Feeling Better

[syntart]

Well, it's been a couple weeks, the cycle of antibiotics is done, and I'm beginning to feel good again. I actually had energy today. That was brilliant. I missed that. I do have to stay on claritin and the nasal spray, though; apparently, allergies have caught up to me. Boo, hiss.

FYI, St Patrick's Day ... the Pogues ... 9:30 Club ... a match made

Comments

[ghibli_geek]

I believe I have tickets for that Pogues show. I'll see you there!

[syntart]

WOW! You're coming down to DC for the show? We should meet!

[ghibli_geek]

Ack! Ned says we have tickets for the night before. Blergh. Yeah, we've been seeing them since ... 1989? You could still understand what Shane was saying! Ah, the good old days! : )

[syntart]

So close, yet so far! We're like star-crossed lovers, only without any of the emo crap. ;) Still, we should meet up again one of these days and catch up. It's been too, too long.

[leesalogic]

Vampires are included in Patricia Briggs Werewolf Mercy Thompson series, though the main character is a shapeshifter (coyote) involved mainly with werewolves. I do love her urban setting though.

Vampires are also in Jim Butcher's Dresden books.

[syntart]

I haven't read the Mercy Thompson series yet, but I've read Dresden's books. And I do like his take a little better. The Black and Red Courts are appropriately horrific. But, c'mon ... Thomas? The White Court and their super-model chic-ness (is that even a word?) is a bit much. But, I'll be fair and say that Butcher does vampires better (for some value of better; I admit, I'm completely biased here) than most do. I wonder if it's 'cause he's a guy? Maybe it's a gender thing? Women tend to "fall in love with" vampires more than guys do, it sure seems like. Men produce Blade. Women produce Edward. Hmm ... I hate pulling out the gender card, but there might be something here.

[cheetahmaster]

Men produce Blade. Women produce Edward. Hmm ... I hate pulling out the gender card, but there might be something here.

That's action vs. romance. Different genres. And yes, more women write romance, but that's a different, non-vampire-related topic. (And calls up your comment below about not looking for horror-related examples.)

[syntart]

Ah, perhaps I should define urban fantasy. It's fantastic elements (magic, creatures, humanoids, etc.) in the modern day world. It can be action-oriented (a la Blade) or romance oriented (a la Twilight), but the genre itself is urban fantasy.

Horror is not urban fantasy. In horror, the goal is to explicitly derive fear from the audience. The more the fear, the better the horror. It may have the same elements of urban fantasy (demons and magic, for instance), but it has a different intent.

In other words, while I appreciate a good horror piece, I don't always want to be scared when I read an engaging story. But I usually want some element of Le Fantastique in what I read, which is why my two favorite genres are fantasy and urban fantasy.

Hopefully that clarifies what I meant. Thanks for making me think this through!

[nalroth]

Briggs has an interesting take on Vampires. You might like it, but they were trashy enough to make me feel like laughing as I read them.

[syntart]

The books/stories were trashy, or the vampires were trashy?

[leesalogic]

I didn't think they were trashy, in that there's no/very little sex (but I hafta admit that she makes the werewolves sexy in that macho alpha male kind of way).

[nalroth]

There wasn't a whole lot of sex, but they didn't feel quite the same as Dresden. A lot closer to Anita than I have gotten before, so they felt trashy to me. The vampires are mostly monsters and she does very well showing that. Even the "friend" vampire is only as nice as his nature lets him be.

[cheetahmaster]

Where's the permutation where vampires are more than just Calvin Klein models?

30 Days of Night?

[nalroth]

Hear Hear!

"God" *looks around* "No God"
~Head Vampire

[syntart]

Well, I kinda wanted to stay out of the realm of pure horror, which I think 30 Days of Night qualifies as. In horror, it's easier to find menacing vampires, but I think it's easier to find menacing stuff in general in horror. Urban fantasy is harder, but maybe it's the very nature of the genre? Maybe urban fantasy's definition includes emo vampires? If it's so intrinsic to the genre, that's just too bad. I suppose I'm just getting picky now, wanting to read an urban fantasy story without emo vampires. Bah.

30 Days of Night is really good, though. :)

[cheetahmaster]

So, you're looking for examples of non-gothic-romantic vampires specifically in urban fantasy, then. That's a much smaller pool to fish in.

[ceciskittle]

I am glad you are feeling better!