"Real Lesbian" VN

[hazzard]

What I mean by the title is that I think it might be cool to make a visual novel which handles a romantic relationship between two women (has a female protagonist and gives the player an option of several women she could date) but rather than just being a standard love story that happens to feature two women, actually tells a story about a fully developed character, and possibly even delves into LGBT culture a bit (though obviously not in an exploitative or disrespectful way).

What I mean is, rather than "let's have two characters both be female because women kissing is hot," I want to make a visual novel that explores the life of a lesbian woman living in what is more or less the real world.

Maybe the first scene is her coming out to her parents, terrified of what they'll say. Tension building, and then... they're fine with it.

Just, her life as she comes to term with who she is, etc., possibly right after finishing high school or something.

It seems to me that most VNs where both the main character and the romantic prospects are female exist entirely as romantic/sexual fantasies.

For a more clear example, have a gay guy watch a yaoi anime and ask him if that's what his life is like.

[Obscura]

I like the idea! Well, yaoi is mostly made for women, as I've been told, and there is bara, drawn by men for men. As far as I know there is no "bara" equivalent for lesbians? Or maybe there is?

I would know I would looooove to play a yuri with a butch female--something I have yet to see on these forums, at least!

[hazzard]

I like the idea! Well, yaoi is mostly made for women, as I've been told, and there is bara, drawn by men for men. As far as I know there is no "bara" equivalent for lesbians? Or maybe there is?

I would know I would looooove to play a yuri with a butch female--something I have yet to see on these forums, at least!

Actually, I originally came up with the idea while thinking about how mainstream comic books have come a long way by accepting LGBT (well, LGB) characters into the ranks, but still just show those characters as "incidentally gay." You have Batwoman, the lipstick lesbian who no one would suspect was a lesbian if she didn't lock lips with women, etc. All the characters who aren't straight are, for the lack of a better word, and please ignore the connotations of the word, "normal." You never have any genderqueer characters, for example, because then they look out of the ordinary. And I can almost guarantee that the first mainstream comic character to be revealed as trans will be introduced after transitioning so as not to have to deal with the actual situation itself.

I understand that LGBT people are "just people" and it's only part of who they are, but for fear of stereotyping or making a character "the gay one" they sometimes go too far in the other direction and appear to be tacking on "by the way, s/he's gay" as a way of appeasing pro-LGBT fans.

[RVB]

This would be fun to play! As someone who is with a special lady-friend, hahaha, I think it would be an interesting project to see someone tackle! I would absolutely be ready to play it. And to see all the available women in the line up! 'A'

[Obscura]

Just to add, I think sexyyuri is attempting to address some of these themes in his "Coming Out" project, at least from what I could gather from a story excerpt he posted:

http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... =29&t=8552.

Actually, I originally came up with the idea while thinking about how mainstream comic books have come a long way by accepting LGBT (well, LGB) characters into the ranks, but still just show those characters as "incidentally gay." You have Batwoman, the lipstick lesbian who no one would suspect was a lesbian if she didn't lock lips with women, etc. All the characters who aren't straight are, for the lack of a better word, and please ignore the connotations of the word, "normal." You never have any genderqueer characters, for example, because then they look out of the ordinary. And I can almost guarantee that the first mainstream comic character to be revealed as trans will be introduced after transitioning so as not to have to deal with the actual situation itself.

I understand that LGBT people are "just people" and it's only part of who they are, but for fear of stereotyping or making a character "the gay one" they sometimes go too far in the other direction and appear to be tacking on "by the way, s/he's gay" as a way of appeasing pro-LGBT fans.

Interesting. I don't keep up with mainstream comic books, and I definitely don't read manga, so I have no idea how these issues have been addressed. But I welcome anything that serves as a break from the norm.

[FatUnicornGames]

From what I understand 'bara' is another type of fantasy than 'yaoi', one for men by men. It isn't really "real" storytelling either, more of a niche for getting your rocks off to. I could be mistaken but that is what I have seen from bara.

It would definitely be cool to see 'real' stories told about gay or lesbian couples in vn form. I'd say go for what you are inspired to do and go for it while you're inspired. You'll have an audience. If you aren't worried about it being commercial, just do it for you and the people who would want to read your story naturally.

Good luck!

[Sexy Yuri]

[quote="Obscura"]Just to add, I think sexyyuri is attempting to address some of these themes in his "Coming Out" project, at least from what I could gather from a story excerpt he posted:

http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... =29&t=8552./
quote]

Oh yeah I am. That is what I'm planning to do the whole time! Yeah, I kind of notice that the lesbian/yuri genre is kind of fanservicey if you may. Obscura is right about me attempting write a real lesbian story. Right now, after being rejected by a group I have kind put off working on the project. Please take a look and tell me what you think. If you want to give advice then I will always take them. :

Edit: I'm planning to make an all age yuri game for all. Just need to find people who want to help :3

[RVB]

The yuri manga I've seen are all the same: either they're just... pretty girls having sex (which is nice to look at but not exactly exciting to read), and then the same-ol'-same-ol' plot of, "OH NOOOOESSS I'm a girl and she is, oh don't touch me theeere" which... only leads to more pretty girls having sex, hahaha). At the moment, Revolutionary Girl Utena is arguably the most famous yuri story out there (and it has also BxG and BxB in it as well).

There is actually a really good yuri manga called "Girlfriends" that I read a few months ago, which is under appreciated and probably just lost in the fold of the shoujo and shounen manga out there! Of course, it takes place in high school, but the girls are very real, and it feels just like how I did when in high school, so I related to it very well. Plus, it was a very cute read. It was also pleasantly longer than I anticipated; most yuri's are one-shots but this was a good few chapters long.

http://www.mangareader.net/722/girl-friends.html

I would really look forward to any VN that has a good GxG story. I'll be keeping an eye out!

[hazzard]

Just to add, I think sexyyuri is attempting to address some of these themes in his "Coming Out" project, at least from what I could gather from a story excerpt he posted:

http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... =29&t=8552./
quote]

Oh yeah I am. That is what I'm planning to do the whole time! Yeah, I kind of notice that the lesbian/yuri genre is kind of fanservicey if you may. Obscura is right about me attempting write a real lesbian story. Right now, after being rejected by a group I have kind put off working on the project. Please take a look and tell me what you think. If you want to give advice then I will always take them. :

Edit: I'm planning to make an all age yuri game for all. Just need to find people who want to help :3

That's pretty awesome.

I was actually thinking of a... not all age game. But that's still awesome, and if there's any way I can help, let me know. Unfortunately, when I try to follow the link in your post, it says I'm not authorized to read that forum.

[Sexy Yuri]

Just to add, I think sexyyuri is attempting to address some of these themes in his "Coming Out" project, at least from what I could gather from a story excerpt he posted:

http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... =29&t=8552./
quote]

Oh yeah I am. That is what I'm planning to do the whole time! Yeah, I kind of notice that the lesbian/yuri genre is kind of fanservicey if you may. Obscura is right about me attempting write a real lesbian story. Right now, after being rejected by a group I have kind put off working on the project. Please take a look and tell me what you think. If you want to give advice then I will always take them. :

Edit: I'm planning to make an all age yuri game for all. Just need to find people who want to help :3

That's pretty awesome.

I was actually thinking of a... not all age game. But that's still awesome, and if there's any way I can help, let me know. Unfortunately, when I try to follow the link in your post, it says I'm not authorized to read that forum.

Oh you must be register that you are over 18. Coming out is 18+ and sure you can help do you have skype or we could use pm. I always looking for help :3 Maybe you could write a path for me.

[gekiganwing]

Creating a story about realistic lesbian characters is an admirable goal. Having said that, I recommend making sure your characters are interesting individuals. Think about who they are, and how they relate to each other. Also, decide whether this will a slice of life story, or whether there will be a general plot. If you want to include complex gameplay, be sure to say so.

Regarding other media that has compelling GLBT characters: I'm not all that familiar with Aoi Shiro. But from what I've read, it's a reasonably well-regarded visual novel with girl x girl relationships and no explicit content. The original site that hosted the full English patch seems to have died quietly, but you should be able to find a patch with a quick search or two.

One of the best translated comics I've read about lesbian characters is Sugar wa Otoshigoro. This series leans toward drama, but it's not too bleak. The author is a woman who tends to write series in men's comics magazines.

In one of my old favorite comics series, Elfquest, just about every elf character is implicitly bisexual. The series talks about a lot of heavy topics (including sexuality, war, racism, and environmentalism), but it has an overarching plot. So yeah, I think it's a pretty good example of a story which has GLBT characters mixed in with a lot of other content. The creators currently have all of their content available for reading on their official website.

And of course there's plenty of prose fiction with well-written lesbian characters. I'm sure someone can cite quite a few examples.

Oh you must be register that you are over 18.

This topic is addressed in the Accessing Let's Hentai Hentai sticky message. Be sure to read it if you want to access the adult sections of this forum.

[Hijiri]

From what I understand 'bara' is another type of fantasy than 'yaoi', one for men by men. It isn't really "real" storytelling either, more of a niche for getting your rocks off to. I could be mistaken but that is what I have seen from bara.

It really depends on the author. There are some bara artists that depict more-or-less realistic gay relationships (albeit with less-than-realistic men) while almost all true yaoi (As in, the one drawn by women and aimed at women) is essencially a heterosexual relationship, except the "woman" is now a very pretty man with a penis.

BoT: I actually would want to see a True Lesbian VN, if only because I'm actually sick of the constant "Girl on Girl is Hot and they have Lots of Hot Lesbian Sex"

[Auro-Cyanide]

While I'm all for people presenting all different types of relationships in a realistic and relateable manner, I am a bit iffy about the suggestion that one's sexuality is apparent in one's character. For some people it is and for some people it isn't. You can't tell someone's sexuality by looking at them, or even seeing how they act. While people of different sexualities may deal with different problems in life, which again depends on the differences in their own lives, I don't think it should be an independant part of it. Is there really any difference between a girl being afraid to come out to her parents and a girl afraid to tell her parents that she is in a relationship with a guy?

Again, I'm all for seeing relationships that actually acknowledge what's going on in them, what I would be very wary of defining characters by who they love. It doesn't work that way in real life, with the exception when people CHOOSE to define themselves by their sexuality or when other people do it for them (and that could be a very interesting characteristic in and of itself, just not one suited for everybody. It can also be dangerous when a society decides who you are for you).

[Sexy Yuri]

I would so want to see True lesbian story! Is anyone even making one of though? O.o;; Will someone please make one T.T

It's true that you can't tell someone sexuality by looks or how the act like.. Well, sometimes it's apparent but that just because they are defining one self.. There is not much of a different between girls afraid coming out with her parents or a girl tell her parent that she in relationship with a guy. Well, unless the parent are religious or something. They are about the same. P:

Agree with Auro on the being wary of defining characters by who they love.. They should be 3 dimensional or atleast very define atleast. ^^;; I would so hate when society define who I am.

[EroBotan]

There is actually a really good yuri manga called "Girlfriends" that I read a few months ago, which is under appreciated and probably just lost in the fold of the shoujo and shounen manga out there! Of course, it takes place in high school, but the girls are very real, and it feels just like how I did when in high school, so I related to it very well. Plus, it was a very cute read. It was also pleasantly longer than I anticipated; most yuri's are one-shots but this was a good few chapters long.

http://www.mangareader.net/722/girl-friends.html

I would really look forward to any VN that has a good GxG story. I'll be keeping an eye out!

If you want to read yuri manga, you should go to Dynasty Scans Lots of heartwarming stories ^^. I recommend Chatting at the Amber Teahouse, Aoi Hana, and all stuff by Otsu Hiyori