I'll begin in the middle: the most recent urban fantasy I've read has (thankfully) expanded past the standard western fare of witches, vampires, werewolves, angels and devils -- I'm seeing more South American-influenced, and considerably more Japanese-influenced (thank you, animanga imports), and Slavic also seems to be on the rise. Though I suppose one might argue that vampires themselves, per Transylvania, are inherently Slavic and we've only adopted them into a western mainstream as one more immigrant.
And, of course, most stories have a pantheon of some sort -- whether this be a competitive one (set against a backdrop of generic monotheism) or completely supplanting real-world religion... although that brings to mind CP's remark about the differences between demons and gods: a demon is just someone else's god.
What plays around in the back of my head while reading is that for western readers (more specifically US-based), a lot of these concepts are... how to put it? Not of the everyday, and I mean that quite literally. ( And herein to discuss: superstitions, core beliefs, existential crises, the fantastical, the not-real, the removed-real, the real, and protocols. Semi-long by my standards, with follow-up critique/review post probably ) later tonight or some point tomorrow.
And, of course, most stories have a pantheon of some sort -- whether this be a competitive one (set against a backdrop of generic monotheism) or completely supplanting real-world religion... although that brings to mind CP's remark about the differences between demons and gods: a demon is just someone else's god.
What plays around in the back of my head while reading is that for western readers (more specifically US-based), a lot of these concepts are... how to put it? Not of the everyday, and I mean that quite literally. ( And herein to discuss: superstitions, core beliefs, existential crises, the fantastical, the not-real, the removed-real, the real, and protocols. Semi-long by my standards, with follow-up critique/review post probably ) later tonight or some point tomorrow.