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Urban Fantasy general discussion thread
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<blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 8309156" data-attributes="member: 85870"><p>By all rights and expectations, urban fantasy should be right up my alley. But for whatever reason, I've never connected with it as a genre.</p><p></p><p>I never got into World of Darkness even though I should have been a prime potential customer at its popularity height (late teen / early 20s gamer in the late 1990s). I always found the setting, premise, and writing to be overwrought. Like it somehow was saying, "This is a serious work, filled with sophisticated, complex narratives and themes between these pages. If it doesn't resonate with you, it's because you're not good enough to appreciate it." And what little of the player base I came in contact with largely exhibited similar attitudes.</p><p></p><p>To which my response was, "Thpppppffffft. Screw you and your over-pretentious musings."</p><p></p><p>Likewise, I read maybe the first 2 or 3 chapters of the first Dresden Files book, promptly set it down and never felt a single need or compulsion to pick it up again. The core ideas of the setting and character did absolutely nothing for me.</p><p></p><p>I think some of it may have to do with the fact that even though it's fiction, it's not fiction <em>enough</em>, or something. There's just something about the core conceit of, "It's our modern/post-modern world, but with magic, and hidden dream-like, fey-world stuff" that for some reason doesn't seem to create the kinds of story/narrative backgrounds that I want to inhabit.</p><p></p><p>For me, I can't think of a trope/narrative/premise/theme that's part and parcel with urban fantasy---particularly the World of Darkness variety---that I wouldn't rather just do in Star Wars.</p><p></p><p>If I want to play a tortured soul, trying to avoid their own darkness within, I'd much rather do it based on the Sith than as a werewolf or vampire. But to each his/her own.</p><p></p><p>Strangely, I <em>adore</em> cyberpunk as a genre, and it's not like cyberpunk and urban fantasy aren't within a stone's throw from each other in terms of genre conceits. But for some reason cyberpunk totally does it for me, and UF leaves me absolutely cold.</p><p></p><p>Even weirder---I absolutely loved Joss Whedon's <em>Angel</em> TV series, but couldn't stand <em>Buffy</em>.</p><p></p><p>Yeah. I don't get myself either sometimes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="innerdude, post: 8309156, member: 85870"] By all rights and expectations, urban fantasy should be right up my alley. But for whatever reason, I've never connected with it as a genre. I never got into World of Darkness even though I should have been a prime potential customer at its popularity height (late teen / early 20s gamer in the late 1990s). I always found the setting, premise, and writing to be overwrought. Like it somehow was saying, "This is a serious work, filled with sophisticated, complex narratives and themes between these pages. If it doesn't resonate with you, it's because you're not good enough to appreciate it." And what little of the player base I came in contact with largely exhibited similar attitudes. To which my response was, "Thpppppffffft. Screw you and your over-pretentious musings." Likewise, I read maybe the first 2 or 3 chapters of the first Dresden Files book, promptly set it down and never felt a single need or compulsion to pick it up again. The core ideas of the setting and character did absolutely nothing for me. I think some of it may have to do with the fact that even though it's fiction, it's not fiction [I]enough[/I], or something. There's just something about the core conceit of, "It's our modern/post-modern world, but with magic, and hidden dream-like, fey-world stuff" that for some reason doesn't seem to create the kinds of story/narrative backgrounds that I want to inhabit. For me, I can't think of a trope/narrative/premise/theme that's part and parcel with urban fantasy---particularly the World of Darkness variety---that I wouldn't rather just do in Star Wars. If I want to play a tortured soul, trying to avoid their own darkness within, I'd much rather do it based on the Sith than as a werewolf or vampire. But to each his/her own. Strangely, I [I]adore[/I] cyberpunk as a genre, and it's not like cyberpunk and urban fantasy aren't within a stone's throw from each other in terms of genre conceits. But for some reason cyberpunk totally does it for me, and UF leaves me absolutely cold. Even weirder---I absolutely loved Joss Whedon's [I]Angel[/I] TV series, but couldn't stand [I]Buffy[/I]. Yeah. I don't get myself either sometimes. [/QUOTE]
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