Monday Musings

Have you ever finished a series, be it book or television, and felt like your hollow inside? As if the story, the characters and their antics, filled a void?

I finished several stories this weekend (not written by me), and boy is today rough. Not all characters make it to the end of the story, so I'm usually still mourning their death for a few days, whenever I think about the story.

I'm sure I posted about it here before, but it warrants saying it again, all of my favorite characters die. All of them. Ok, yes, there are some that survive, but an unnatural percentage die. It got to the point I would say "I like so-and-so," and the next scene, they died. Sometimes I would go back and forth on my opinion on a character and I would end up liking them, only to have them die five minutes later.

A joke on the Talking Dead, the talk show after the Walking Dead, is that the moral compass on the show tends to die. I think that can be said about a lot of stories. In the first Avengers movie, was Coulson's death not used to rally the Avengers to action? In Pacific Rim, was Raleigh's brother Yancy's death not meant to stir something in him? (Nerdy references, but they were the ones that jumped out at me first that many people know of).

Death often propels a character into action. As in the cases above, we learn that not all death is permanent, but it's pretty safe to assume you won't see the character again. This finality is what forces a decision to be made to take action against the zombie invaders from the dark realm. It's a powerful tool to use, but it has to be done right.

Someone has to care about the character, be it the audience or the main character. This character should also be a turning point. Their death means there is no legitimate claim to the throne, or that now humanity's last hope is gone. Or, the character's death frees the MC - or antagonist- from what tied them to normalcy. Now, they are free to do as they please, and that will have consequences for someone.

Just some thoughts on a not so pleasant topic on a Monday. But, it's something to think about as I continue to mourn the loss of another beloved character.