We’ve all heard of the Madonna-Whore Complex. It’s a largely bastardised Freudian theory that claims men conceptualise women within two categories: the virginal Madonna, or the corrupted whore. While it has long sprouted wings and flown the nest of ...

Recently, a male fantasy author and I were discussing romantasy. Now, I know what you might be thinking but trust me—this isn’t quite as bleak as it sounds. The topic of discussion ended up being how he didn’t believe he could convincingly write a r...

Every time a fantasy heroine acquires extraordinary power, I brace myself. Not because I'm worried she’ll abuse it but because I’m waiting for the story to take it away.  Fantasy constantly promises women transcendence. Stories open with grand ...

The online bookish community has a US-centrism issue. This is not a new or insightful observation, by any means. You can discover these skewed demographics any time the subject of race, colonialism, and imperialism happens to catch fire on any disco...

I happened to stumble across this mini-essay regarding why femslash remains to be so unpopular in fandoms, and among fandom writers, and it hasn’t left my mind ever since I read it. I’ve been turning it over in my mind, ruminating over why so many o...

The "Shadow Daddy" has become one of the defining romantic archetypes of the BookTok era. But despite the recent popularity of the term, the character itself is anything but new. Long before readers were calling brooding magical men "Shadow Daddies,...

Every genre has its fantasy of the Superman. By 'Superman,' I don't simply mean the caped Kryptonian. I mean the archetype of the exceptional protagonist: the legendary detective, the brilliant inventor, the feared warrior, the chosen one, the perso...