Penny Arcade Predicts the Future?

[PlotHolio]

Several years ago, the webcomic Penny Arcade posted this:

It seems they were only a little off.

Has the Age of Prophecy begun, or are people just getting to be so predictable that seeing the future takes less effort than lighting farts on fire?

 

[Devor]

"Next" kind of implies that Vampires will stop, and another will replace them. That's probably not going to be the case. With a strong story, you can pull off a compelling paranormal romance with just about anything, and as Vampires are getting "cliche," we're seeing people look for something fresh - err, I guess more decayed. But you're going to have to look long and hard to find something that will actually match or replace the appeal and the romantic potential you get with vampires.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not into the vampire romance scene. But it's easy enough from a branding perspective to see where it comes from. There's just too many layers to the words that vampire wants you. But that zombie/mummy/minotaur wants you? Bit of a gag reflex. Vampires are death. Zombies are dead.

 

[PlotHolio]

I am not a huge fan of Paranormal Romance. It ruined Urban Fantasy. People think they're the same thing now. If I'm even lucky enough to find a decent library in Icyslough Slushland, the don't have any actual Urban Fantasy (such as Matthew Swift). Urban fantasy doesn't need to include spunky witches with attitudes that fall in love with sexy demons.

Fun fact: Fifty Shades of Grey was originally an erotic Twilight fanfiction.

The sad thing is that some of the stories used in Paranormal Romances are actually quite good and original, except that the "romance" tends to devolve into nothing more than immature drama that mires the latter half of the book.

Also, I dislike the sexual undertones that people are applying to vampires now. As far as I'm concerned, vampires kill you, suck your blood, and also possibly eat you. That's what the original folklore vampires did.

As a counter-point to what may come off as hating on Twilight, vampires do sparkle. It's called a glamour.

From the standpoint of the publishers, I understand that in a failing industry you just need to find what sells, and vampires sell. Apparently, now zombies do, too.

Fortunately, other things should start selling more now that HBO has made it "okay" to like fantasy. The demographic that likes vampires is bound to like Kit Harrington almost as much.

It's always cold on the wall, but not when you're here with me...

That was a long rant that went all over. I apologize.

Transmission over.

 

[Telcontar]

Well, mummies ARE just zombies with their pajamas on...

And yes, I remarked upon that same fact when I saw the trailer for that movie (which actually looks great).

Also, to PlotHolio: Vampires have long been full of sexual overtones. Dracula and his brides oozed sexuality. The whole bloodsucking thing was long described as orgasmic on both ends. What vampires were NOT full of was teenage angst and cheesy romance. Sadly, that change did not start with Twilight. The wussification of the vampire started further back with a rather more popular bit of media: Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Great in so many ways... except for their vampires.

 

[Devor]

The wussification of the vampire started further back with a rather more popular bit of media: Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Great in so many ways... except for their vampires.

By no standard that I'm aware of is Buffy more popular than Twilight.

 

[Telcontar]

By no standard that I'm aware of is Buffy more popular than Twilight.

Indeed. Popular was a poor word choice. More like "Enjoyed/Respected by people whom I, in turn, enjoy and respect." Somebody want to coin a word for that?

 

[Wanara009]

Work of fiction has this tendency to predict the future like that. Like the 1944 Donald Duck comic that predicted the existence of Methylene and how it react with other substance accurately 20 years before chemists could even prove the existence of methylene. Or the novel titled Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan, which predicted the sinking of Titanic 14 years before (the original version is published in 1898). Or how H.G. Wells predict the invention of atom bomb and its effect (i.e.: the radioactive fallout) in 1914 with eerie specificity.

Personally, I believe that writers of fiction are amongst the most intuitive being in the world.

 

[PlotHolio]

How about the time Futility predicted the sinking of the Titanic in striking detail years before it actually happened?

And as for the sexual undertones thing, you're probably right. I just like to imagine supernatural creatures as cold and brutal.

I like wendigos a lot.

 

[Anders Ämting]

Has the Age of Prophecy begun, or are people just getting to be so predictable that seeing the future takes less effort than lighting farts on fire?

First of all, you don't exactly need to be the Oracle of Delphi to predict that something that is extremely popular will have derivatives. It's just the natural order of things.

Second, Warm Bodies seems to be basically a parody on this kind supernatural romance stories. So it's less that PA predicted the future and more that the people who made this movie had basically the same idea as they PA did.