BDs, mangas, communauté !

ジョ　ジスック: UGH will delete later but I’m annoyed and have to vent.I’ve been...

sammeh:

jisuk:

the-jinx:

jisuk:

UGH will delete later but I’m annoyed and have to vent.

I’ve been seeing a lot of articles and videos about female characters lately and they always worry me because I’m very attached to my female characters and I hate thinking they might be “wrong” or “not good enough” based on certain formulas…

There are plenty of examples in the media (movies, stories, games etc.) which contain excellent, well rounded and interesting female characters, but don’t pass the Bechdel Test. But if you’re worried, I’m sure you can include some instances where two women interact without talking about a man.

I really love Karasu, and I like the variation in your female characters very much and I don’t think that any of them couldn’t exist in their own stories, without your male protagonist. I’m very interested to see the past behind Aki, and how she met and came to admire Sagiri, which naturally would pass the Bechdel Test as a plot line, I’m sure.

I particularly like that each of the women could have a story written just about them. Kana’s struggles as a young mother, in a relationship she never wanted, dealing with heartbreak. Chiyo’s past; how she came to love a human, and how she came to lose them. Sagiri; where is she now? How is she faring in the new temple? Has she taken more students?

I think you write women very well, so you haven’t really got much to worry about but as an amateur writer myself, I too worry about equal representation of gender, race, etc. so wanted to reassure you I think you’re doing a fantastic job!

Thank you for your thoughts, they were very helpful. Karasu does have many scenes where women talk to each other (about something other than men) but my problem is that the story is generally third person limited. I occasionally show things on the side, but most of the time Shichi is present in the scene. I heard that having a male present negates the “female conversation,” making it very difficult for me to meet every requirement in that test without forcing it.

I’m really glad to hear that you like the characters, though. It means a lot to me. Thanks again for your feedback!

You could try a chapter (or a few) from Chiyo’s or Aki’s perspective. You’ve already set the precedent for switching the narrator when flipping back to Sagiri, I don’t see why you couldn’t do it again?

Well, that was a flashback about Shichi’s past. In Fishbones I received criticism for straying from my set style of third person limited on occasion so I’m worried about doing it again. I fretted about the scene where Chiyo is thinking in the alley, as well as when Aki went for a walk. I was surprised no one called me on it. I don’t want people to think I’m being inconsistent. That said, it’s a good idea and would be fun to write so maybe I can get away with it?