Don’t mistake a fictional sport for DEI and tokenism
The literature world brims with too much DEI and tokenism, so I took a flamethrower to it. But there’s one major caveat readers may call out.
I’m a sports writer by trade. And you’ll know that, in most books I write, I at least mention my good old fictional sport, thrashball. The Arcane Prophecy’s no different, even if I call it ‘box thrashball,’ played on a court, not a field, and with six people in play at any given time per team.
But I’m not here to list the game’s rules. Instead, I want to talk about something readers will find ultra confusing: Why, if TC Marti’s so against DEI, is thrashball co-ed?
The answer’s got nothing to do with tokenism or putting a certain number of boys and girls on the court. It was something I did unconsciously, starting with the first novel I’d ever written, Wind Wielder.
Don’t turn thrashball into DEI tokenism
Don’t think, for a single second, that I’m practicing tokenism in my work. It ain’t true, and I definitely wouldn’t opt for it since the DEI crowd’s a group I’d rather filter out.
Co-ed thrashball’s no different from my 2022 book, Liza Fury: Catch 22, where Liza enters a relationship with a girl named Kress Conway. I didn’t put those two together because I said, “I need a same-sex couple.” They’re together because they clicked and had ongoing chemistry. Plus, they saved one another’s lives, so it made sense.
My libertarian audience, even if some railed against same-sex couples, and I’m not a big fan of them either, would be fine with Liza and Kress. They’re both unapologetic libertarians, and Liza writes libertarian content under a pen name. The Left would hate them.
Working its way into lore
Going back to women playing thrashball alongside men, it let me come up with some cool lore. I forged a blueprint of an Elemental’s DNA with pinpoint accuracy, and how it’s different from someone without the gene.
Elementals, men and women, are stronger, more athletic, and almost always built better. This gives them a competitive edge in sports.
Elemental women can squat 300-plus pounds in reps, run 40 yards in four and a half seconds, and bench press 100 pounds over their bodyweight. They match up better with men because their DNA’s under a different code.
Still, Elemental men are stronger. So you won’t see too many women outmuscling opponents.
Elemental sports science
Women are like those hockey players who avoid contact, yet their finesse, speed, and ability to outsmart bigger, stronger opponents give them an edge. If we related them to football players, women would be your smaller running backs, receivers, corners, and occasionally safeties.
As for the men? They’re your larger running backs, linebackers, edge rushers, and tight ends. In football, those position groups love contact, and you can carry that mentality to thrashball.
Yote Diamondback, my protagonist in Arcane Elemental Academy, is the former, but to a greater extent. She’s the smallest player on the court. She’s speedy, but not someone who avoids contact like most women.
Instead, Yote battles just enough to ensure she’s open and ready to make a big play when a teammate sees she’s got a chance. It’s why, despite her slight build, she’s often the best player out there, and one whose ability will keep growing as time passes.
That said, Yote can credit her father and the way he commands excellence from her and her sister, Jett. He puts them through intense conditioning programs so they can hone their ability to control the four elements. That conditioning, plus Dad’s demand for perfection, has paid dividends in thrashball.
How far does he push Yote and Jett? The first three chapters in Book I of Arcane Elemental Academy show you a lot. Check them out today.
