This episode of TWA is brought to you by Campfire Blaze.
Do you want to make a fantasy world, but are too lazy to build a detailed fantasy setting?
Then urban fantasy is the genre for you!
Wait.
That sounds familiar?
Oh right.
I already did a video on urban fantasy back when I started the channel.
That’s okay.
I’ve since read a lot more of the genre and I have so much more to complain about…
um I mean I have so much more insight I can offer!
So join me in this 2nd dive into Urban Fantasy Reloaded.
Last time I covered some of urban fantasy’s usual suspects like werewolves, vampires,
and plucky teens with mystical powers.
But this time I would like to dig a little deeper into some other common aspects of urban
fantasy.
Starting with, of course, the protagonist.
When designing an urban fantasy protagonist make sure to adhere to the three Bs: black
leather, blank slate, and bad attitude.
Our protagonist always goes against the grain and would never wear a uniform except the
standard urban fantasy female protagonist uniform of black leather.
Does she always dress in black to mourn the death of her fashion sense?
Well mostly its to match the book’s cover art.
Don’t forget the tattoos to complete the punk look.
If your protagonist happens to be a guy then the cover artists will give him a hat no matter
how much he never wears it in the story.
On to the next B, blank slate.
It is important to sand off any rough edges the character might have in order to make
sure that the reader can insert themselves into the protagonist’s shoes.
I mean they live a world where magic is real could they at least have an opinion on that
or some kind of reaction other than angst?
Can I at least give them a motive that explains why they decide to stick around in the dangerous
edge between the modern and supernatural worlds?
Why does the protagonist keep a job that requires facing down mythical monsters and it doesn’t
even pay a living wage?
Because there must be nothing to get in the way of audience projection and I’m sure
it won’t backfire by instead giving the audience nothing to latch onto.
The final B in our list is bad attitude.
It’s important to remember that the protagonist conflates violence with strength of character,
treats their colleagues with scorn, doesn’t listen to people trying to help them, and
only gets away with it because the plot supplies them with an endless series of safety nets
to keep them out of trouble.
Does the protagonist’s bad attitude ever get them into trouble?
Do they burn bridges with social connections that they really need to keep.
Do any of these consequences fuel conflict later in the story?
Of course not.
The protagonist is the only one that can deal with the supernatural as everyone else is
just fodder to prove how dangerous the magic world is.
We can’t have other competent characters who simply oppose the methods or ideology
of the protagonist.
That might lead to conflict and someone who isn’t the protagonist having an actual point.
Remember, the protagonist isn’t a walking time-bomb that causes untold collateral damage
with unchecked power who probably needs to be locked up to ensure public safety, but
instead is just too cool to play it by the rules.
And if my 3 Bs don't work when designing a protagonist then, well, that’s my B.
But what if the audience calls out my protagonist for being a walking disaster zone that can
barely function in polite society, much less deal with the supernatural?
Well its time to break out the angst!
You see the protagonist is secretly cursed with this really awesome supernatural ability
that they must keep secret from their closest love ones because if it ever gets out then…
um… it will be bad or something?
And boy will they let you know it because they never shut up about bad they have it.
They have it so bad that it excuses all of their poor behavior!
I mean I get it!
I suffer from depression and one of my symptoms is an uncontrollable urge to embezzle money.
Speaking of money, does our urban fantasy protagonist have a job?
Is that job hardboiled detective?
If no then start over!
A protagonist who does freelance detective work that specializes in the setting’s magical
side is a great way to get them into the plot as it gives them a reason to get involved
in dangerous situations.
Now an important facet of detective work is doing research, but thankfully a writer is
exempt from this when writing detectives.
I’m sure recycling a bunch of tropes stolen from Law and Order as well as a handful of
80s buddy cop movies will equip me with all I need to write an independent investigator.
Hardboiled detectives focus more on characters and their motives rather than the logic puzzle
of the crime.
These stories are often set in the underbelly of society, but in urban fantasy this usually
translates to an emphasis on characters who live on the edge between the modern and supernatural
world and thus can’t really turn to the traditional authorities to solve their case.
Since all of my characters’ motives can be boiled down to “prop to make the protagonist
look cool” I’m sure this will fit perfectly with my story!
Just remember to not sweat the details when writing an urban fantasy detective because
its not like writer will need any of those details to stand out in a sea of urban fantasy
private eyes.
Besides, independent investigator sounds a lot better on your tax forms than vampire
slayer or chosen one.
Now what about the supporting characters?
They exist to either get in the protagonist’s way for no good reason, or to help the protagonist
for no good reason.
Just visit the hardboiled defective aisle of the story trope store and buy a stock cast
and it should be good.
Don’t forget to make everyone young, attractive, and single.
No married couples allowed in urban fantasy.
Got to maximize the shipping potential.
See.
That could have been worse.
I could have a supporting cast that bridges both worlds and can be used to highlight aspects
of the setting.
I don’t know what I would have done if those characters actually had their own motives
instead of just obsessing over the protagonist.
With the rest of the props… um I mean cast fleshed out, or partially if they’re undead,
I can now focus on the worldbuilding.
Urban fantasy has a lot of the worldbuilding already done in the form of our modern world.
All I have to do is add magic!
Now a little magic goes a long way which is why I’m just gonna pour the whole mythology
soup into the story!
How much mythology?
All of it!
Greek gods, Hindu gods, Celtic myths, Norse mythology, Irish folklore, Egyptian pantheon,
Native American legends, and hey might as well weeaboo it up a bit and add in some Japanese
mythology as well.
Don’t forget to dump in the Lovecraft mythos wholesale.
Also might as well plunder Tolkien while I’m at it.
He stole from the best after all!
Should I… like make adjustments to the myths and legends I add into my story?
Of course not!
Why reinvent when I can water down?
No need to adjust these myths and reinterpret them to better fit with the story or to mesh
them with other mythologies in interesting ways.
I mean who would want to see the Greek titans tangle with Cthulhu?
Or even worse, be one of those try hards who just makes things up from scratch.
How do all of these extremely overpowered mythical beasts go unnoticed in a modern world
full of cameras and people desperate for internet pseudo-fame?
Who keeps these powerful supernatural forces in check when they could easily bowl over
modern civilization?
Why does a race of magical elves who are immune to all modern weapons while possessing a god
complex bigger than Jupiter feel the need to hide rather than just take over?
Because all of these questions pale in comparison to my impulsive need to add magical crap into
my setting without considering its impact on said setting.
Should I make a hard magic system or a soft magic system for my urban fantasy?
Remember to just pick one, and then don’t commit.
Start with a hard magic system that has very specific rules, then just ignore those rules
later.
Or start with a soft magic system only to then beat the audience over the head with
rules unexpectedly in the middle of the story.
Better to spend my time enamored with the magic part of my setting rather than trying
to mesh the magical elements with modern technology, you know, the ‘urban’ part of urban fantasy.
Come to think of it, maybe I should consider exactly where to set my urban fantasy?
When setting an urban fantasy story in a real world city a writer need not worry about getting
local landmarks right.
What are the locals going to do?
Fact check me?
Man they act like they live there or something.
Besides, actually go outside to a real urban area for research?
Are you crazy?
Why would I do that?
I haven’t left my house for over ten years and I’m not going to start now!
With my urban setting fully realized, and by fully realized I mean that I looked up
a top 10 landmarks article for the real life city and got through the first 3 entries,
with that out of the way I can turn my attention to the plot.
Urban fantasy sometimes has overarching chosen one plots, but just as often tends to focus
in on fairly small scale plots that keep with the whole hardboiled noir feel of the genre.
This means that a lot of urban fantasy plots tend to be either mystery plots, who done
it magic edition, monster of the week, missing person of the week, or the occasional macguffin
plot coupon quest.
All of these are perfectly serviceable plots so long as the urban fantasy writer remembers
to stick doggedly to the template and not to tweak these plots in any meaningful way
like mixing them together, have competing villainous groups clash unexpectedly, or resolve
one plot only for it to bleed into another higher stakes plot.
Also avoid foreshadowing future plots in the current one.
That would ruin the surprise.
Better that the next monster just come out of nowhere rather than have any kind of buildup
or even worse planting subtle clues that all of the incidents are linked.
If sticking to a cookie cutter template is too hard, then an ever better alternative
is to just not really have a plot.
Merely string a series of action and love making scenes together with the thinnest of
pretexts.
If a writer stumbles at any point in the makeshift string plot then don’t worry, just have
the character magic their way out of it even if it breaks the previously established rules.
What other plots could I use?
How about a love triangle romance?
Just kidding.
What genre do you think this is?
Paranormal romance with its paltry love triangles?
Mere love triangles are not sufficient for urban fantasy.
The protagonist’s love life is of such magnitude that it can only be tracked by complicated
flowcharts and only then is a romance plot worthy of urban fantasy.
It’s not urban fantasy unless it’s weirdly horny all the time to the point that the author
can’t keep it in their pants for like five freaking minutes jeez!
See the difference between urban fantasy and paranormal romance is that in urban fantasy
the romance is designed to ruin the plot where as in paranormal romance the romance is the
plot.
So I have my romance added, what else do I need?
Urban fantasy often has a strong element of supernatural horror running throughout it.
Since I have no idea how to write horror I think I’ll use the next best thing!
EDGE!
Yeah.
I’ll give my urban fantasy story a bunch of pointlessly dark EDGE!
EDGE is pretty easy to write for urban fantasy if one remembers the 3 Bs again.
Though in this case it stands for Blood, Booze, and Boobs.
I mean if vampires are involved your are probably going to get at least 2 of those.
Just generously sprinkle those 3 Bs into the story along with some curse words and the
story will be edgier than Vlad’s landscaping service.
Will the tone come across as juvenile?
I don’t know I can’t hear it?
Now that I've proved my writing prowess I think everyone will recognize that my urban
fantasy setting is the perfect place to add a bunch of social commentary.
And in today’s cultural climate this is a definitely safe idea that can in no way
backfire if mishandled!
My plot and characters may be barely functioning and paper thin, but I’m sure I’ve got
the skill to flawlessly navigate serious real life issues that affect actual living people
in a story about witches making out with faeries.
Research multiple perspectives on a hot button issue, learning the actual culture of a marginalized
people who will be represented in the story, maybe ask more than one person if this is
a good allegory and not like really racist if you think about it for more than five seconds?
Nah.
Full steam ahead!
I would never shy away from a hot button issue!
See!
Here’s a segment in this video’s script about diversity in urban fantasy…
Yeah we’re moving on.
In fact, I think I’ll just end the video here.
Like I’m going to stick my hand in that dumpster fire.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: There is only one thing that can stop the Sponsorship Wars now!
The Knights of Artistic Integrity will marshal its most elite forces!
We must mobilize… the Ad Block Force!
CONSPIRACY GUY: Good Illuminate that is the dumbest name I've ever heard…
KNIGHT COMMANDER: Ad Block Force!
Assemble!
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KNIGHT COMMANDER: The valiantly intractable Adnnihilator!
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KNIGHT COMMANDER: The always reliable Sir Commercial Breaker!
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KNIGHT COMMANDER: The most definitely not a spy from the ancient conspiracy, the most
trustworthy Sir Newguy!
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SIR ADBLOCK: And don’t forget our noble and ever vigilant leader, Knight Commander
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KNIGHT COMMANDER: Ugh.
Why do you keep calling me that?
SIR ADBLOCK: Because it’s funny.
CONSPIRACY GUY: Besides, what are you going to do about it?
Give us a stern warning?
KNIGHT COMMANDER: Ugh.
Whatever.
I’m not gonna rise to that.
Together we are…
THE ADBLOCK FORCE!
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YEAH!
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But how will we get there?
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That kind of sounds like an Ad.
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For a second there I thought you were reading bullet points off an Ad.
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SIR CRUSHER: Wait.
What was the last part?
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once and for all... for artistic integrity of course and not for the culmination of all
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Mwa ha ha ha!