Social Justice
Worldbuilding
While the fantasy genre is rapidly growing beyond the limitations of medieval Europe, it is still historical almost by definition. Sometimes fantasy stories are literally set in our own world’s history, and sometimes they use history as inspiration. Either way, authors spend a lot of … read more »
Roleplaying
Most GMs understand their responsibility to facilitate a fun story for their players, but there’s another side of the job that isn’t so obvious. In addition to planning a great speech for the main villain, the GM must ensure that their players do not abuse … read more »
Analysis
Here on Mythcreants, we talk a lot about how bad stories could be improved, but good stories often leave room for improvement as well. That’s why Nick sent us this question. Have you considered doing an article along the lines of “X Changes that Would … read more »
Commentary
If you write ableist stories, you are contributing to the systemic oppression of people with disabilities or diseases. Of course, you probably don’t mean to make their lives worse, but good intentions won’t erase the damage your story does. It’s up to all of us to … read more »
Storytelling
Sometimes a trope starts off fine but is overused until it eventually becomes a cliche. That is not what we’re talking about today. Instead, we’ll focus on tropes that are bad to begin with but continue to be used for various reasons. These tropes will … read more »
Podcast
Aha! You’re listening to this podcast, just as we always knew you would from all the subtle queues we’ve been giving you. Don’t you feel manipulated? Good, because this week we’re finally answering a question from a listener and talking about how to portray manipulative … read more »
Podcast
We’ve all got our social justice axes to grind, and as we are joined by Fay for a third week, this is the time to get them out. We discuss several episodes of Star Trek that tried for a positive message but shot themselves in … read more »
Commentary
Storytelling has a long legacy of fighting for justice, and speculative fiction is no exception. Franchises like Star Trek and Discworld have challenged the way people think and demanded that society improve. When it feels like the path to justice has been lost, many storytellers fight back with their … read more »
Roleplaying
Blue Rose is a roleplaying game in the romantic-fantasy genre. What is romantic fantasy you ask? Blue Rose describes it as fantasy with a more optimistic and open-minded outlook than traditional high fantasy or sword and sorcery.* Relationships are very important in this subgenre, though … read more »
Podcast
Which better brings a character to life: the skilled performance of a master actor or the flowing words of an author’s quill? That’s the topic we brought Wes back a third time to discuss. While TV and films let us literally see what is happening … read more »
