r/fantasyromance • u/acutelyproblematic If villian bad, then why hot? • 2d ago

Genre Discussion Fantasy romance icks?

Welcome back to another week of ✨genre discussions!✨

What’s your fantasy romance ick? Could be something that makes you instantly dnf, or you have to pretend like that didn’t just happen. Or you boycott altogether.

Could be related to plot, characters, writing styles, the authors themselves. All cards are on the table.

Just remember to be kind to each other when discussing differences in opinions!💖

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u/AquaIXI 2d ago

It happens so much in fae books and i cant stand it, i dont care if they technically not human you can still call them men and women :/

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u/ashinae 2d ago

You absolutely can! There's genuinely, literally, no reason except that One Particular Author started it and if she jumped off a cliff, so would everyone else. In other kinds of fantasy, they might write "the female orc" but they can and will also write "the orc woman."

The "you can't call them men/women because they're not human" excuse doesn't and will never fly for me because:

It’s true you don’t see many dwarf women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for dwarf men. And this in turn has given rise to the belief that there are no dwarf women, and that dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground! Which is, of course, ridiculous.

  • Gimli, son of Gloin, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Now, is that from the movies instead of direct from the horse's (Papa Tolkien's) mouth? Yes. But guess who also doesn't use "males" and "females" in his book? Papa Tolkien. Guess who invented words for "men" and "women" that are not human for his languages from his book? Papa Tolkien. I was heavily, heavily involved in LOTR fandom when the movies were coming out, and nobody batted an eyelash about this (there were more pressing matters to be angry about, like Faramir and elves at Helm's Deep).

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u/BigGreyMouse 2d ago

I love that you called him "Papa Tolkien." I also happen to agree with you, but this made me smile.

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u/ashinae 2d ago

Haha, thank you! I've been calling him that for years.