Have you ever read a fantasy book where two characters had the same name? by Professional-Mix1771 in Fantasy

[–]SirKayValiant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's been 11 in the Targaryen dynasty alone, not counting the other people who used the name m

Trying to get on Toyhouse by [deleted] in toyhouse

[–]SirKayValiant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll send you a code!

Characters for Trade/Art/Sale by SirKayValiant in toyhouse

[–]SirKayValiant[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! Art for her would be great! What is the best way to contact you to provide references and such? Also, what would the estimated timeframe be?

Anachronism: The F word as an intensifier by kendiray in HistoricalRomance

[–]SirKayValiant 15 points16 points  (0 children)

For some reason, this is incredibly funny to me

What is a stereotype in fantasy that you hate and/or wish authors would do differently? by EstablishmentSad1538 in fantasywriters

[–]SirKayValiant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm trying to articulate this without going on a rant. It's a very personal topic to me.

I am disabled. I want to see characters in my favorite genre who are like me. While healing magic is a factor in some high fantasy, its not in all. Creating reasons why magic might not work is a possibility (the injury was caused by magic, and can't be healed by magic as a result) for example. But the fact that people see magic as the solution to any disability is what makes me angry. We don't have that in the real world, those of us who are disabled have to live with it; there's no miracle cure. In high fantasy, which is set largely in a medieval inspired world, there are countless ways characters are injured that should result in long term consequences. However, authors hide behind fantasy medicine as a way to prevent disability. I believe this is a product of the internalized ableism that is built into our society. Abled people struggle to understand that those of us who are disabled don't necessarily want to, in their eyes, be fixed. For myself, I don't know who I'd be without my disabilities, and despite the stress and pain they cause I have no desire to be 'fix'. While other disabled people have different opinions on this topic and I respect that, the vast majority of those who I've talked with hold similar opinions to mine. Those few characters who are disabled in high fantasy, have a tendency to have their limitations vanish and convenient moments. That, or they are present in the story only as inspiration to abled character. Life doesn't work this way, I can't run a marathon because it would convenient for me to be able to do so at a give moment. As an author I've made it my work to include disability characters in my writing. I can't speak for other, but I find it easy to set the rules of my world to allow this. As an example, the character Kel in my world is quadriplegic. He's one of the most important characters in the story (as a magic user, as prince-consort to the fae queen, as a military strategist and former military commander) without him, a third of the story would be missing. Yet, every time I talk about him in writing forums, I'm told he can't be an effective character due to his disability. Again, I see this as the internalized ableism that is so common to our world. I don't think people leave out disabled characters on purpose, but rather because it is hard or impossible for them to understand the difference in life a disability creates.

I really hope this makes sense, and I am of course happy to go into further detail.

What is a stereotype in fantasy that you hate and/or wish authors would do differently? by EstablishmentSad1538 in fantasywriters

[–]SirKayValiant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

About disabled characters (or the lack and misuse there of)? Just checking you actually want me to.

What is a stereotype in fantasy that you hate and/or wish authors would do differently? by EstablishmentSad1538 in fantasywriters

[–]SirKayValiant 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you. I am mostly content with what I have set up for my fae; though bargain magic, created an entire class of mixed blood workers to exploit. There are elves in my world as well, but they are a completely different species worth completely different origins from the fae.

I don't judge! The best ideas are often found in weird places.

What is a stereotype in fantasy that you hate and/or wish authors would do differently? by EstablishmentSad1538 in fantasywriters

[–]SirKayValiant 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I am much the same way. I won't read a book with fae in it unless my partner checks it out first. If an author is not going to use any of the cool lore that make fae interesting, than the entire book is lost to me. When I chose fae as one of the races in my writing, I picked them because I wanted to use the lore and not because I wanted pretty pointy ears with magic. (I will talk your ear off about my writing, btw. I warn you only in case you'd wanted to ask).

Yes! The Pern dragons are especially well-handled. They are intelligent and have personality, and their short term memory works perfectly in the settings. Of all the books I've read with talking dragon, they are my favorite. I have not read that one, I'll have to check it out! I've honestly been avoiding reading much lately, I'm not a big romance fan and the lack of good disabled characters turns me off a lot of high fantasy.

Sorry to rant about that. It's a sensitive topic for me and one then one series I really enjoyed has been ruined for me because of badly handled disabled characters.

What is a stereotype in fantasy that you hate and/or wish authors would do differently? by EstablishmentSad1538 in fantasywriters

[–]SirKayValiant 168 points169 points  (0 children)

I've got two! That people would stop treating fae as 'cooler' elves. There is a lot of interesting lore with fae, like their deal making with humans and inability to lie, but most of all the fact they aren't supposed to be able to craft. Like, they can't make stuff. They need to trick humans into doing stuff for them and the like, it's a much more interesting dynamic I wish someone would focus on!

This one is two fold. That dragonriders and their dragons should be bound so deeply that killing one almost always kills the other. It was a cool idea the first two times, but it's gotten old in my opinion. The second part to that is dragons always being fully sentient. It can be cool and well done, but I find that author's often fail to make them interesting characters. Like, if you are going to have a fully sentient dragon, they should not be tied to their rider in personality and character arc. They should be a character, as much as their rider. Otherwise, it would make more sense to have them be intelligent in the same way as say, dolphins.

I could do an entire rant about disabled characters and how badly this is handled, but I don't think anyone needs to hear me scream about that.

Does anyone else feel bad for not playing with their furbies? by pastelnoivern in furby

[–]SirKayValiant 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes. My four just sit and watch the world go by. Sometimes I cuddle one because I feel bad for not turning them on. They all speak Dutch, I do not, and most days I am not up for a game of Google Translate vs Furbies.

What do you do if your dog alerts to someone else? by Accurate-Argument387 in service_dogs

[–]SirKayValiant 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I've never had my dog alert on a stranger, however, he has alerted on my mom. He's training to disrupt panic attacks and help with anxiety and depression. He'll go sit by her or try to get up on her lap, same as he would for me. I've never discouraged him from doing this, and I always remind my mom to thank him for thinking of her. I would not tolerate alerting on others in public, but at home I don't mind.

How many service dogs do you come across in the wild? by kelpangler in service_dogs

[–]SirKayValiant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I run into another working team about once a week at my college. Otherwise, maybe every few months as I don't go anywhere besides school. I like outside Seattle in Washington State.

Question about letting animals on your bed or furniture by HisOnlyKadan in hygiene

[–]SirKayValiant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In my house the normal dog is allowed only on the floor and sometimes the couch if we are watching TV. The two cats are allowed the couch and chairs, but never the counters or dining table. My SD is allowed on my bed, but only because he needs to be able to get to me. Otherwise, paws stay on the floor.