u/Sin778

I've been deliberating the technological level of the place my story is set in for a while now. Originally I wanted it to just be regular steam-based technology (like what would have been available ~1750 in our world, just in a fantasy setting), but now I've decided that it'd be really fitting for one of my POV characters to have an advanced prosthetic hand (because it makes sense thematically and is also just cool as shit). Obviously that is far out of the realm of what's possible with steam-based technology in out world, so I've been toying with the idea of leaning a bit more into steampunk. It'd also make sense for steam-technology to advance in my setting beyond what it did in out world since it's set in a very isolated place with limited resources, so properly making use of electricity would probably not be possible, so leaning harder into steampunk does come pretty naturally to my setting.

But now my dilemma is that I don't want to lean too hard into the usual steampunk aesthetic and I also don't want it to be too high tech. More along the lines of "there is advanced steam-based technology, but mass producing anything that's a lot crazier than our world is impossible". I just fear that, just in terms of the setting, it'll come out feeling like a half-baked steampunk story that neither appeals to steampunk fans nor fantasy fans.

Do you have any tips for writing settings that have a more subtle/low-key implementation of their fantastical elements? Settings where the fantastical things don't immediately jump out at you and hit you in the face, but whenever you do catch a glimpse of them it's absolutely awesome. And, ideally, do you have any recommendations for novels that do this sort of thing really well? After all, reading a good novel that fits what I want to do will probably be the best teacher.

Is it possible to do this in a satisfying way that doesn't frustrate the reader or would you say never ever do this? I'm thinking about this concerning a scene I want to write right now and am unsure of how to approach it.

Obviously Unreliable Narrators are a thing, but I've only ever encountered those in first person (at least I can't think of any third person limited unreliable narrators). In my mind, a third person narrator always has at least some level of objectivity to it, so withholding internal monolouges about said secret seems bad.

I'm also not talking about something the character would keep secret over the course of a whole story, more like over the course of a single chapter. Something like character thinks of a secret plan even their allies aren't supposed to know and you as the reader only see that they've thought of this plan once they've put it into motion.

Can this be done well or would simply switching to another POV character be better?

Metal is so much more versatile of a genre than a lot of people unfamiliar with it realize. I really believe that there is a small niche inside the metal genre anyone can enjoy, so much so that I'm willing to bet I can find a good song for most people who'll comment.

I really think so many more people could get into metal if someone actually gave them a recommendation that fit their taste, instead of having them get into metal "the right way" by recommending the same five classiv heavy metal bands. If these are the right recommendations for someone, great, but if they aren't they won't ever be able to experience all of the great, unique stuff that exists beyond that.

Even if you don't think a metal song that fits the criteria of your "perfect song" could exist, I still implore you to give it a shot. Like I said, I'm decently confident that I can find something good for almost anyone who's willing to give this an honest shot, and if I do well enough maybe it'll inspire you to look into some metal subgenres a little more on your own.

I don't claim that I'll be able to turn you into a full on metalhead or find you your new favorite song (though it'd be nice if I could haha), but I hope I'll still be able to show you something new that you like.

Make your description as long or as short as you'd like. I'll work with whatever you give me.

And If you have a song that exemplifies your perfect song, you can also mention it. I'll listen to it and make my recommendation based on it.

Metal is so much more versatile of a genre than a lot of people unfamiliar with it realize. I really believe that there is a small niche inside the metal genre anyone can enjoy, so much so that I'm willing to bet I can find a good song for most people who'll comment.

I really think so many more people could get into metal if someone actually gave them a recommendation that fit their taste, instead of having them get into metal "the right way" by recommending the same five classiv heavy metal bands. If these are the right recommendations for someone, great, but if they aren't they won't ever be able to experience all of the great, unique stuff that exists beyond that.

Even if you don't think a metal song that fits the criteria of your "perfect song" could exist, I still implore you to give it a shot. Like I said, I'm decently confident that I can find something good for almost anyone who's willing to give this an honest shot, and if I do well enough maybe it'll inspire you to look into some metal subgenres a little more on your own.

I don't claim that I'll be able to turn you into a full on metalhead or find you your new favorite song (though it'd be nice if I could haha), but I hope I'll still be able to show you something new that you like.

Make your description as long or as short as you'd like. I'll work with whatever you give me.

And If you have a song that exemplifies your perfect song, you can also mention it. I'll listen to it and make my recommendation based on it.

Metal is a much more versatile genre than a lot of people who aren't that familiar with it give it credit for. The reason might be that a lot of metal fans seem allergic to recommending people new to the genre anything but the same five classic metal bands, no matter what. If you end up liking them, great, but if you don't you never get to hear all the other things the genre has to offer that might be much more to your liking.

So, I'll give you specific recommendations based on your taste in music. I listen to a lot of different stuff, so I'm pretty confident that I can find something you'll like, even if you think metal music that suits your taste doesn't exist. Feel free to describe what exactly it is about the song you recommend that you enjoy, too.

Any song or genre is fine, but please keep it to one song per comment.

Please let me know how I did!

I mostly listen to metal, but there are a few pop artists/songs I really like (I won't mention then to not bias the recommendations). I don't really like most pop music I hear, but I'd be happy to find more that fit my taste.

I like music that feels genuine, musicians and singers with high technical abilities (ideally paired compositional abilities to make use of them in a way other than just showing off), musicians who aren't afraid to break away from standard song structure and are just generally creative with their compositions/instrumentation (not every song needs to be different just for the sake of it, but I like artists who show that they can think outside the box).

My favorite type of song would probably be energetic ballads.

I'm open to giving anything a shot. I'll listen to whatever you recommend and tell you if I liked it.

Metal is a very varied genre with a million different subgenres and I think a lot of people still have a pretty narrow interpretation of what metal can be.

I listen to a lot of metal, and a lot of different subgenres, so I'm pretty confident in my ability to find fitting songs based on whatever you send me.

And I'll just be happy to listen to your recommendations and hopefully find something good songs outside of what I usually listen to. I'll let you know what I thought of your song and my logic behind my pick.