Nostalgia vs Progress (things are objectively better now)

 “The world’s the same size there is just less in it.” - Captain Jack Sparrow

Dungeon synth and mono mini led figurines. are both kind of in strange position. Both are tied a vibe often associated with 80s pop culture and yet utterly contemporary.

Dungeon synth took the surface aesthetic of black metal (dark, brooding gothic and venomously romantic towards suffering.) and mixed with 80s dark fantasy and horror film soundtracks. And created THE vibe music for OSR and old hammer.

It is often is dismissed as a nostalgia impulse towards simpler times. Yet it is nostalgia for a childhood of the prior generation. but in a  strange and liminal way it is an overlap of two things… cliches became that way because we (humanity) responded to them. And that DIY aesthetic endeavors have more easy access to the older forms of manufacturing that made the things in our past.

So to make a mono lead toy soldier you don’t need an engering degree just a rough sculpt, a mold and some heated lead.

And you can make dungeon synth with mostly freeware software that emulates old synths.

Standards for artistic endeavors are always going up.  And yet they never change. What you expect defines what you feel towards something.

Just on the old hammer front let’s use that as an example: just about everyone says the modern figures are objectively better than the past. And on detail level that is hard to argue with. But, they also cost more and more in common with micro model kits than toy solders.

I hear say “that is kinda the point!”

And I agree but you need to understand we’re making two separate points. When dealing with anything on the spectrum of potential outcomes for everything you are at any given moment. There is a thousand things you cannot be. and I would argue the old hammer style is better at being toy solders for gaming. Then the micro Michelangelo sculpture well over twice as much and you’re almost afraid to throw paint on them because you don’t want to ruin them.  

Likewise I think the 80s dark fantasy obssesion is a fascination with wonder and terror. Modern fantasy is more a Disney domestication of fantasy a box of crackerjack dreams and the soul is crying for something more like the brother’s grim. Something spooky on edge of the peripheral. 

Potential narrows as it deepens and what were all are wondering is why AI and copyright law are holding our dreams hostage, leveling lawyers and closing doors like a gun in our face and all they will say to us in our descent is “things are objectively better now.”