Unicorn F&$king For Dragon Fellators? Sign Me Up!
So, somebody decided to announce they hated romantasy – calling it ‘unicorn f$@king for dragon fellators.’
The furore happened on Threads and admittedly, I’m late to the party on this one. But within minutes of posting, I noticed romantasy fans rose up against the OP en masse. So, let’s put it under the microscope.
First things first, it’s obviously fine if this author – or even you! – don’t like romantasy. It’s not possible to enjoy all genres. Frankly, it would be a boring world if everyone liked the same things. (Hell, you can even share this dislike with the world via social media if you want).
However, the poster followed it up with this absolute masterpiece:
“The entire genre sounds absolutely f&$king [SLUR] and should be called Unicorn F$@king for Dragon Fellators.”
First of all, using a slur is obviously unacceptable. Seriously. (And no, I’m not sharing what it is, because f$@k that noise!).
Second of all, I cannot be the only person who read “Unicorn F&$king for Dragon Fellators” and immediately thought:
Well, now I kind of want to know what happens next!!
That’s A Hell Of A Pitch
Let’s be honest, here: publishing is f$@king hard. If you’ve written a book and queried it to agents and/or direct to publishers, you will undoubtedly know this first-hand.
Writers spend months trying to come up with the ‘perfect’ book. They will spend months, if not years, honing their craft. Then they will spend aeons on edits, then submissions. Not to mention building their online platforms.
Then someone in a fit of pique on Threads accidentally blurts out:
UNICORN F$@KING FOR DRAGON FELLATORS!
And suddenly half of BookTok is asking where to preorder it.
I don’t even know what the plot is … what its tropes are … whether it’s enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers or forbidden love or all of the above.
But I know there are unicorns. I know there are dragons. And apparently somebody is having a very eventful time.
Frankly, as a script editor working in film and TV, I’ve heard far worse elevator pitches!
The Curious Contempt For Women’s Reading Habits
What interests me more than the insult itself is how familiar the pattern feels. Whenever women become enthusiastic about something, a backlash usually follows.
It doesn’t matter what it is. It could be romance novels, boy bands, fan fiction, soap operas, BookTok or Taylor Swift. If women like it, apparently it’s fair game for non-stop criticism. Now it’s romantasy in the firing line.
The message is often some variation of: “Women like this thing, therefore it must be stupid.”
Look, I’m not saying there are no problematic things *ever* just because women like them. It just strikes me that what women like is denigrated as standard by society.
This is particularly fascinating to me because even self-proclaimed feminists will line up to stick the boot in. As if slagging off stuff women like will make them more ‘progressive’, somehow. (Spoiler alert: it does not!).
Don’t forget, nobody seems particularly concerned when men spend hundreds of hours discussing football transfers, military history, fantasy leagues, Warhammer lore or whether Batman could beat Superman in a fight.
Those hobbies are allowed to exist. Women’s interests, however, are frequently treated as evidence of ‘intellectual decline’.
The “Problematic” Olympics
Romantasy is currently going through what I call the Problematic Olympics.
Every week someone announces that a dragon rider, fae prince, vampire king or shadow daddy is morally unacceptable. Apparently, liking these things makes readers ‘garbage people’. Some even go so far as to say that depiction is endorsement … that is, such stories actively subjugate young women in particular.
Now, are some romantasy relationships unhealthy? Absolutely, 100%.
Do we see this conversation dominating other genres, though? Absolutely – as long as women like them!
Here’s the thing, though: most readers understand the difference between fantasy and reality perfectly well. (And those that don’t? They have waaaaaaaay more problems than can be solved by reading healthy relationships in fiction!).
Most readers are not reading about morally grey warriors because they want one breaking into their house.
They’re reading because fiction allows us to safely explore power, danger, desire and emotion.
That’s literally what stories are for. Again, for those at the back: depiction is NOT endorsement!!
In Defence Of Dragon Fellators
The funniest thing about this entire debate is that romantasy readers are not remotely embarrassed. If anything, the attempted insult from Threads has only strengthened our resolve.
People are entitled to read – and write! – whatever they want. Joy is NOT something we should apologise for.
If people want to read literary fiction, fantastic. If people want to read historical epics, wonderful. Or crime fiction, mystery or thriller … great, fill your boots.
But if people want to read 700 pages about dragons, unicorns, morally grey men and life-altering sexual tension? ALSO wonderful. How can it not be??
Stories exist to entertain us. They move us, provide us with escapism, make us feel less alone. There are worse ways to spend an evening than reading romantasy, for crying out loud.
Final Thoughts
The internet wanted to mock romantasy. Instead, it accidentally created what sounds suspiciously like a bestselling title.
And if someone out there is currently writing Unicorn F$@king For Dragon Fellators?
Please let me know when it releases, because I’ll be downloading it IMMEDIATELY.
Great post, Lucy.
As a man, I would say that combining a bit of hot romance with fantasy ideas is great. One of the issues with much fantasy is that it’s all about action and “performance” via fighting, overcoming, you name it. I have read a bit of the genre, and whilst all of it isn’t great, I can see the attractions. A very typical dilemma is the MC, female, with a huge challenge only for her to get entangled with some alpha male (it’s a bit Mills and Boon, IMHO, but so be it, since the main target audience are females, not us men) that both elicits a delightful will-they, won’t they situation and some hot sex, more or less explicit.
To be honest, what’s not to like? I guess the post you comment on takes issue with the pulp fiction side of things: it ain’t highbrow enough. Sure, but that’s not the point, is it? And given the numbr of such books out there, it sells. And in the final analysis, that’s what matters.
From my point of view, I like the fact that our plucky MC has feelings and is willing to express them physically, even if the road to fulfillment is rocky and takes her into dangerous waters. Great escapist stuff!!!