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I'm always talking about things that other people aren't talking about
I remember when I walked into the Golden Sun LJ community in 2007 or so. Place was, like, deserted. Also remember walking into the Kiddy Grade fandom in 2009. There was like, one active person, aside from avatar-makers (who are still active).
These days I find myself continuing to mention Terraria when everyone else is talking Minecraft. Granted they were kinda simultaneous at one point, but the Terraria hype has mostly subsided due to lack of updates from the devs (and subsequent fandom disappointment with that). But at least they're similar enough that I continue to mistake Minecraft talk for Terraria talk (which I make a humorous point of because I can).
Not sure whether it's because Ys Oath is an older game (from 2005-ish original release, though the official English release was pretty recent) or if it's just a lower-profile series, but no one's talking that.
And it doesn't help that I randomly ran into a series called Tytania and I can't find anyone who's actually seen it and can tell me whether it's worth my time. And I doubt anyone here had heard of Jinki: Extend before I made a couple huge posts criticizing it (but then again, it wasn't really enjoyable so I don't know why it would have much of a fandom in the first place; maybe the manga is different).
I'm getting into Precure now and no one's talking about that, except the current series (which is Smile I think). I'm still talking Nanoha Strikers while the fandom prefers A's and is talking about Vivid and Force and the movies these days. Now that there's this big hype surrounding the Madoka movie, maybe I'll go check out the original series. Maybe.
In a twist on this "I'm always becoming a fan of stuff way after its release", there's also "I'm becoming a fan of obscure stuff that has few fans even if it's around release date". I'm now a fan of Flying Red Barrel. I've mentioned it a few times here and there. No one else has heard of it.
One exception to this rule is Nethack, which despite being old and having not been updated in years, maintains a very, very active fandom, for some reason. And Castlevania fans have in general played enough of the PS1, GBA, and DS titles to know much of Symphony, Circle, Harmony, Aria, Dawn, Portrait, and Ecclesia; maybe all the timeline-wankery has actually helped keep the older games on the minds of gamers.
Comments
>_>, I talk about Precure lots...
(Insert Symphogear rant here)
I bet everybody has felt this way sometime or another. I mean, I talk about Symphogear, E7AO, figmas/SH Figuarts/Figures in general, j-pop, etc. and nobody gets that either. It's just that it happens to you much more often for some reason...
I know this feeling. Especially here. Seriously, if everyone else is reading high fantasy, I'm reading post-modern short fiction; if everyone else is watching Hyouka, I'm watching Kaiba; and so on, and so forth, forever and ever, amen.
"If"?
is there anyone here besides GMH and JHM who doesn't read high fantasy?
I don't. But then again, I don't read anything that isn't for a college course nowadays.
I read lots of nonfiction all the time. I just generally don't feel like yattering on about a book that points out that corvids are actually really smart birds and stuff.
I have three books I'm reading for myself right now, but college is making it tougher for me to keep up; I'm two days behind now, and with the way the day's going, it could become three.
^^ I would find that interesting! I like zoology. It's one of my many fields of interest.
I already mentioned I don't find fantasy appealing in the slightest. My reading interests are mostly on comedic books, like Stephen Colbert's upcoming one which promises to be quite a chuckle.
I don't. I read mostly Sci-Fi these days. I play high fantasy games all the time though.
I don't even read shit that isn't dudes in spandex
No Juan, comics isn't reading. It is a form of entertainment for us illiterate bozos who can't follow real and true literature.
I smell a fight coming... XD
Right, right, I forget all I do is just look at the pretty fisticuffs.
...I'm not really a fan of high fantasy.
...
Do I get a last wish?
But of course.
Neat.
The Witcher is great, but I've always thought of it as low fantasy.
I think it's one of those cases where it depends on your perspective. In most cases, our perspective is Geralt, who has very limited magical abilities and is more the result of folkloric science than magical intervention, if you get my meaning. Through his jaded eyes, it's definitely low fantasy. But from the perspective of a sorceress learned in the finest details of magic use, it might be high fantasy.
Mind you, I'd take low fantasy or historical fantasy over high fantasy most days as well.
I read a lot of fantasy in general. I do not specifically set out to read high fantasy.
I do like high fantasy, because I get kind of tired of moral ambiguity, suffering, and all that junk, and for the most part, high fantasy focuses on good versus evil and all that.
However, while I do own and read more high fantasy than low fantasy, the ratio is probably only something like 55:45, and that ratio is kind of screwed because many of my high fantasy books are part of a series, while many of my low fantasy books stand alone or are part of much shorter series.
My above question wasn't intended to say anything like "Who only reads high fantasy, or who mainly reads high fantasy?" because even I would fail that test. I own too many urban fantasy, historical fantasy, or other types of low fantasy novels to ever be able to claim that I mainly read high fantasy. Plus, I own a fair few sci-fi books and crime books.
I just wanted to know who here actually reads high fantasy.
does watching or playing high fantasy count
failing that do tabletop rpg manuals count as reading
No, I wanted to know about people who read it. Playing provides a very different experience.
i suck at reading
please don't plaster me with rotten tomatoes
too late
*plasters*
Low fantasy isn't necessarily always gloom and doom. The Witcher actually provides a good example; while it certainly has its fair share of darkness, it also has the magic of fairy tales about it, and there are moments of beauty and triumph to match any high fantasy story -- but they're perhaps more subtle and relate more strongly to the characters.
One of the great things about low fantasy is how often it relates to human triumph, I think. High fantasy easily falls into the trap of creating hand-wavey solutions, allowing for meaningless solutions. But low fantasy follows in the tradition of folklore, mythology and chivalric romance; a character's internal traits are often what carry them through, or what carry them to failure.
It's been a while since I've read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but if I remember the story correctly, it provides a wonderful example. Sir Gawain, Arthur and the rest of the knights of the Round Table are feasting in Camelot when the Green Knight shows up (as you do), suggesting the knights play a "Christmas game" with him. The challenge is thus; any knight may take one swing at the Green Knight's bared neck using the Knight's implicitly enchanted axe, and they will receive that axe as a prize for a fatal blow. However, the Green Knight is allowed to return the blow in a year and a day. None of the knights want to take up the game, but are likewise reluctant to refuse it. Arthur begins to speak his acceptance of the challenge when Gawain begs to do it instead.
Gawain neatly beheads the Green Knight in a single stroke, but instead of falling to the ground, the Green Knight casually takes his own head by the hair and speaks despite the decapitation. He says that the game is complete and that Gawain may keep the axe, but also that he will wait for Gawain at the Green Chapel a year and a day from now. Gawain, not in the least willing to shirk his honour and oath, sets out later in search of the Chapel.
Eventually, starving and thirsty from his quest for the Green Chapel, Gawain happens upon a castle. He is greeted with kindness and hospitality by the Lord and Lady Bertilak, whom he tells of his story. They invite him to rest there, but Lord Bertilak makes one condition -- he will give Gawain whatever he finds during his hunting trips in return for whatever Gawain receives during the day. In addition, Lord Bertilak tells Gawain about the location of the Green Chapel, which is only a few miles from the castle. Gawain also notices an old lady stalking the hallways of the castle, who appears to be neither noble nor servant, but thinks little of it.
On the first day of his rest, while Lord Bertilak is hunting, Lady Bertilak makes an advance on Gawain. He gives her a single kiss, reluctantly, in order to avoid offending her, but his honour prevents him from giving in to her seduction. When Lord Bertilak returns, he gives Gawain the deer he hunted, while Gawain gives him a kiss on the cheek without revealing its manner of acquisition. On the second day of Gawain's rest, Lady Bertilak comes to him again with the same intentions; this time, Gawain allows her two kisses but remembers his honour. When Lord Bertilak returns, he gives Gawain a boar, and Gawain repays him with two kisses. On the third day, Lady Bertilak comes to Gawain again and begs for the comfort of his bed before he leaves. This time, he allows for three kisses, but the Lady Bertilak offers him her girdle, which she says will protect him from all harm. He eventually accepts the girdle, although Lady Bertilak doesn't try to illicit intercourse from him in return. When Bertilak returns, he gives Gawain a fox and Gawain kisses him three times, although he remains silent about the girdle.
The next day, Gawain sets off for the Green Chapel. There he meets the Green Knight, and Gawain bears his neck as promised. The Green Knight strikes and causes only a slight wound, but unbound now by his oath and honour, Gawain can defend himself freely and draws his sword. The Green Knight only laughs, and reveals himself to be Lord Bertilak; the game and the Green Knight were a ruse to dishonour the knights of the Round Table by testing their resolve and honesty. The old lady was Morgan le Fay, who concocted the scheme and the magic that turned Lord Bertilak into the Green Knight.
Gawain returns to Camelot in shame, wearing the sash openly, but the other knights forgive him and all wear green sashes in honour of his quest. Or perhaps they were just passive-aggressively mocking him. Nothing in the code of chivalry says "don't be an arsehole".
The interpretation of this story is hotly debated, but I favour the claim that it criticises the strict, often self-conflicting standards of chivalry. It very much seems to be about how an excess of honourable behaviour turns any failure into a potential disaster, and Gawain is the greatest and most virtuous of the knights of the Round Table. The implication is that all people fail in their conduct sometimes and that having such strict standards turn what are often understandable failures into great sources of shame. In turn, this would mean that such a strict code destroys good people while those who don't adhere to it don't care anyway, and are free to break it at their leisure. Gawain's adherence to oath and honour are self-destructive, because he willingly goes on a suicidal endeavour and doesn't even sleep with Lady Bertalik, what the hell dude. All to save face rather than to actually solve a problem.
I know it isn't. The same way high fantasy isn't always triumphant and all that- *coughsongoficeandfirecough*
I wasn't saying that low fantasy is always gloom and-doom. I was saying that high fantasy is usually not, because of the typical focus on good versus evil, and so I read it when I get sick of moral ambiguity in other series.
The moral ambiguity often does pop up in low fantasy, but it also pops up in sci-fi and crime fiction, all of which I read.
I barely read any high fantasy.
do I get a prize
you get an official no-prize
it takes the form of being pelted by rotten tomatoes