truepenny: artist's rendering of Sidneyia inexpectans (Default)
Sarah/Katherine ([personal profile] truepenny) wrote2005-09-26 09:52 am
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a little fervor for your Monday morning

I'm signing on to [livejournal.com profile] ursulav's new crusade. (Not, you know, that it's the bad sort of crusade where you sack Constantinople and die horribly and that sort of thing. It's more an interior crusade of trying to remember what fantasy can do instead of what we're accustomed to it doing. Like when they tell you to sack Constantinople, saying, "Well, actually, I think I'd rather go hang out on Crete and learn to talk to the minotaurs.") Because, dammit, she's right.
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[identity profile] kristine-smith.livejournal.com 2005-09-26 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
In a way, I think she's right, but in another way, doesn't it depend on what one wants to accomplish with one's work? Are exploring boundaries obligatory, or should they be left to those with the knack for it?

Granted, I'm coming at this from the SF side, but I do have a fantasy in mind that I'm sure some folks would call same old same old. OTOH, I'm happy with the storyline since I want to explore character and play with some history, and that's what I'm doing. For that matter, that's what I'm doing in the SF as well. If I'm happy doing what I'm doing, should I really try to do something else? More importantly, am I *obligated* to try to do something else because I'm in the position where I can?

No answers here. Just questions, and a little concern.

[identity profile] iagor.livejournal.com 2005-09-26 05:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Anime and Manga creators have been doing this for years. You want a talking duck in a pilot hat? Here, have one. Couple of martial artists swimming to China and coming back as a girl and a panda? Help yourself.

We, on other hand, are obsessed with pseudo-realism. "Oh look at this historical fantasy! It has un-period attitudes toward women and they said the candles were wax, when everyone knows the candles at that time period were made of fat."

Where is the light fantastic? Where are the stories of distant planets and improbable feats? They are out there, I know it :)

This craving for pseudo-realism sometimes makes me feel like I am entering an ass-kicking contest with my feet tied together.
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