 Fantasy: October 21, 2020 Issue [#10424] |
This week: The Moon Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
― Anton Chekhov
Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.
― Mark Twain
But even when the moon looks like it's waning...it's actually never changing shape. Don't ever forget that.
― Ai Yazawa, Nana, Vol. 14 |
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Consider our moon.
With a full moon coming up on Halloween -- a rare occurrence, but not a "blue moon" despite what you've probably seen and/or will see on the internet -- I thought I'd take a few minutes to discuss our satellite.
The Moon is pretty obvious, most of the time. Fabled in mythology, song, and story, it's been an inspiration to storytellers, poets, lovers and musicians since before recorded history. And to scientists as well -- what's the moon made of? (It's not green cheese.) How far away is it? (240,000 miles, on average, or thereabouts). Can we ever get there? (Yes, and we did.) Does it have people living on it (Not yet.) How was it formed? (Still an open question, but the consensus right now is a massive impact of a larger body with a newly-formed Earth.)
Thus, the Moon figures heavily in fantasy and science fiction alike, as well as horror and many other genres.
In fantasy, often we consider other worlds, other realms, some of which don't have the physical limitations of our own. There, you may present a milieu in which your world has two, or three, or several moons, not just the lonely traveler in our sky. Mars has two of them. Venus, as far as we know, has none. Jupiter and Saturn have entire entourages, some of which may even harbor simple life.
Pre-industrial humans used the Moon to mark time, to see at night sometimes, to plant, to reap. For as long as there have been humans, we have marveled at it, as its appearance changed in regular, predictable ways and illuminated our dreams, and inspired speculation. It's a fixture in mythology, and some of the earliest surviving fantasy stories described going there to explore it, because that's what we do. Later, we thought about it in more scientific terms, and as with fantasy, some of the earliest science fiction stories discussed the Moon.
And then there's werewolves, of course, and the orb's association with the things that come out at night -- not entirely unreasonable, as humans aren't the only creatures who can see better when there's more light, as with a full moon.
So if you go out on Halloween this year, and the clouds cooperate, look up at the full Moon.
And dream. |
Some fantasy, lunar or otherwise:
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Last time, in "When Fantasy isn't Fantasy" , I compared Fantasy with Horror.
s  : I disagree. Saying fantasy fleshes out characters horror accepts is not accurate on either side. Fantasy and horror are two sides of the same coin. You have a Stephen King quite opening the newsletter: "We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones." Well we make up fantasy to help us cope with reality.
Look, I write and sell both. This is only my take on it. But, as far as I can tell, the only difference between fantasy and horror is that horror takes a deliberately darker look at the nature of existence and juxtaposes that against reality. Some fantasy might do that, but then fantasy deals with a greater warping of reality. Horror is fantasy; fantasy can be horror. By book 5, Harry Potter (are we still allowed to mention those books?) is definitely fantasy-horror.
Fantasy and horror are inter-related. Sorry.
No apology necessary! Your points are all valid, and we all have different approaches to writing. That makes things interesting. We should all think about these things, and not be surprised or upset when we each come to different conclusions. I will always recognize different viewpoints, and try to know when I may be wrong.
WakeUpAndLive  : Thank you for this newsletter! Since I'm stuck with my fantasy "Invalid Item" would you consider featuring it in your next Fantasy nl? I would love some reviews that could basically pull me over the dead point. I have no inspiration in how to proceed with this fantasy. Can you help? Thanks.
Here it is. Hope it garners some reviews. Fly, my minions!
Joto-Kai  : Horror must frighten us and make us feel weak. To that end, the monsters should be nearly unknown to the characters. Meanwhile fantasy makes us feel powerful. The strange things, however dangerous, can therefore be made familiar.
Fantasy versus horror is the difference between hope and fear, essentially the same emotion.
Another great perspective on the subject.
So that's it for me for October. I'll see you on the dark side of the moon... or next month, whichever comes first. Until then,
DREAM ON!!!
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