Having two mothers - terminology

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 18, 2007
Messages
38,197
Reaction score
4,544
Location
The End of the World
"Emma said that? What the hell did you do, main character, that made her so mad?"

IMO, having another character refer to your main character as "main character" sounds even clunkier than "birth mother". I would just use her name.









:e2moon:
 

JohnnyGottaKeyboard

Who let this guy in...?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 13, 2010
Messages
2,134
Reaction score
211
Location
On the rooftoop where he climbed when the laughter
Oh, oh, oh! I so seldom know things but I spent most of my adult life living with two lesbians and their son! If discussing them to an outside party he often just said "my mom" and didn't get more specific unless pressed. As in "My mom supports Bernie Sanders."

Between him and I, we usually called them Mama Reagan and Mama Colleen. When he was addressing them, they were both "mom" but apparently they were all able to decipher his meaning because, well, he was addressing that specific individual. If he got angry with them, they were definitely Colleen or Reagan. Until he became a teenager at which point, if he got angry, they were names I won't retread here.
IMO, having another character refer to your main character as "main character" sounds even clunkier than "birth mother". I would just use her name.
My roommates sometimes get upset when I address them as ancillary characters #1 and #2.
 

Simpson17866

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Messages
503
Reaction score
59
I was going to just say that in one of my short stories, the parents go by "Mom" and "Mum" because they're both hugh fans of Sherlock Holmes and think it's fun that the stay-at-home parent gets the American version while the homicide detective gets the British version...

But I was surprised that I didn't think of the grandfather connection before now :)

My roommates sometimes get upset when I address them as ancillary characters #1 and #2.
How do you know you're not the ancillary character?