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princeofdoomTakumi is currently a black cat. Which ties into ideas of being bad luck or bringing misfortune to modern, especially Western, people who might interact with my work. However, especially if I'm working in the framework of a fictionalized, anachronistic past Japan, white* was actually the color associated most strongly with death and misfortune. And not just in Japan but also in cultures strongly influenced by China, so most of East Asia.
That said, being myself an American, it is likely that a lot of my work will be read in America and other English speaking countries if it becomes popular at all, and might get translated to a few different languages if I'm lucky. If it got really big, well I'll cross that bridge if and when I get to it, but not if I put the cart in front of the horses, to mix adages for a moment.
With that in mind, there's good reason to keep him a black cat, and good reasons to change him to a white cat. Unfortunately, I'm bad at making decisions, and while I need to work on being more decisive, has anyone had a similar choice for a character or story idea? And how DID you make your decision?
* especially alone or with black. Red and white were actually celebratory and I haven't found specific meanings for white and other colors specifically in Japan.
That said, being myself an American, it is likely that a lot of my work will be read in America and other English speaking countries if it becomes popular at all, and might get translated to a few different languages if I'm lucky. If it got really big, well I'll cross that bridge if and when I get to it, but not if I put the cart in front of the horses, to mix adages for a moment.
With that in mind, there's good reason to keep him a black cat, and good reasons to change him to a white cat. Unfortunately, I'm bad at making decisions, and while I need to work on being more decisive, has anyone had a similar choice for a character or story idea? And how DID you make your decision?
* especially alone or with black. Red and white were actually celebratory and I haven't found specific meanings for white and other colors specifically in Japan.
