(If you read this article when it was auto-published before 9pm on the 9th, oops! I forgot to finish it before I went camping. But it’s all finished now. Enjoy!)

For a long time, I’ve had some articles brewing. Ones where I talk about how breaking traditional folklore can ruin my immersion, or about how much the term “Enemies to Lovers” annoys me. I’ve struggled to make them into full articles that deeply articulate my thoughts enough to dedicate a whole post to them.

Recently, while starting a new book, something minor but frustrating came to mind while I was reading, and an idea was born: My Fantasy Pet Peeves.

The things that bother me enough to rant about, but usually not enough to DNF a book over. Now, I can share my thoughts without being overly repetitive or needing to go on an insane rant.

Let’s begin.

What is a Dragon?

There are some pet peeves that I somewhat agree with, but they don’t bother me as much. I know many people are super particular over the whole dragon versus wyvern versus drake thing. I understand where they come from, but in my opinion, dragon is a good umbrella term used as a catch-all for scaled, flying, fire-breathing beasts. I don’t mind when Game of Thrones or Skyrim calls their beasts dragons, even when they are technically wyverns. I think in media where the difference matters, it’s important. But typically, I’m not going to bat an eye.

I think a big part of the reason why I’m not super bothered is because there isn’t an official umbrella term for what all of these creatures are. They are kinds of dragons. If there was a proper name for what they are, I’d probably care more. So until that happens, I’m fine calling a wyvern a dragon from time to time. Sue me.

Wizards and Witches

Guys. Wizard and Witch are not gendered terms for the same thing. They are totally different things.

I blame J.K. Rowling.

A Witch, while typically a woman, is someone who gains most of their power through nature and ritual. The word witch comes from the word wiccian, to practice magic. Much of their power comes from communion with the moon, through plants and crystals, and other magical ephemera from the earth. Their magic is closely associated with pagan or Wiccan beliefs, and is often villainized or misrepresented, giving us the common wicked witch archetype. Since women are often treated the same way, it makes sense that witches are almost always women, but it’s not always the case. Regardless, witches and wizards still are not the same thing.

Stop treating them like they are, guys. The terms have nothing to do with gender, their basis for magic is totally different, and you just loose me entirely when you do it. Just use a gender neutral term like mage.

Fae Characteristics

I read a lot of books with fae! Like, so many! You should know this. You’ve likely heard of some of my pet peeves before, but I’m going to talk about them concretely here.

In one of my favorite books, An Enchantment of Ravens, folklore is used wonderfully. The fae cannot lie. They gain power over someone if they have their true name. Iron burns them. It’s wonderful. It gives them weaknesses and depth and makes them truly seem otherworldly. This is a wonderful example of how to utilize tradition. It’s part of why I love the book so much.

But I also don’t super mind if a book doesn’t have their fae follow every rule. It’s okay if they aren’t all tricksters. I don’t mind if the book doesn’t deal in true names. It’s okay if your book doesn’t talk about iron being a weakness. Design your fae how you want them to be. In my project Fae Marked, there isn’t a lot of discussion behind folklore like this. Lying and iron aren’t essential to the plot, so I don’t bring them up. My fae aren’t super traditional here.

What really bothers me is when fae are given their characteristics, only for them to be stripped away when convenient. It drives me crazy.

Do. Not. Give. Me. Truths. Rooted. In. Lore. Only. To. Contradict. Them. Later.

What does this look like?

ACOTAR is the biggest offender for this. Several times in that first book, Maas told us things, only to say ‘Just kidding!’ And fully break them. It made me lose my trust in her as an author, since nothing felt safe. I understand that a decent piece of reasoning is that Feyre wouldn’t be an expert on all things fae, but it still felt off to me. As a reader, I trusted that the fae couldn’t lie, since that’s a common piece of our real-world folklore. Same with Feyre believing they are weak to iron, when in this series, they are not. It just bothered me.

A similar thing happened in The Rose Bargain, where we spend the whole book believing that the fae must always speak the truth, just for it to be a little prank the fae pulled to gain the trust of the humans. And just like Ivy loses her trust in the fae, I too lost a bit of my trust in the book.

Maybe I’m just being nit-picky, but that’s the point of a pet peeve! I don’t like it! Its feels cheap! Either commit all the way (like Holly Black does in The Folk of the Air) or don’t include it at all! A twist is welcome, but not like this.

Enemies to Lovers

I don’t think most people have the right definition for ‘enemies’ when they talk about this trope. Enemies are people on two sides of a war. People who are fated against one another. Those whose beliefs are in opposition.

It is not two people who are snarky and initially distrusting of one another, only to discover that they’re actually the same.

When we do get to actual enemies to lovers stuff, it tends to make me uncomfortable. We see more power imbalances (usually with the men holding the upper hand). We see violence and threats actually be acted upon. We see toxic possessiveness and glorifying some truly heinous acts. True enemies to lovers is not really for me, which is why I’m so adamant on there being a distinction between rivals and enemies.

Token Queer Characters

I’ve talked at length about some specific books that really exemplified this pet peeve, but it can be a little hard to differentiate between good representation, and a throwaway queer character. So let’s try to gather my thoughts together through this section.

I think when queer characters are an inherit part of the world, it’s fine. Mentioning a man has a husband, without either character being important, is perfectly acceptable, because it treat queerness as a perfectly normal and valid thing. A character being confirmed to be trans, without having whole plotlines devoted to expression and acceptance is great, if the book is presenting it naturally and without calling attention to it.

What bothers me is when a book just wants the LGBTQ tag. When a character is bisexual, but only has straight passing relationships (which I know is common in the real world, and deserves a whole discussion itself). When the queer characters are sidelined, included very little, and feel like their identity matters very little. When a characters queerness can be erased, and the character/plot would be largely the same.

There’s a fine line between casual representation and pandering, which can be hard to determine! In the linked article above, I wrote the following on how to avoid queerness being trivialized, which I think still stands:

• Make the character well rounded, and ensure that being queer isn’t the only part of their personality. If it’s a main character, their identity should serve the story more than being a tiny fun factoid. Incorporate it into the world and their lives.
• Make sure that their identity is something crucial to their character or the plot. This way, it doesn’t feel like a label slapped on last minute to get that “LGBTQ+” tag on Goodreads.
• Remember that being queer is more than just about sexuality. Gender expression is important representation, too.
• Gender expression and sexuality is a spectrum, and no two queer people are alike. Make sure that this is true for your characters, who may fall anywhere on the spectrum.
• Lastly, if your fantasy settings are going to feature outright persecution and prejudice against queer people, be careful. The world we live in now is already hard enough for many LGBTQ+ individuals, many of whom read fantasy as a way to escape their struggles. For an outlet to suddenly turn into a mirror of their worst fears, it can be startling and uncomfortable to read through.

I hope this all makes sense. Obviously it’s a complicated topic and a fine line to navigate. And if you’re looking for some good books that feature queerness, I have a list here that you can check out.

Poor Race Analogies

Do you ever read a book and think, “Wow, what a poorly veiled critique for IRL racism”? Because I have!

Like queerness, this can be a complicated topic, and there is only so much I can say as a white person. But I sure can tell when a fantasy world does something they maybe shouldn’t when it comes to race.

What comes to mind first for me is the Dungeons and Dragons world, which has done a lot over the years to clean up some of the ‘messier’ parts of the world. Like how many of the races with darker skin (dark elves, deep gnomes, grey dwarves, and orcs) used to be primarily ‘evil’ races to play as. This old lore has been adjusted to be less black and white, but the old roots are still there. Anytime you deal with fantasy races, you have to question why they are perceived as they are.

Racism is going to exist in settings where there are different races, and it can be done well. Elves and dwarves, for example, usually have centuries of feuding between their peoples, and typically comes down to a lifestyle/perspective difference that has turned into racism. But when it’s a direct analogue for real world issues, it can feel, once again, pandering.

There are some obvious examples of IRL racism spreading into fantasy worlds, such as Harry Potter. Within the series, there are many arguments that can made about the inclusion of racist stereotypes, such as with the Gringotts goblins. The goblins run the banks and much of the finances of the wizarding world, and are described as short, having hooked noses, and a greedy nature. many people have pointed out the similarities to Jewish stereotypes. It’s a little hard to ignore when you notice it, and it’s hard to tell if this was intentional or not. Is this simply a way to describe goblins, who happen to be bankers? Or is it rooted in something real? Who’s to say.

And it’s not just Harry Potter that has some controversial potential racism. Lots of older media franchises see plot lines or characters that have aged poorly. Star Wars and Star Trek also have some antisemitic portrayals. There is a long history of caricatures and stereotypes in media that we may not even be aware of.

I think that’s enough for now, but I could go on. It can be hard to read books that have heavy comparisons to the real world, since often times, we read for the escapism. And again, there is only so much I can personally speak on as a non-marginalized person, but I feel it’s important still to have these discussions and to practice media literacy.

---

I was going to do a few more pet peeves, but I think I’ll save that for a part two! I’ve already blabbed on long enough. Some of these may be common or nitpicky, but luckily there’s no such thing as the pet peeve police. Hopefully some of you agree with me, and if I’m talking to an audience of no one, that’s okay, too! That’s the beauty of having an opinion. Sometimes, it’s just for me.

---

This content was written and created by a human, without the use of any artificial intelligence tools. The authors do not authorize this article’s usage in training AI tools. We proudly support the original works of creators and individuals over technology that steals and manipulates original content without consent of creators.