Do you have tips for writing urban fantasy without the masquerade. Like Ghostbusters, Lockwood & co, and Hellboy. Like the government tries to downplay increasing monster attacks. Or like in Doctor Who it's explained as hoaxes and hallucinations. Since people are aware of Torchwood.
I'd argue that Hellboy or Dr. Who are masquerades, just with the government externally enforcing it instead of it being done so internally ala Harry Potter or Vampire the Masquerade. Ghostbuster and Lockwood (or even the Walking Dead) are what Mendlesohn categorizes as "intrusive" stories in that the supernatural suddenly intrudes on the normal world that we know. For stories like those, or True Blood, it's a good idea to figure out what the inflection point of when this intrusion happened, eg the ghosts/zombies/vampires either appeared or made their presence known. Then it's a matter of extrapolating how you think this would change society. It could collapse and form a new society (Walking Dead) or maybe incorporate the supernatural elements into existing society after some massive changes (True Blood, Lockwood), or go one mostly the same except in regards to the supernatural, like Ghostbusters, where they still have to make rent, hire extra workers, and even deal with the evil EPA. The final non-masquerade urban fantasy would be like Craft Sequence, where it's a secondary world that's analogue to ours but not a direct descendent, but I don't think that's what you're asking about.
@@forgingfantasyrealms4518 another notable example of "intrusive" urban fantasy is X-Men, which is focused quite a bit on how conventional centers of power react to a form of power not under their control. The US government greatly militarizes its police in order to locate and contain mutants (sentinels), religious orthodoxy literally demonizes them ("God Loves Man Kills"), the scientific establishment is co-opted to find a "cure," and propaganda campaigns use fear to turn regular citizens into an extension of government surveillance. The mutants themselves also fall into factions, most notably the titular X-Men under the directive of Charles Xavier (who believe that mutually beneficial coexistence is possible), the Brotherhood led by Magneto (who believe that persecution can only be ended by taking control), as well as outliers like the Morlocks (grotesque sewer-dwelling pariahs for whom integration is doubly difficult), and Apocalypse (for whom conflict is desirable because he believes it purges the weak and elevates the strong).
Great video as always!
And really felt you there, still waiting for Bloodlines 2 as well...
Do you have tips for writing urban fantasy without the masquerade. Like Ghostbusters, Lockwood & co, and Hellboy. Like the government tries to downplay increasing monster attacks. Or like in Doctor Who it's explained as hoaxes and hallucinations. Since people are aware of Torchwood.
I'd argue that Hellboy or Dr. Who are masquerades, just with the government externally enforcing it instead of it being done so internally ala Harry Potter or Vampire the Masquerade.
Ghostbuster and Lockwood (or even the Walking Dead) are what Mendlesohn categorizes as "intrusive" stories in that the supernatural suddenly intrudes on the normal world that we know. For stories like those, or True Blood, it's a good idea to figure out what the inflection point of when this intrusion happened, eg the ghosts/zombies/vampires either appeared or made their presence known. Then it's a matter of extrapolating how you think this would change society. It could collapse and form a new society (Walking Dead) or maybe incorporate the supernatural elements into existing society after some massive changes (True Blood, Lockwood), or go one mostly the same except in regards to the supernatural, like Ghostbusters, where they still have to make rent, hire extra workers, and even deal with the evil EPA.
The final non-masquerade urban fantasy would be like Craft Sequence, where it's a secondary world that's analogue to ours but not a direct descendent, but I don't think that's what you're asking about.
@@forgingfantasyrealms4518 another notable example of "intrusive" urban fantasy is X-Men, which is focused quite a bit on how conventional centers of power react to a form of power not under their control. The US government greatly militarizes its police in order to locate and contain mutants (sentinels), religious orthodoxy literally demonizes them ("God Loves Man Kills"), the scientific establishment is co-opted to find a "cure," and propaganda campaigns use fear to turn regular citizens into an extension of government surveillance. The mutants themselves also fall into factions, most notably the titular X-Men under the directive of Charles Xavier (who believe that mutually beneficial coexistence is possible), the Brotherhood led by Magneto (who believe that persecution can only be ended by taking control), as well as outliers like the Morlocks (grotesque sewer-dwelling pariahs for whom integration is doubly difficult), and Apocalypse (for whom conflict is desirable because he believes it purges the weak and elevates the strong).
This was really well said. I like the writing theory. 🤓
Many thanks. I hope it helps with your worldbuilding.