Urban Fantasy: To Not Shy Away From Vice

This is a more unusual post, as it pertain to society and politics but also how it relates to my ongoing work on my Urban Fantasy setting. This isn't exactly a pleasant post and I'm sure that, of all ten people who actually read this blog most will find offense in my rambles. So be it, then. Much of this is going to come as a bit of ramble and incoherent but generally I'm poor at structuring my own words and ideas anyway.

To Not Shy Away From Vice

Let's not beat around the bush here: we are currently living through a mass hysteria, where everything can and must be 'cancelled', erased, destroyed and/or repurposed. In the name of supposedly good ideals we are destroying ourselves and our past. This is what is deemed to be 'Virtue' and to oppose such mindless self-destruction is considered to be 'Vice'. Therefore, this post is me Vice Signalling where others would signal their Virtue. It is what it is, but nonetheless I will explain my position.

There are many times, when writing about or GMing my Urban Fantasy game that I have to address the darker parts of human nature because it is what it is. So why do I call this to 'To Not Shy Away', then? Simple: because self censorship in the name of a certain good is not good, but evil. The cosmos of my Urban Fantasy setting is very human-centric, with the very nature, existence and expression of what makes us human at its very core unlike other worlds where humanity is insignificant. As such a  fundamental value expressed within that world is that the potential for Good and Evil exist in us all. It is a view where pessimism and optimism exist in equal amount. 'Evil' within that world is limited to a type of person or to a certain group, civilization, culture or religion. 'Evil' is what is born from the absence of good and, most importantly, the void created when our very humanity is something we reject and let me tell you: this is no greater embrace of inhumanity than self-destruction. This can take many form, including deliberately shying away from the darker side of humanity to coddle oneself and wrap oneself into an echo chamber.

There are no guidelines at my table (be it a real tabletop or online). There are no rules and no oath anyone will ever force me to take. Do note I wrote force, as obviously trying to be a responsible adult (haha as if!) and adapting to avoid what would truly, seriously disgust my players and friends is fine however that would be something done willingly out of respect for an individual, not to some faceless collective. Unless something is of an issue which someone I trust and respect goes "Well, I don't really like that topic" then I will never shy away from the darker sides of humanity. We are not children. Lastly, to deny the existence of human vices and warts is fundamentally wrong, as is coddling ourselves in believing that only certain individuals are capable of good or evil.

Or, to be crass: Fuck your puritan mindset, I do what I want when I want and you won't stop me from going into horror and disturbing topics. If I am a demon, so are you.