You see, to a lot of authors, these are your babies, your children growing up before your eyes. To your readers, these characters are often growing up with them, maturing as they do and doing things throughout their lives which the reader can relate to. It's heartbreaking, but joyous at the same time, when you get to begin and end relationships your characters have. Why does this come up today, though, when I've focused more this week on what the effects characters have on their worlds?