Am I alone in this? When ever we find our lead has a distant relationship with their parents I want to throw an arm around the parents, point at their offspring and with watery eyes scream "but dat's yo bebe!" Bonus if my intervention alone solves all their issues. ^________^
Well, the “mostly absent but not dead or actively estranged parents” thing often isn’t about their relationship with the main character, but just a way for authors to clear the plot decks so the young characters can do things and go places without constantly getting (or worrying about getting) parental permission.
But yeah, when it’s actually a thing that matters, it’s sad.