Courts of the Crane Clan

I have to say that while I do appreciate the sentiment of women being underrepresented/misrepresented in fiction, I am not a strong supporter of Gail Simones "Women in the refrigerator" theory. A protagonist needs a call to action and this often takes form in the loss of a loved one, regardless of sex. My central problem with the "fridge theory" is that it does not take into consideration male supporting characters who also die to further the story of the primary protagonist, and in doing so misses the point; the problem is not that female supporting characters lack agency, their job is to support the protagonist no matter their sex. The problem is a lack of female protagonists.

But as a caveat, if a woman is killed gratuitously or in a needlessly sexualized fashion, then by all means call the red flag.

Fortunately, this is L5R, probably the most female positive setting I have ever seen this side Buffy the vampire slayer. I personally do not see any issue in the way these women died. This may have been their only appearance, but I chalk that up to a severe lack of fictions until recently.

"male background characters die too" is not really a counterpoint to the argument though.

By the way, how often do male background characters serve a similar role to female protagonists, as a way of comparison? Wanna bet?

I'm pretty much fine with the trope of death pushing a character arc forward - male or female. Why? Cause it is realistic. When someone you love dies, you have to cope with the loss and grow as a person (or not and let it fester). Is it a bit overused, particularly in fiction? Sure, can't argue that.

But some of my favorite developments have occurred from the death of a supporting/main character. And the first one that comes to mind for me is Catelyn Stark after the death of her husband Ned. Lost Love is a disad in the RPG for a reason after all, and there were many great characters at Winter Court whose plots revolved around that (Chiwa, Souran, Taisho to name a few)

The Loss of a Loved One is a powerful trope. If you feel it is overused realize that L5R is a setting based on tightly held emotions and violent death.

Certain tropes are going to exist. The way they get used and the details of the story and character development dictate their worth.

Makoto's loss has layers and through stories, not just this bit, they are revealed.

If you see me doing this often, feel free to call shenanigans. For now, it's not a trend, it's a literary tool.

I finally read the clan letter. And the sudden change of tone from brotherly bragging to clan tragedy was so sad. I wish these letter were longer, to show even more of Makoto's and Daitsu's reactions and feelings. I can wait for details about the women, the babies and how Makoto is dealing with it.

For the "death female" discussion - yeah, it is used very often, but if it is functioning and advances the story to the right ways, then I will gladly tolerate it. We even have some great examples in history, like Richard II. after the death of queen Anne of Bohemia (Bohemia! Yay! ).