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Dude, this is the second time you've brought this up. But it really is a separate question from "what are the links from mediaeval sources to the likes of Tolkien." It's not a bad question. I think it's a very interesting area for discussion. But it isn't a counter argument to "there are strong...

Oh yeah. I hadn't thought of adaptions to other media. I do get the feeling that many adaptions like to interrogate the assumptions of the source material. The only example I can think of right now is Into the Woods but I'm sure there's more.

Don't apologise, I love a good rant. I'll take technically correct. It's my favourite type of correct. ;)

Fair enough. Romanticising the past does happen a lot, no denying it.

Hard agree. Discworld is definitely one of those fantasy series that doesn't romanticise the past. Can you imagine Granny Weatherwax waxing lyrical (sorry not sorry) about the good old days of yore? Of course not.

I have to confess, I've never read any Harry Turtledove or Poul Anderson. Does this make me a bad nerd? I can't agree with the bolded bit. Romanticising the past really is a major fantasy trope.

@Tonguez I don't think I can agree about The Chronicles of Thomas Convenant. Pretty much everyone in the Land looks back to the time of the First Lords (Berek thru Kevin Land Waster) as a golden age. And the current (as of the first trilogy) Land is a pastoral paradise. Even when that changes in...

I had to google Caleb Carr. But I have read The Alienist. I enjoyed it. I agree it doesn't shy away from the grimier elements of life in a major city in the 19th C.

@Clint_L I see your point about The First Law series. It's set in a romanticised past of warriors and kings, wise wizards, and even an epic quest or two. But I feel that the way the world's setting is initially presented to the reader as romanticised and then undercut by later revelations is a...

There’s a side discussion in the Settings of Hope vs. Settings of Despair thread about whether or not the fantasy genre looks back on the past with a mythologising/romanticising lens. This has got me thinking about examples of fantasy stories that don’t do this. Just to be clear – I think most...

Thank you so much for that, @Staffan Very much appreciated. I have only ever played WHRP the one time, years ago. I couldn't even tell you which addition.

So I have a pretty basic question about careers. When one starts their first career, let's say Rat Catcher, does the PC get all those bonuses listed in the character description, or do you have to buy them as you go along? If you buy them as you go along does that mean the numbers listed...

Valentino died in 1926. The Jazz Singer, IIRC, came out in 27 or 28. But yeah, Valentino might not have made it in the Talkies. Which now puts me in mind of the plot of the classic Singing in the Rain (1952) and dear Lina Lamont's, er, voice issues. I need to rewatch that.

I admit language can help with both romance and dealing with kids. But, cos I'm feeling mildly argumentative, romance can be done exclusively with the eyes. Just ask Rudolph Valentino. As for children, my sister-in-law uses the "bribe 'em with treats" method. Yes, words help. Except when they...

I think you've just summed up why humans have language.

Ooh. I've learned a new word. Thank you. :-)

I love the dinosaur artillery.

I admit I'm curious to try it. I've always really liked the setting.

Yes, yes I do. I've played Ms Scarlet as a vamp and Col. Mustard as an old buffer in Clue(do). Games like Betrayal at House on the Hill are, of course, easy to RP. The old Dune boardgame is another one where it's hard not to get into character, especially playing the Harkonnen. :-) I've even...

I've heard "I could care less" in so much American media I have assumed it's just the normal way they say it. Just a regional variation.