A Wicked Woman

Gee, I don’t know how to research writing Characters of Color tastefully:

missturdle:

1.) It’s not hard to figure out what to do, there are plenty of resources.

People say you have to get it right, do your research, but … what else are you supposed to research? It’s not like people with more pigment in their skin have completely different personalities than those with less, any more than any individual. It’s frustrating when I can’t even figure out what the heck people are talking about.

Bam. Research step one done for you.


2.) Writing characters of color/minorities is a good thing.

I don’t like the notion that fantasy authors are under some kind of obligation to present ethnically diverse worlds. I’m English, and a fair sized part of English history consists of unwashed beardy white people in mead halls. If I’m inspired by my own history and cultural heritage, then that’s what I’m damn well going to write about. I’m not writing about some other culture just to appease the people who think there aren’t enough black characters in fantasy, or whatever. You want it, you write it. Nothing to do with me.

You’re wrong.


3.) Your all White Fantasy Land Didn’t Exist in Real Life:

…the rather medieval one has more diversity than real medieval Germany probably had […] In a world with medieval means of transport, it just doesn’t seem natural to me to mix dark-skinned people with blue-eyed blondes in one setting. I just try to give the people a colour that fits the place where they live.

You mean like the people from Africa and the Middle east who began to take over Southern Spain, as well as the Jews who were pretty well spread out throughout Europe, the Middle Easterners they would have met on the Crusades, and the incoming Mongol Hordes who spread to the very edges of Eastern Europe before the empire finally collapsed? Don’t forget that Turkey is right there, and the silk road would have gone from Song Dynasty China, through India, and ended in Turkey before moving further westwards into places like Germany. Also the attempts at the Franco-Mongol alliance would have been pretty interesting. (That’s about the 13th century - arguably smack dab in Middle Ages Europe and definite contact between France/Christian Europe and the Mongolian Empire.)

Unless you’re writing everything in the far reaches of Denmark or something, historically speaking, I call bullshit on people who have societies that are only all white ever, because it’s just inaccurate. Consider the relative closeness of Northern Africa to Spain, or Turkey to the rest of Europe, the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Crusades, Slavery existing in Europe, including England, the slave trade, imperialism, Pax Mongolica, The Silk Road, Jewish Diaspora, the Islamic Empire vs The Holy Roman Empire, Egypt, Algeria, China’s sailing across the world, The Maruyan/Gupta Empires of India, tea trades, Columbus sailing in hopes of finding China, etc, etc, etc.


4.) I mean I just don’t believe you anymore. It’s unrealistic. Seriously guys.

You’d think I’d just denied the holocaust or something. Get a grip. All I said was that I’m going to write about my own cultural experience and anyone who thinks I should do otherwise for the sake of political correctness can bugger off.

This isn’t even about being PC this is just not being wrong about everything.

good lord.

(via ifwemetupatmidnight)

Guys, please help me out. I need something to do.

Wanna tell me about yourself? Like, random fun facts. I can tell you a few of mine.

  • I am pigeon-toed, meaning my feet turn more inwards than outwards. If I want, I can actually walk with my feet turned completely towards one another. It’s disgusting.
  • I know Sign Language, as my parents are Deaf.
  • Hotels creep me out. Like, to the point where I am afraid of them.
  • I have never broken a bone, and have only sprained a wrist.
  • Which is an amazing feat considering I gave up milk around nine years old. (It’s so gross).
  • But y’know, I love dairy products.
  • My favorite ice cream is Superman ice cream. And if I want to be sophisticated, my favorite is Mint Chocolate Chip.
  • Speaking of desserts, I don’t like candy bars. I only like plain chocolate.
  • I also don’t like the crust on pies.
  • But I love heavy foods, especially from different cultures. (This is quickly turning into a foodie post).
  • OH MY GOD CHEESE. FRENCH CHEESE.
  • Um…I used to play the clarinet.
  • I mostly like to sing though, especially when I’m in my car.
  • Ask me if you want to know other interesting things. I’ve run out of ideas.

Last Post in Michigan

This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to, even on a grey and dreary day like today.

I love the sound of words, the feel of them, the flow of them. I love the challenge of finding just that perfect combination of words to describe a curl of the lip, a tilt of the chin, a change in the atmosphere. Done well, novel-writing can combine lyricism with practicality in a way that makes one think of grand tapestries, both functional and beautiful.

—Lauren Willig (via amandaonwriting)

So I know I have carpal tunnel, which flares up on occasion. But I also think I have a pinched nerve in my neck and my tailbone.

I should probably go see a doctor.

mosoli:

The reason Tumblr isn’t an anime is because all anime openings require someone to be running frantically but none of us even get up from our computers

(via benditlikebolin)

I think people are often quite unaware of their inner selves, their other selves, their imaginative selves, the selves that aren’t on show in the world. It’s something you grow out of from childhood onwards, losing possession of yourself, really. I think literature is one of the best ways back into that. You are hypnotized as soon as you get into a book that particularly works for you, whether it’s fiction or a poem. You find that your defenses drop, and as soon as that happens, an imaginative reality can take over because you are no longer censoring your own perceptions, your own awareness of the world.

—Jeanette Winterson, The Art of Fiction No. 150 (via bookmania)