Playing Dice With the Multiverse — Moved
We’ve moved the content in Playing Dice with the Multiverse to the main site, so any URLs that went to the old site may be a little wonky. All of the dates, categories, and tags are the same as the old posts, so you can check those dates/categories/tags here.
Canon Fire
Apparently we’re arguing over the importance of canon now. Ay dios mio. Well, this is something that matters to me as a writer, so here’s my two bits.
IMO, the biggest problem we have is that the community (fandom, artists, and critics – and that Venn diagram is far from a 100% overlap) is really discussing two things when they talk about “canon” for a franchise. One type of canon is continuity – the sequence of events that takes place in a story or series of stories set in the same timeline. The other is what I’m going to refer to here as legacy – the body of stories and/or legends that constitute the foundation of a setting/franchise/narrative.
They are not the same thing.
Mild, old-ish (no later than 2018) spoilers for the Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, DC, and Marvel franchises past the jump.
Thoughts, Self, And The Universe
The “self” isn’t the part that’s one with the universe, insofar as anything is “individual.” The observer is the “true self,” the part of us that’s US. …
Cosmic Designs
While there’s nothing wrong with willing suspension of disbelief, I’m one of those people who likes to pop open the proverbial hood and get into a setting’s engine. (It will undoubtedly amuse some that I have no such desire with my actual car. I want it to get me from point A to point B and back with minimal fuss.)
Critical Failure
This is about honor.
If I am the first word you’re getting about this, leaks from Wizards of the Coast (a Hasbro subsidiary, and trust me, this is important right now) have revealed a plan to “deauthorize” the original version of its Open Gaming License, 1.0(a), and replace it with a new version. A relatively recent article from Gizmodo about this fiasco can get you up to date about what Hasbro planned and where we stand as of this writing.
The fan base has had a great many issues with the new license, not the least of which is that is in no way “open,” but IMO the attempt to “deauthorize” the original OGL 1.0(a) is the most egregious, both from an ethical standpoint and in the public opinion backlash that came from it. The TL;DR version is that by every indication we have, Wizards/Hasbro wants to destroy the old OGL despite the fact that it was intended to be irreversible. They gave their word, and now they’re planning to betray everyone who relied on that oath despite their disingenuous statements to the contrary. Read More