Background country of your stories

[starknights]

I don't have a set country background for my comic, but it set in modern times. It takes place in Polaris City (all the landmarks and etc have names based off space-y things) but it uses inspiration from many countries

[punkarsenic]

Still, would you guys read a fantasy story that takes place in an urban American city/town?

yes my dude! plenty of people are totally into that stuff

i think if you dont know much abt a countrys culture and the like, basing a story there isnt the best idea - unless you want to do the research! but then, thats a lot of effort, what about the story needs to be set in that country to work?

[Luminosophy]

Ngl this is the entire reason I wanted to make my own comic way back when I was 14, lol.

Everything on TV, anime or not, was always based in Japan and America and I wanted to use my home country (the part I lived in is non existent to the wider world and even other Aussies don't seem to think much of our existence) as an untapped resource. Not so much as urban fantasy like you're doing, but I took the physical environment as a setting because it's very different to what's known.

I don't have anything inherently against settings like Japan, I just find it's a genre oversaturation problem and it can be very awkward when the creator didn't live or grow up there. Usually they don't spend much effort reading about the culture so it just defaults to whatever anime taught them about Japan. (Insert Hayao Miyazaki's criticsm of anime.) Essentially the setting is just Japan because "it's cool and where anime lives."

So yeah, in short I wouldn't be against reading a fantasy that is set in places other than Asia.

[lunaartemisasama]

Almost all my stories are a mix of the capital city of a latin country, even the historical one.
Except one that will probably take place in Canada, in a fictional city in Canada that would probably be a Miami kind of if they had a real winter lol. I am still unsure about the setting.

[ihaveatoaster]

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[nelaukface]

comic im doing takes place in 80s us. those were iiiiinnnnteresting times...

[spadesart]

Still, would you guys read a fantasy story that takes place in an urban American city/town?

im a huge fan of urban fantasy. the setting of my own fantasy comic is very americanized too.

[GinnyClyde]

Yay!
My characters are American too lol

[GinnyClyde]

I feel that way too.
There is no way to really understand a culture and their reasoning without actually being there or experiencing it first hand. I guess I will write my story without worrying too much now.

[Devika]

Still, would you guys read a fantasy story that takes place in an urban American city/town?

Urban fantasy is a whole genre on its own, so I think it's safe to say that you'd find an audience for that!

I personally try to stick to settings I'm familiar with or know a lot about, which in my case is central and northern europe (where I've lived most of my time) and the tokyo area and medieval japan (university studies & exchange year).

[insomniascrawl]

Yes, I write one like that, I mean at the end of the day if the characterization is good and the plot is good, it's all good. If it fits your pet, go for it! And the readers will too.

[joannekwan]

All my currently publishing series take place in some fictionalized version of the US, because, well I'm from there. And the US has so many different pockets of landscapes both culturally and physically, you can get a wide variety of settings without leaving the country.

And YES, people do not behave like they do in anime. God, it's one reason I've not watched much or read much manga in recent years.

[sarrowsmith10]

My comic VSEPR is set in a fictional city "Mega-city" in the US. It's very much like Metropolis, Gotham, or Star-city you see in the DC super hero world. A sort of fantasy version of a city like New York. I lived in NY for many years, so it made sense to have a similar city. You write what you know I guess?

Our fantasy story Goblins of Razard is 100% fantasy location, but has heavy influences from the Italian Renaissance. This is mostly because me and the writer go to the local Ren Faire every year and we work on our costumes the whole year, and it's our big event together that we just love. So even though we aren't from Italy, we love to experience the fantasy play. That said, I've put a ton of research into period clothing and habits, weapons, etc. And the writer spends a lot of time reading dark fairy tales to gain inspiration and mood.

[caelesc]

Like the others have said, no need to set your story in a country you're not familiar with! If you place the story in your everyday environment you can sneak in bits of everyday life that are unique to your country! Don't forget, living in the US may be the norm to you, but there are plenty of people from other parts of the world that find your environment exotic. : )

[mybe1oved]

My story is based on a capital and country in the ancient Middle East, but it's a planet. I made countries more like planets instead. My characters stylization is based on medieval/Victorian clothing and armor with a hint of some other imagery.

[GinnyClyde]

Haha! I grew out of the anime phase. Now I watch k-drama instead

[GinnyClyde]

That sounds logical. And Tapas does have readers from around the world.

[rmdooley]

The comic I write IS a fantasy set in an American city

So heck yeah I would read a comic set in an American city/town

[djwaglmuffin]

My novel is set in the American Old West.

My comic is set in...cyber-future Italy/Egypt and other places.

And then I have a post-apocalyptic America and then one set in OUTER SPACE ...mmm...I don't really have a theme, I guess.

I tend to choose America because I've only been out of the country and few times and am not qualified to tell stories about those countries. Unless, of course, that's the type of story I'm trying to tell.

[Wumbl]

My current comic takes place in a fictional North-American country during the 1980s.

However I have several other stories in the same universe set in urban UK settings, the USA, varying european countries... I share with a co-writer and we like to base our stuff all over the world. Our timeline also stretches from the earliest american colonies to years like 2050.