Hello. I'm happy that you have found an interest in my book. I wanted to make a book with inclusive-looking characters. I was honestly bored of white fantasy characters. I mean, my favorite fantasy book series, ACOTAR by Sarah J Maas, is full of white characters with only one or two important black characters. Sometimes it seems like authors just want to meet their diversity quota and call it a day...because let's be honest, they do not like the Black/East Asian/South Asian/Hispanic/Native/Pacific-Islander look. They do not like the burden of respecting readers' identities and cultures. They only want the aesthetic of Asian and African culture and the beauty of "exotic-looking" characters (e.i. Tarquin from the ACOTAR series). If you're lucky, they'll put a hint of Native culture and call it witchcraft to make the story interesting.
My point is, I want to make characters who represent me. I want characters that look like me, and I'm sure other people want it too. I want a black character who is a beautiful love interest. I want her to be seen as a lovable character. Not a "magical negro", a "mammy", or "the supporting character". I want her to fight dragons, wear ballgowns, and whimsically spin in a field of flowers. I want her to have dating options without her race being brought up within the story. These are things I have never seen in the entertainment industry.
I want other ethnicities to be main characters, too. I want Indian love interests, Asian side characters, Hispanic antagonists...I want it all.
Over half of the characters in my story are POC. I hope to add other ethnicities. In order to do that, I would need to study the faces and phenotypes of other races so I can convert them into Artbreeder. If I never add anymore POC, then I hope to have the motivation to write more fantasy stories of more POC.
What I ask from my white audience, is to respect my character's looks and aesthetics. Do you have a disdain for how my characters look? Or is it because you are not used to seeing POC be the main characters? While my writing may not be the best in the world, do not criticize because of how my character looks.
The only way to normalize black people and POC into fantasy, contemporary, and sci-fi literary works, is by making black people and POC, main characters.
I hope I make other cultures proud that there is a book with characters that are of different shades and ethnicities. I hope to make the BIPOC community proud.
With love,
hiraethwings <3
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Blue
FantasíaIn the world of monarchs, Kings are great rulers and highly respected monarchs. Queens are commodities and figureheads who rule nothing. The forgotten Princess Glacia is the true heir to the Galaweian throne. After the assassination of her mother w...
