...

Alright, here's the last post of the blogathon, which is quite convenient because I'm running out of things to say. I got it tho. For that last post I'd like to talk about a common writing mistake people make, ie take "write strong women" as a literal request.

Let me explain: when folks say "please write strong women," they don't mean "write women who physically have a lot of power." They mean "write women who are given the same depth and importance in a story as the men." You can write your female character as a god of all creations, or a warrior who can bend steel with her bare hands, if these two sole character traits are "boy-crazy" or if they become useless a second a male character shows up, it's still gonna sting. To be clear I'm not making up a guy here these two exemples are naruto characters.

There is way more to a character than physical (or magical) power. The Tsukihime maids are far weaker than anyone else in the cast, but I don't think anyone will argue that they're still incredible and well-rounded characters. Not only is making a character weak not a sin, but there are valuable stories to be told from the base premise of "what if this character wasn't able to raze mountains with a smack of her hand actually."

The problem isn't women not being allowed to wield big fucking swords. The problem is women not been allowed to be people in fiction. They can be victims or caretakers or object of love or paragons of virtue but they can't be people. If you want to write a "strong female character," don't focus on superficial strength. Focus on whether or not you let her be a fully-fledged human being with her flaws and strength and ambitions and desires.

And thus ends the blogathon. I tried to talk about stuff that wasn't specific media, since I already do that for free everyday. If you can afford to, it would be very nice of you to donate some money to Pillowfort keep it running. If you do not have a pillowfort account, you can donate by making an account for 5usd. If you do have an account, you can donate through the donation tab. If you do not have a credit card, you can donate to my ko-fi and I will transfer that money to pillowfort on your behalf. If you cannot afford to donate but wish to see pillowfort for yourself, refer to this post for free invite keys. Either way, good day, and see you next time.