#Women in Fantasy Literature | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

silverystardustt · 1 year

Text

my life is one big unfinished diary entry

460 notes · View notes

apolline-lucy · 2 months

Note

Any tips for writing sapphic romance

I don’t think writing sapphic romance is much different from writing any kind of romance. Feelings are feelings, and human beings are human beings. We all experience love in very different ways, and yet it renders us crazy and desperate all the exact same.

I don’t write romance, but romantic fantasy; the nuance is that rather than having the plot gravitate around a relationship, the relationship supports my plot (usually a magical adventure of sorts). And whether i write wlw, mlm, or else, I don’t change my formula. I make every character unique and imperfect, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.

What I like is putting them in uncomfortable situations (aka hell) and then watching them suffer, really. I put together people that originally don’t belong together + forced proximity + having them face their fears + having them help & rely on one another + slow burn + making them actually get to know one another + making them doubt and cry and get real with their emotions and feelings + having their beliefs being ripped apart, twice, because betrayals + pain pain pain

Too often, I read romances that start with a physical attraction and never elaborate much deeper. Attraction is great for just dating, it’s great for erotica, but if you want a much stronger story and a relationship to seem believable, they have to go through rough patches, they have to test their limits and see the worst of each other. No one’s perfect. That’s cliche, but that’s true. Your characters can’t (and shouldn’t) be perfect either—that’s boring and no reader will identify with them. Us readers are like our characters, we want someone who will keep on loving us when we’re bleeding and screaming and hurting and making mistakes (deadly or else).

That being said, writing sapphic literature, and not necessarily romance, allows me to get more chances to explore some topics that are important to me: feminism, feminine rage, women’s sexuality, inclusiveness, friendships between women, trans women, women of colour, women being women, women supporting women, etc.

These can all be written into non-sapphic stories, of course, but the more you make space for women into your pages, the more characters are women, the more voices you give them. And us women have so many things to say.

When people ask me why I choose to write sapphic stories, here’s my answer: I simply love writing about women because women can be anyone and everything, and that’s enough for me.

Hope this helps🖤✨

49 notes · View notes

elenagoeslightly · 10 months

Text

ok this is not exactly a rant but i've been thinking, as someone who writes, about the way that we female authors present our female characters because in the vast majority of the books I've read, they are mostly the means to an end and the end is a man.

like literally so many female characters have their own growth thrown to the wind and for what? to put a ring on it?

maybe is just not appealing to me as a reader but why can't growth and love coexist? why can't a power angry woman be loved when men are idolized through every shitty and downright abusive and toxic behavior known on god's green earth?

i want my cruel and vindictive and unhinged women to be loved like they hang the moon in the sky for the vile and cruel creatures that they are why do women need to be bite sized or worst need to be punished even if their cruelty is basically a survival instinct while the man can be everything they want regardless of why and how the math isn't mathing

#look this makes me angry #women in literature #we aren't talking the gone girl kinda evil we are talking of women's nature outside of mens shitty behaviors #books #jude duarte #yes it's kinda about her my baby could have been the most powerful being ever but nope look that part doesn't make an ounce of sense #nyx triskelion #cruel babe who doesn't have 1 problem in being cruel #torture him babe who cares #the cruel prince #cruel beauty #fantasy books #Katherine pierce #i will never watch tvd in its entirety bc of reasons but she is my babe #buffy summers #especially in the last that bunch of ungrateful fucks #look i want to talk about books bc words literally saved my ass since the down of day but i also want to be real about it

52 notes · View notes

hadesoftheladies · 11 months

Text

So I’ve been working on an epic fantasy series for the past four years, and this JK Rowling thing has honestly made it real for me.

I’m trying to break into a male/white-dominated genre as a black, feminist woman. Whatever few advantages I do have (my voice, perspective and style being unique as an East African for example, or getting special spotlight from liberals who want to “celebrate poc authors” just because they’re poc) are thrown into complete uncertainty because of my beliefs.

For one, I’m a radical feminist. So I’ve already pissed off white liberals and white conservatives, which, let’s be honest, are the largest contributors and consumers to and in the fantasy sphere. Looking at what’s happening to Rowling and even Chimamamanda, I have no confidence people will be normal about my beliefs. For example, everytime I criticize gender, even online, white liberals accuse me of being pro-colonialism and imperialism, despite me literally growing up in a neocolonial state, having a national independence the same age as my dad, and having grandmothers and grandfathers who were slaves, and the children of people thrown into concentration camps. I’m talked over by white liberals and the moment they can successfully label me a terf, I’m successfully censored as a small artist and critic of oppressive systems. They are so willing to put down pocs that don’t agree with every little thought because their anti-racism has been solely performative.

And I am a feminist, which is high on the list of “most likely to piss off white man.” The increase of anti-woman propaganda, the increase of violence in that propaganda, the virtual and social “witch-hunting and burning”, the insane vitriol spewing from the mouths of men who only wanted a socially acceptable target to spill all their hate on: Brie Larson, Amber Heard, Joanne Rowling, and all sorts of female artists and professionals.

And what about my gay/lesbian/bisexual/transsexual characters and complex egalitarian/matriarchal societies? My books would be banned by my own government to the jubilation and relief of its majority Christian and Muslim population. In East Africa, homophobia is on the up and up. So what I’m looking at is virtually no support.

Unless I keep quiet about everything I believe about the world and myself. But how do you do that? How do you tell yourself “I’ll set aside the very urgent activism that needs to be done for the sake of profit?” How do you feign silence on the oppressed communities and the mistreatment of their humanity? For profit? It would be like cutting off my arm.

But I can’t not make my art. And I can’t not give it. And I can’t not live my life according to what I believe. I am passionate about justice and social change as I am passionate about my craft. How can I give either of them up?

Anyway, I’m gonna do it. Of course. Sales be damned. I doubt I’ll go with a pseudonym, because my books are mine, and my ethnic name is a rarity and victory in itself in the genre. I can’t give that up. I’ll have to be strategic but I have to live my life independent of the world’s regression. How else am I supposed to create a sanctuary for myself and other’s like me? I cannot wait for oppressors to grow a conscience.

Nevertheless, I’m gonna have a lot of banned books and in just my 20s! The amount of censorship will render me a literature outlaw all over the world! :)))) If I ever get a Wikipedia page, it’s going to be hella exciting and one helluva cautionary tale.

55 notes · View notes

lunasbookshelf4 · 4 months

Text

Does anyone have recommendations for classics that are worth the read?

#books and literature #literature #books and reading #books #classics #little women #jane austen #classic literature #ya books #dark academia books #fantasy books #romance books #booksbooksbooks #bookworm

11 notes · View notes

knyyghts · 1 month

Text

“A Lady poseth in the dress of her husband, Knight.”

From “Knights and His Ladies: A Study” by Samuel Berkshire, 1978

#knights #anglo-saxon #mediæval literature #mediæval romance #mediæval fantasy #Simon Bisley #fantasy art #women in armour

7 notes · View notes

thegirlsarethriving · 1 month

Text

btw idk who needs to hear this but. it's okay to dislike that female character who was designed/written for the male gaze. it's okay to be uncomfortable, disappointed or upset. she's not even real. you're not a bad feminist or anything. you don't have to try to pretend like she's girlboss and isn't a projection of what that male writer thinks women should be. you don't have to defend her

7 notes · View notes

princess-of-thebes-1995 · 3 months

Text

i found the second sticker on pinterest. dm me if there is a copyright problem. The pinner did not say anything about sharing that pin. Fiction, fantasy etc saves lives. Keep living and look forward to the future. Keeps me sane from limits I cannot do in real life. That includes fanfics especially x reader fanfics. I live on for them

#literature #women literature #fiction #fantasy #x reader #fanfic #fanfiction #fan fiction #yandere #quotes #truth #true

9 notes · View notes

raniahlilithshahnaz · 6 months

Text

I'm just so tired of looking up at this lifeless ceiling and hearing all of you.

I'm so tired of your words, your questions.

How long must I pretend to have the answers?

When will the trees hide me in their burrow? When will the sky's tears reach down craving solace across my body once more?

For a woman that only seeks solitude in the arms of all that is honey-dewed fortress and winged-find,

the metal-walking caskets of people around me here seem determined on trying to force-feed me anything but.

Must I starve - if it means to avoid adapting to the tastes of poison?

Must I wither before the seasons let me leave?

I've never known winter to be people, to be a land, a time - until I woke up here.

- Raniah-Lilith Shahnaz (27/04/2022 journal excerpt)

19 notes · View notes

tygerland · 2 years

Text

1893; Aubrey Beardsley designs a series of illustrations for Oscar Wilde's play, Salome. (See notes for more details.)

156 notes · View notes

i-am-the-page-turner · 7 days

Text

"Akata Witch" by Nnedi Okorafor.

"Akata Witch" by Nnedi Okorafor is a captivating fantasy novel set in Nigeria. The story follows the journey of a young girl named Sunny Nwazue, who discovers she has magical abilities. Sunny is an albino, and she faces challenges and discrimination from her community. However, she finds solace and empowerment when she joins a group of fellow young witches and wizards. Together, they embark on a quest to stop a powerful and dangerous sorcerer who threatens their world. "Akata Witch" explores themes of identity, friendship, and the power of embracing one's unique abilities. Nnedi Okorafor's writing is rich with Nigerian culture and mythology, and she creates a vibrant and immersive world. The book is filled with adventure, magic, and a strong sense of community. If you enjoy fantasy stories with diverse characters and a fresh perspective, "Akata Witch" is definitely worth checking out!

3 notes · View notes

silverystardustt · 2 years

Text

my heart hangs heavy today,

weighing in my chest.

the inexplicable tears gathering in my eyes,

a reflection of the gloomy skies.

i know the source of this ache, this longing,

burning a hole in where it’s meant to be.

today, though, it’s weight feels unconquerable,

as if I’ll never get past it.

159 notes · View notes

grapecola · 1 year

Text

I wrote this story, Into The Vanquished Lands, because my co-teacher and I needed to model to our students the process of writing a fantasy story. Although this is aimed at 10-11 year olds, do stop by and give it a read. My co-teacher created the characters and contributed a couple of other ideas, like the name of the world. It ended up being 16 or 17 pages, but I’ve serialised it for my blog. Here’s part 1.

#danielle monique #australia #daniellemonique #western australia #aquariuswomen #aquarius♒#aquariuswoman #women writers #female writers #writers of the world #writers of tumblr #writer #writing community #Into The Vanquished Lands - Pt 1 #fantasy #childrens stories #childrens literature #blog #blog post

7 notes · View notes

thewritingcoconut · 1 year

Text

What I Learned: A Thousand Ships

What I Learned from A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes Women’s thoughts and roles in history and myth are way too often overlooked. War is a hell that doesn’t just harm those who are active combatants in it. A person can be both a victim and a perpetrator. Sometimes they’re both at once other times they take the role at different points in their life. Heroism isn’t just determined by those…

View On WordPress

#a thousand ships #book #fantasy #iliad #literature #mythology #natalie haynes #odyssey #trojan war #What I Learned #women

8 notes · View notes

valya-dudycz-lupescu · 8 months

Text

An update from one of our Ukrainian editors, Olha Brylova. She writes about her experiences as an interpreter at a training center where foreign instructors are teaching Ukrainian soldiers:

"I spent August in Kharkiv shouting at armed men. No kidding. I literally did that. I was an interpreter for a training center where foreign instructors taught Ukrainian soldiers how to enhance their chances of staying alive while causing more damage to the enemy. There were lots of soldiers, and very much noise, hence shouting. It changed slightly when I was transferred from the infantry group to the sappers. Sappers are a silent bunch. At least until the moment when it's time to blow something up. They also tend toward gallows humor. I think every Ukrainian has developed that sense of humor since February 2022, but sappers take it up to year 11."

You can read the rest of Olha's update on Kickstarter:

Дуже дякую! Слава Україні!

#Ukraine #EmbroideredWorlds #FantasticFiction #Stories #science fiction #fantasy #magic realism #UkrainianWriters #Ukrainian women #slava ukraini #horror #weird fiction #literature #ukrainian folklore #folklore #fiction #anthology #ukrainian stories

2 notes · View notes

raniahlilithshahnaz · 7 months

Text

My eyes betrayed me the most. It’s why I didn’t like holding my gaze even in one-on-one conversation with someone for too long. They’d tell you exactly what I mean - and why I needed you to listen. They’d make you listen. And in the face of those you are supposed to guise - tone down - in front of, sometimes being listened to is the most dangerous thing.

- Raniah-Lilith Shahnaz

18 notes · View notes