Question of my own

Subject: Question of my own
Author: Jacer
Posted on: 2011-10-10 02:40:00 UTC

I've been wondering this for a bit. Continuum vs. universe vs. canon.

Say we have Continuum A and Continuum B. Continuum A does not reference Continuum B. Continuum B makes a few references in-canon to Continuum A, of the kind that one would make to something real. Taken on their own by someone who only knows Continuum B, the references are pretty much throwaway, but for someone who knows both A and B, they may connect the continua. B also has extra-canon material and/or Word of God that connects the two in some way.

So, are A and B in the same universe? The same continuum? What is canon and what is not?

In other words, if I write about Portal in any capacity, do I have to treat it as connected to Half Life in any way?

My brain says "So Aperture has a rival company named Black Mesa that supposedly stole their technology. Nothing else explicit is stated in-canon. Nice coincidence with Half Life, but no absolute connection."

I am doubting my brain in the technicality of this.

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Question! by Gamma on 2011-10-09 20:11:00 UTC Reply

So quite a few months ago, I received permission to write for the PPC. I promptly dropped off the face of the earth to do real life stuff. Unfortunately, I look back on my agents and realize that, while there are some bits I do like, I have changed a lot with both of them in my head without even realizing it.

Would I have to re-apply with their revised apps, or am I good to go?

(Also hello again, gosh I've missed the board, haha...)

While we're asking questions... by OpinionedAngel on 2011-10-10 14:01:00 UTC Reply

Can my Floater Agents (who I'm still writing out) exorcise a continuum even if I don't have the proper canon materials in real life? Or say, if I'm sporking a Simpsons badfic (and I have one squarely in my sights for future sporking) and I don't have the season DVDs but have a bunch of books instead?

Canon Library by EileenAlphabet on 2011-10-10 14:24:00 UTC Reply

The PPC have a Canon Library, where agents can borrow canon sources to use in exorcisms or if they need to check things. http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/Canon_Library

So it is perfectly possible for your agents to have access to material that you don't have in real life.

Thanks by OpinionedAngel on 2011-10-12 03:53:00 UTC Reply

Now I got a new question: say I have a mini dragon (not a mini, just a little dragon), but I also want to adopt a mini when I know having a dragon around would be a bad idea. What should I do?

Re: Thanks by EileenAlphabet on 2011-10-14 08:53:00 UTC Reply

That rather depends on why it is a bad idea to have a dragon around with the mini.
For example, my agents have a bunch of mini-Darkspawn, several of which can breath fire. One of my agents is made out of plant material and has a kitten made out of tulips as a pet, so they have to be treated with flame repellent twice a week. That's how I work around it.

But again, it depends on what the problem is.

Well... by OpinionedAngel on 2011-10-14 17:21:00 UTC Reply

I'm getting my dragon from the same source as your tulip cat, and was warned not to leave it alone with pets, which probably includes minis. So, any ideas? 'Cause I'm drawing a blank...

Re: Well... by EileenAlphabet on 2011-10-16 08:07:00 UTC Reply

I with Neshomeh on this one. 'Pets' do not necessarily include minis, since most minis can fend for themselves.
However, if you are reluctant to just put them together and see if they get along or try to fight it out, you could give them a long period of getting used to each other. In the beginning you could try having them in separate rooms with the door slightly ajar, things like that. You can look up how to get two cats used to each other, for ideas.
Most minis can take care of themselves. by Neshomeh on 2011-10-14 18:15:00 UTC Reply

I mean, if we're talking about something like a mini-Balrog or a mini-Aragog, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Given that minis are generally used as bodyguards for their canon characters at the OFUs, they have to be fairly resilient.

Of course, there's always keeping the dragon in a cage when the agents are away.

~Neshomeh

Question of my own by Jacer on 2011-10-10 02:40:00 UTC Reply

I've been wondering this for a bit. Continuum vs. universe vs. canon.

Say we have Continuum A and Continuum B. Continuum A does not reference Continuum B. Continuum B makes a few references in-canon to Continuum A, of the kind that one would make to something real. Taken on their own by someone who only knows Continuum B, the references are pretty much throwaway, but for someone who knows both A and B, they may connect the continua. B also has extra-canon material and/or Word of God that connects the two in some way.

So, are A and B in the same universe? The same continuum? What is canon and what is not?

In other words, if I write about Portal in any capacity, do I have to treat it as connected to Half Life in any way?

My brain says "So Aperture has a rival company named Black Mesa that supposedly stole their technology. Nothing else explicit is stated in-canon. Nice coincidence with Half Life, but no absolute connection."

I am doubting my brain in the technicality of this.

About Portal and Half-Life... by LunarHuntress on 2011-10-11 21:32:00 UTC Reply

... I think at one point Valve confirmed that they do, in fact, take place in the same universe.

So, while Chell was in stasis, the Combine invaded. The Black Mesa that Aperture doesn't like is the same Black Mesa that Gordon Freeman works for. That kind of thing.

Well, yes, but. by Jacer on 2011-10-12 00:44:00 UTC Reply

Does the PPC consider Word of God to be canon, even though it's not in the original source material? Or do we consider canon as the source material only?

The reason I ask is that personally, I don't consider most Word of God to be canon. If that's not the PPCs viewpoint, I don't want to write like it is.

I don't know about PPCers in general, but... by Neshomeh on 2011-10-12 16:00:00 UTC Reply

I'd say it is. I mean, whether it's the author saying it through a narrator or directly, in an interview or something, it's still the author saying it. Pretty much always, there just isn't room in a story to say everything the author knows about it.

~Neshomeh

Latches on to Jacer's question by EileenAlphabet on 2011-10-10 08:52:00 UTC Reply

Cracked made a list with universes that overlap, so while it isn't excactly common, it is something that comes up once in a while. http://www.cracked.com/article193236-movie-tv-universes-that-overlap-in-mind-blowing-ways.html

I've also been wondering about the opposite, which seems to be more common. For example in a episode of Supernatural, Dean calls a couple of FBI-agents 'Mulder and Scully' indicating that X-files is a television-show in the Supernatural-universe. Does that mean that a crossover between the two, would be considered inherently
more implausible than crossovers with other continua? And what does it mean when William B. Davis (the actor playing the Cigarette-Smoking Man from X-files) has a small role in Supernatural, without Dean commenting on his apparance?

Partial answer. by Neshomeh on 2011-10-10 17:06:00 UTC Reply

Guvnor and I had an instance of this sort of thing in the mission we just published. While we didn't get into it in the mission itself, we did note that the Harry Potter books do exist in the Alex Rider universe, which makes the crossover a bit weirder than it otherwise would be. However, it's not any more implausible than the "girl falls into Middle-earth" thing. In both cases, you'd just expect that the author would discuss the weirdness of discovering that a supposedly fictional world actually exists, and that the protagonists wouldn't simply accept it without question.

So, I guess my answer is no, it's not necessarily more implausible than other types of crossovers. It just has to be justified or explained appropriately, like any other premise does.

~Neshomeh

Yes, I saw that by EileenAlphabet on 2011-10-10 21:23:00 UTC Reply

That mission was one of the things that got me thinking about this.
But I'll keep it in mind in the future, that one fictional universe being know in another should be explained or at least discussed.

Derp. "in-canon" should be "in-game" the second time. (nm) by Jacer on 2011-10-10 02:42:00 UTC Reply

ALSO ANOTHER QUESTION by Gamma on 2011-10-09 23:50:00 UTC Reply

Because I knew I was forgetting to ask something!

Right, so, in this book series I read- a fairly obscure one- there are two characters that are mentioned; Twins, Delwin and Sand, if that's relevant. Anyway, these twins are mentioned as probably being dead because they ran off a while before the books even started to do their own thing.

However, faking death is kind of a theme in their family; Even the main character was thought to be dead and it was a huge surprise to everyone when he showed up.

They're mentioned all of two or three times throughout the whole ten-book series and in the prequels and short stories subsequent to it. We don't get descriptions, characterization, personalities...Nothing but their names and parentage. They never show up and none of the other characters care because they're not legitimate children of the king, and therefore not a threat to getting the throne.

Basically, what I'm asking is if it would be allowed to use the two of them as agents, with proper credit to the author, of course.

In all probability, I'm not going to be allowed because copyrighted characters, but hey, might as well ask, right?

Recruiting canons- by JulyFlame on 2011-10-10 00:51:00 UTC Reply

Is generally looked down upon.

There are legacy cases, but it shouldn't be continued.

I figured as much. Thanks for confirming, though. by Gamma on 2011-10-10 01:27:00 UTC Reply

I just wanted to make sure before I did anything, so now I know that I won't be doing that.

Hello again! by Tomash on 2011-10-09 21:38:00 UTC Reply

Have some welcome-back Bleepka!

Thanks, I'll probably need it! (nm) by Gamma on 2011-10-09 22:18:00 UTC Reply

Answer by Phobos on 2011-10-09 20:21:00 UTC Reply

You already have permission. Go forth and write your agents as you will.

Good to have you back.

-Phobos

Right, cool! Thanks! by Gamma on 2011-10-09 20:55:00 UTC Reply

Just figured I should check first, is all!