Random Thoughts From Out of Nowhere
- Thread starter Caldwin
- Start date
The "sad" reaction on the previous page was a recognition that transmedia franchises are not easy to manage (despite what Di$ney thinks). Indeed, I don't think anyone really gave the notion serious thought until the 2000s -- and there isn't a single approach now, if one looks at the major ones.
Regarding the Whoniverse, the BBC feels (accurately or no) that establishing a canon policy for the Doctor and all related characters (who have their own rights under British IP law, so Pedlar/Davis Estates could greenlight a Cybermen story in which the Doctor does not appear) violates their charter as a public broadcaster, so screen adventures, comics, novels, Big Finish audios, all make one big wibbly-wobbly ball of ... well, timey-wimey stuff. (It really only gets contradictory with the Eighth Doctor's time between the 1996 TV Movie with the Pertwee Logo and "Night of the Doctor", but one can always blame Faction Paradox for that....)
Paramount takes a stricter approach to Star Trek, but even they have gone back-and-forth on the canonicity of The Animated Series. Michael and Denise Okuda, back when they worked for Paramount, snuck in as many references as they could during the Berman era as an upraised middle finger to Richard Arnold's pronouncements that it was not and could never be canon.
Star Wars developed its old sliding-scale-of-Legends-canonicity in part because Episodes I and II were not gelling well with what little had been allowed to be written about the Clone Wars era. After the 2014 acquisition, Di$ney promised a new and coherent, retcon-free approach to their New Canon. How long that actually lasted depends on whom you talk to.
The Alien franchise has had not one but two ancilliary material flushes, and the director who started it all coming back and giving us a Base Breaking return film. That said, I think that the fandom expectations, such as they were, were arguably a little stock (basically post-Vietnam mil-sci-fi and another Queen doing the eusocial-insect thing), and doing something different isn't necessarily bad.
Honestly, when it comes to ill-treated fanbases, I think Highlander wins that prize. You've got the first movie, a generally-well-regarded TV series, the increasingly-obscure anime, and, well, it's kind of all downhill from there....
Regarding the Whoniverse, the BBC feels (accurately or no) that establishing a canon policy for the Doctor and all related characters (who have their own rights under British IP law, so Pedlar/Davis Estates could greenlight a Cybermen story in which the Doctor does not appear) violates their charter as a public broadcaster, so screen adventures, comics, novels, Big Finish audios, all make one big wibbly-wobbly ball of ... well, timey-wimey stuff. (It really only gets contradictory with the Eighth Doctor's time between the 1996 TV Movie with the Pertwee Logo and "Night of the Doctor", but one can always blame Faction Paradox for that....)
Paramount takes a stricter approach to Star Trek, but even they have gone back-and-forth on the canonicity of The Animated Series. Michael and Denise Okuda, back when they worked for Paramount, snuck in as many references as they could during the Berman era as an upraised middle finger to Richard Arnold's pronouncements that it was not and could never be canon.
Star Wars developed its old sliding-scale-of-Legends-canonicity in part because Episodes I and II were not gelling well with what little had been allowed to be written about the Clone Wars era. After the 2014 acquisition, Di$ney promised a new and coherent, retcon-free approach to their New Canon. How long that actually lasted depends on whom you talk to.
The Alien franchise has had not one but two ancilliary material flushes, and the director who started it all coming back and giving us a Base Breaking return film. That said, I think that the fandom expectations, such as they were, were arguably a little stock (basically post-Vietnam mil-sci-fi and another Queen doing the eusocial-insect thing), and doing something different isn't necessarily bad.
Honestly, when it comes to ill-treated fanbases, I think Highlander wins that prize. You've got the first movie, a generally-well-regarded TV series, the increasingly-obscure anime, and, well, it's kind of all downhill from there....
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Not like the Star Wars Legends novels were all that coherent about continuity half the time either, mostly as a result of being written by dozens of authors across several publishers. Timothy Zahn spends half of the Hand of Thrawn duology taking shots at it.
Oh no, and Corey's Datapad is one Tube of You Channel that's very very honest about the lore it re-encapsulates for us.
And while Sue Rostoni and to a lesser-extent-as-time-went-on George Himself were signing off on things (which is why Zahn's Noghri were not the Sith species as he originally planned, for example), the Prequel Trilogy necessitated quite a bit of deeper care and attention as Bantam Spectra's management of the novels gave way to Del Rey's. So the 1980s and 1990s were a bit more free-wheeling, but the timeline required managing (and the Lore-Holocron needed a Keeper) by 2000. It's pretty impressive that the consistency we had ended up being achievable -- yes, there are retcon patches, but no less a saga than Tolkien's Legendarium has those as well, so count me among those who though that a retcon-free consistency was ultimately a foolish goal to strive for by the New New Management.
Cybermen? I dunno while it could be done, I don’t think there’s a lot of fans who want a series about the mooks that killed Yamcha.
Huh.
The 2024 rerelease of Interstellar made more money to date than The Crow or Megalopolis.
The 2024 rerelease of Interstellar made more money to date than The Crow or Megalopolis.
That mutant spider in my front yard keeps putting webs right in my path. It's like walking into a wall.
Its likely complaining that a stupid human is ruining its beauitful website and preventing it from creating the greatest website of them all!
Why is it so hard to find packs of sheet wrap for Chirstmas these days? Out of all the shops that sale Christmas stuff only one had Sheet wrap and only one desgin, everywhere else had rolls and frankly, they are only good for large gifts, not small gifts!
If you have a hard time cutting rolls to the right size, here's some general advice:
-Some rolls have grids marked on the wrong side. Makes cutting straight lines much easier.
-Cut the roll into sheets yourself. Weigh down the part you're cutting with books or whatever's handy so the paper doesn't curl in on itself while cutting.
-Sharpen your scissors a bit by cutting aluminum foil. Cut the paper just a bit, then let them glide the rest of the way. You can also fold the paper so you don't lose track of where you're cutting.
-On the odd side, use old newspaper/advertisements to wrap the gifts, and/or use random boxes to stuff them into. It can be amusing to use things like granola bar boxes or whatnot.
-Forget the wrapping paper. Use gift bags and tissue paper instead. Hit dollar stores for cheap supplies. You could even use weird party favor bags or even paper lunch bags and doodle on them.
-Some rolls have grids marked on the wrong side. Makes cutting straight lines much easier.
-Cut the roll into sheets yourself. Weigh down the part you're cutting with books or whatever's handy so the paper doesn't curl in on itself while cutting.
-Sharpen your scissors a bit by cutting aluminum foil. Cut the paper just a bit, then let them glide the rest of the way. You can also fold the paper so you don't lose track of where you're cutting.
-On the odd side, use old newspaper/advertisements to wrap the gifts, and/or use random boxes to stuff them into. It can be amusing to use things like granola bar boxes or whatnot.
-Forget the wrapping paper. Use gift bags and tissue paper instead. Hit dollar stores for cheap supplies. You could even use weird party favor bags or even paper lunch bags and doodle on them.
My family often uses newspaper or paper grocery sacks for wrapping.
And, fun story, for our first Christmas together (before we were married), I had a custom stained glass butterfly made for my wife, but I wrapped it in the box for Victorion (yes, the Transformer). When she opened it at my family's Christmas gathering, I talked up how cool and unique this new combiner was, and the looks I got from both her and my parents was priceless! When she actually opened it and saw what it really was, it was totally worth it!
And, fun story, for our first Christmas together (before we were married), I had a custom stained glass butterfly made for my wife, but I wrapped it in the box for Victorion (yes, the Transformer). When she opened it at my family's Christmas gathering, I talked up how cool and unique this new combiner was, and the looks I got from both her and my parents was priceless! When she actually opened it and saw what it really was, it was totally worth it!
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No, I got some but the desgin options are limited!
...
*opens mouth*
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*closes mouth*
...
I...I...
...
Way to kill a joke, dude!
*applause* Well played. Once my mother-in-law packed a small gift for her nephew (TMM's cousin) in random boxes nesting inside each other. We wanted to give her the box our PS5 came in for the outside box, but sadly couldn't find it in time. XD
i never thought i'd resort to wearing a hoodie indoors but i guess that's what you gotta do when it's 10 frickin degrees outside
my fingers are cold
my fingers are cold
I would just die. If it's in the 60s I need a space heater.