches her, she grows up, he leaves. That's how teaching works. Eventually they graduate, become peers and maybe colleagues. Giles is allowed to go home. He isn't her dad.
Nut that's like if parents start from 100% and get marked down, but everyone else starts from 0 and gets credit.
Like Leonard Snart and the idea he pretty much raised Lisa. He's her brother, so it's all bonus points if he looked after her. If he was her dad, the thing where he was in and out of prison and unable to continuously look after her would count against him. Just like their actual dad. And also we dont know if he was any good at it, we just get this hint that he tried, and everyone likes that.
The bad way to write a mom is like a hugs and food dispenser. Like she might be a person but she's only in the story for mom functions. Like the lamp test but for pasta and warm jumpers.
Is the good way to write it to start with The Mom Friend, but, like, actually a mother? Everyone memes on who the Mom Friend is. They like that idea.
I guess I'm turning the ideas around because it's one thing to set out to write Strong Female Characters but if you only write the kicking sort of strong they're still not very character. Something having been written poorly a bazillion times doesnt mean you can just like nope out of a very common human experience. And we do value the kind of nurturing side of people, there's plenty of meme about that.
... I have been reading Teen Wolf fic again and the number of stories that seem to exist to have that one character make sure everyone is fed and warm and has the right knowledge for this weeks monster is like... a lot. We seem to crave these mutual support setups. Avengers Tower breakfasts. Tony Stark making everyone what they need. All of that.
But character pregnancies... I mean, I read and watch a lot of F&SF, but it is still screwed up that I'm having a real difficulty thinking of a wanted pregnancy... aha, Keiko O'Brien and the whole baby transfer situation. But I have no problem thinking of a dozen demonic alien parasite surprise babies. Which is messed up.
I'm thinking of several more now. Maybe it's because the oh yaay a baby stories are less dramatically presented?
And then the baby is only ever in the next room until they're school age, obviously.
... the exigencies of visual storytelling in a live action context have skewed what gets told, huh?
I mean, there's not a shortage of child actors in child centered stories, but more stories choose a demographic to center on and like, vaguely gesture at the fact other ages exist in the world.
... I am also bitter at how characters stop existing at a certain age. Some shows are better at that, but you know what I mean.
But like, actors want to retire too? So that's got to factor in.
ANYway
I want to play a character whose main motivation is Start A Family.
Which obviously includes goblin orphanages and adopting whatever doesnt stay still
but also
actual bio children.
Adventure timescales dont lend themselves well to this one, which is weird. Like, there are hardly any level 15 characters in the world, but when characters get to such a level, they probably did it in less than a year? That seems weird.
But adventurers make bank and can pay for the really fancy magic, so if someone has a few biological impediments to the whole family starting plan, they can budget iut how much the magic will cost to make that happen anyway, and then head out to get it.
And obviously end up getting a bit carried away as they go.
But like, suitable magic could make uterine replicators or other box that makes babies a regular thing in a fantasy universe.
Why do they never do that?
More ways to make a spider person than a regular baby person.
That would be cool though.
The only pathfinder fertility spell I can find is third party (cleric 3, can be potions). The herb pBloody Mandrake' mentions fertility but not as part of a useful rule. Fertility potions are mentioned in the main Gamemastery Guide as things that exist, but only in passing in the category of things where "You don’t need detailed rules for them because they don’t affect the world of adventure in which the characters operate."
And I'm like... boggled. In the realm of human actions there are a few most powerful driving forces, and this would be one of them. If there was a potion that guaranteed a baby then the whole of history eould be different. In Britain for certain sure.
... cure disease would also change everything, sometimes in relevant ways.
They do have a rule for contraceptive alchemical potion though. Calistria's Kindness, apparently. To be taken daily. 3gp a month. Kind of the opposite of this search tho.
Elixir of Sex Shift mentions pregnancy, cause then it wont work. 2250gp to find that out. Awkward.
Could check first with a Pharasmin using an Icon of the Midwife, which is a nifty sort of thing. 3500gp though, probably not common.
Spells to answer a yes or no question are a lot more common though, come to think.
... as you can tell, I wandered of to the Archive of Nethys to look for rules and suchlike. Not finding many. Oh well.
But, concept: adventure who is doing all this for their family, ie to have one. Make a nice place for them to live, put enough by to look after them, and get some healing magic involved, to get started.
In Golarion they'd probably worship Pharasma and save up for one of those icons, or study up on how to make them even.
Seems like a solid set of motivations.
Huh, wonder if Leadership type feats with Followers could include potential family, or family makers. They're certainly people who already game mechanically like you.
Maybe they could start as a Wizard archetype Instructor, so they have a student already. Be a look after and teach kind of person.
https://aonprd.com/ArchetypeDisplay.aspx?FixedName=Wizard%20Instructor
... am I reinventing a Giles? ... with the Restless dream sequence and the empty pushchair? ... maaaybe.
I mean, putting off having children until the restless undead problem is under control seems like a solid life choice, but then...
Oh, also Giles is an example of an older but relatively low level character, because a Bad happened so he stopped. He was claiming not to have done magic in season one. First casting, hah. But no, he just got shy.
I like having characters older than the randomly generated ages. I suppose I could just switch to playing longer lived races, but it's not just a calendar age thing, I am not a teenager.
Okay, story idea: middle age woman who gave up on magic once already dusts it off when she realises she missed her window yet does after all want a family. Gathers an adventuring group with an eye to persuading at least one of them they too wouldnt mind having children. Which puzzles at least some of the ladies in the group, but an elixir of sex shift could solve several difficulties at once, if it weren't so expensive...
(That wouldnt be a game character idea because other players. No rudes to players.)
Character who wants a family so much they adopt everyone in sight is a fair PC to play. ... funnier if they're not a support caster. Like if their primary work role is heavy artillery, they just also feel motherly.
... aaand I'm back to the Mandalorian and Witcher examples.
I watch too many the same sort of stories if all the storytelling keeps defaulting to fight sequences.
I mean if you really adopt EVERYthing then you're going to go around figuring out what they need and how to get it for them, not just fighting things.
You could still fight undead. Or put them to rest, that being what undead generally need.
There's a character in Rise of the Runelords who ends up worshipping the Mother of Monsters after a whole complex tragedy leading to miscarrying a monster baby.
But like, what if living monster baby? Then she's just being a good mom. Has monster baby, decides she is on monster baby's side now. Simples.
Actually I like that a lot better. I could use that instead of the stupid illogical patriarchy thing that the book has.
One of my favourite Tradewinds games has a character set out to find a cure for her children, who are cursed. So she's adventuring eith three children in tow. Baby on her back. And their curses give certain combat advantages if I remember correctly.
That is so much more fun the the creeptastic Rise of the Runelords sort where she was so beautiful everyone treated her really badly so she decided to be a monster instead.
I mean also a power move, but, everyone else has to be creepy first.
If the desired end result is worship mother of monsters, just have the mother of monsters bless her and her think it is in fact a blessing. Side with monsters. Become monster in solidarity, so as to better understand the monster offspring. No creeps anywhere.
... much less conflict and fewer reasons to attack the town, of course.
Oh well.
Stories, though. There's a lot of them in being a parent, and starting the story off with new minted teenagers every time just... does not explore that.