Strong women
I’ve always been fascinated with archery. I have no idea why, and I am certainly not very good with a bow. So, I can’t say where this fascination originated. I first attempted archery as a freshman in high school during gym class—a class in which I may have accidentally shot my gym teacher in the butt. Well, I grazed his butt cheek to be more accurate. But honestly, my slight obsession with the sport started long before that. I mean, one of Syllé’s skills is archery and I’ve already acknowledged that her character was an idealized version of myself. Also, one of my main characters is a fiery haired human/elf from Helmfirth who is uncontestedly the best shot ever. I’m talking about my character Amarris
Amarris is a complicated character—independent, strong (physically and mentally), sharp-sighted, and looking for revenge. She’s the niece of Therendé’al, the Dréor king’s strongest and most powerful lieutenant and her mother’s assassin; so, Amarris has been waiting for the chance to get vengeance. However, she hasn’t focused her life on revenge. Instead, she’s lived it and reaped the benefits of a present and nurturing father. Her life has been hard but good and she has honed her archery skills to a level above all others. She is one of my favorite characters and not just because she is an archer but truly because of the incredibly strong woman that she is.
If you were interested in a visual of what she might look like in my mind google the iFit trainer Hannah Eden and add brilliant red hair. You see, when I was adapting my original fan fiction, it was 2020 and we were in the middle of the pandemic while I was in the beginning of my battle with breast cancer. Follow a year with three surgeries, Tamoxifen, and a bout of COVID, I was very out of shape and had gained quite a bit of weight; so, as soon as I was cleared and physically able, I started back working out. That’s how I first was exposed to Hannah. As soon as I saw her on that first workout, I realized I was looking at Amarris because Hannah isn’t some waif-thin, barbie proportion, ready to be blown away at the lightest puff of wind type of female. She’s strong, healthy, and solid. That’s how I always viewed Amarris; and when I first saw Hannah, she had flaming red hair, which was the distinguishing trademark of Amarris. Well, that and her insane ability to hit absolutely everything she aimed at, including the heart of a certain dwarf.
Amarris was already formed in my imagination and on paper before I ever found the iFit videos with Hannah. Those videos just helped solidify in my mind a real image of Amarris and the woman I saw her being. The type of woman I always wished had been in Tolkien’s works. The type of woman I created Syllé for myself to be within Tolkien’s world. Not a woman who needs to be saved constantly. You know, that damsel in distress trope that is abundantly annoying in how it continues to raise its nasty head in books, television, movies, and even real life. I don’t need to constantly be saved and it annoys me that because I am female, a lot of the world views I do. That doesn’t mean I never need help or don’t appreciate it when it’s offered. I certainly couldn’t have gotten to remission without help—doctors, surgeries, medication, of course, but most importantly, a phenomenal support system starting with my husband.
Needing help, I have learned, doesn’t mean you sacrifice your independence or are weak and can never stand on your own. It simply means that you aren’t a member of some superhero squad like the Avengers or the X-men. Seriously, even superheroes need help to survive. So, I’ll end with one of my favorite toasts: here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we raise them. May we be them.