| usedbooks | These three are more like props than characters and were created for two reasons. 1) To provide a more light-hearted story arc break between intense ones. And 2) To show more depth of the main cast. (Characters' reactions to kids and animals provide a lot of insight, imo) There have been a couple other "child props" in the story, but not recurring.
I actually have a hang-up in involving children in any serious danger. That's why the youngest main character is 17 (now 18) and often not included in the really bad stuff. I also don't like to include teenagers because they annoy me to death. They take trivial things too seriously and are so unbearably naive but completely oblivious to their naivete. (They think they know better than adults.) They are also so hung up with socializing and completely distracted by each other. If I included realistic teens, I would roll my eyes so much at my own writing, they would stick that way. -- Plus, when I was in high school, I often wrote about teenage characters -- horrifying Mary Sues. "Chosen ones" pushed by fate to save the world and/or strangely better than the adult professionals (as detectives or doctors or warriors). So, teenage characters give me post-traumatic stress disorder.[/rant]
Er, sorry. What was I saying? Oh yeah... Kids. I like kids (before they become teens, of course). They are interesting little people. However, I have not yet brought myself to do them fictitious harm. So, these three are relatively safe in the UB world. -Posted on Jun 11, 2009 |
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| User: JustNoPoint | | | Ah, that makes more sense ^^ Yeah, the school thing is hard to work around. It gives the characters such little freedom.
I had to think of a way out of the school zone myself for my teenage characters. Luckily I figured that a post war world would try to put teenagers into the working environment sooner and while in school to help aid progress and rebuilding society.
So I cheated and have the best of both worlds XD
Your characters are like me. Even when they try to hermit up drama finds them :P -Posted on Jun 13, 2009 | | User: usedbooks | | | Lol. I wasn't talking about mental, developmental, or even job "stability." I was just talking about life stages. Teens go through grade levels, so there are marked passages and that will change the story.
I'm the same person I was at 15 (only heavier and with much higher self esteem), and lately I've been a nomad with no stable home or job. But I consider myself in the general pool of "adults." My conventional concerns are those of an adult. (Instead of grades, learning to drive, parental rules, etc.) And those concerns could remain unchanged for decades. (Hence "stability") It isn't really an age thing, more a shared experiences thing. So instead of saying teens vs. adults, it's more of "working singles" rather than students or retired elders or parents. (In a non-modern-day setting, teens might be among these "working singles" rather than students.)
Now, I *could* write a story with students, but there would not be nearly as much age difference in the characters, the story wouldn't be in as long a time period, and there would be much different themes.
There was no question of ages in UB. The cornerstone of the story is that the characters were all major players in a *previous* drama. Older people can have more baggage. Divorcees with long rap sheets need a few years behind them. Seiko's age was specifically determined by Kaida's timeline. (She had to be prodigee in college but a child.) And Mike's age was determined by the year Kaida and Fudo entered the syndicate, because his father was Fudo's first victim. -Posted on Jun 13, 2009 | | User: JustNoPoint | | | My ":( XD" Was because my comic is "about teenage characters -- horrifying Mary Sues. "Chosen ones" pushed by fate to save the world."
haha
You must not know the same adults I do if you think they are more stable XD I know ppl in their 30s that are worse than most teens.
I may be biased about teenagers though as I know they can become pretty stable at a pretty early age.
I had decided on what kind of person I wanted to be in 10th grade and am still pretty close to that idea. Though most ppl tell me I am very unique in my views on most things and was always way too mature for my age =p
Now I look back and wish I wasn't so mature and had done a few things as a teen. But ah well.
Teenagers are interesting for me to write about because that's the time you really decide what kind of person you will be. Those years probably shape your future the most. I don't care much for characters that don't evolve. (even though I am probably one myself)
I don't worry about my teens growing up though. My story is so long that you actually SEE some grow up. The ones that don't die lol
For all I know I may be "jumping the shark" with the stories following the prologue heh. As long as I am making stories for me I doubt I'll be jumping the shark (at least in my mind) -Posted on Jun 13, 2009 | | User: usedbooks | | | I still have that story on my computer. -_- Actually, I like the writing style and dialogue. It's not so bad but the concept is mind-numbing.
Holy crap! I just found the dang thing. The villain race are called "the Sorrow." *Facepalm* -Posted on Jun 13, 2009 | | User: usedbooks | | | *Cough* I know I'm ageist. I had a horrible experience growing up. I guess some people enjoy high school, but God help you if you're an ugly girl who likes to read.
Actually, I think I like focusing on adult characters for a much less personal reason. Adults are chronologically stable, so when in a series of any sort, you can maintain a good plotline MUCH longer without risking the shark-jumping. Any series that includes kids or teens has to worry about them growing up. The difference between 10 and 15 years old will have a greater effect on a story and character dynamics than aging from 25 to 30. Any TV show I watched with kids in it was always a growing disappointment. (Cartoons don't suffer this restriction, of course, but I decided I wanted time to pass semi-realistically.)
Oh, but you have no idea... A multiply orphaned (first parents, then adopted parents -- oh, and brother, and social worker) girl named Terra who turns out to be prophesied princess who needs to take her reign to combat an evil race of interdimensional beings. is taken on a van-sized starship manned only by her, two other 15 year olds (a roommate and a boy whose family line protected her family line, and whose father Terra witnessed dying in an alley), and the cat she refused to leave behind on a journey to the edge of the universe. -Posted on Jun 13, 2009 | | User: JustNoPoint | | 5 | QUOTE:
about teenage characters -- horrifying Mary Sues. "Chosen ones" pushed by fate to save the world
XD
Teenagers are generally not so different from adults if you think about it. They just have not decided how they will act in regard to their surroundings, emotions, and hormones.
I would say at heart I am just as confused, naive, and oblivious as I was as a teen. I just chose to be more cynical, or be more serious, or whatever towards (x) events.
Where teens are still trying to figure out how they should mask their confusion. Should they stand up and defy more? Should they cower down more? It's tough as you get closer to entering the adult world. PPL have all these expectations and your fellow peers are the worst.
Gotta go, my ride from work is here. I may add more later. -Posted on Jun 13, 2009 |
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Jerry
Ms. Taney
Ricky & Brigit
Caroline
Carter
Tim
Tucker
Sean & Kylie
Violet
Eric
Celes
Misaki
Richard
Toyo
Ronnie
Emily, Jacob, & Jon
Luke
Hyacinth
Mina
Conrad
Mike Sr.
Pepper
Dozer
Jiro
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