Way With Worlds: Tropes And Worlds, The Living And The Dead

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lightning clouds storm

So last we met I discussed originality being an illusion, but I feel I do need to cover something – the use of tropes, stereotypes, and “seen-it-all-before” elements in our worldbuilding. For the sake of not having to abuse a thesaurus, I’m just going to call these “Tropes.” Plus it’s shorter to type.

I’ve talked about tropes as something that can kill a world because they’re unreal – yet at times tropes aren’t a problem. Let’s explore.

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Geek Catalog Update 10/26/2014

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And here’s the latest update on the Geek Catalog.  Be sure to check out the ever-growing lists for Geek Focus or Community Focus.

Comics

  • History
    • Wonder Woman Museum – A museum dedicated to Wonder Woman – and sponsors various charities as well.
  • Literacy
    • Comics For Kids – Collects and donates comics to kids, with a focus on literacy and developing creativity.
  • Military Support

Computing

  • Female Geeks
    • Girl Develop IT – A nonprofit that provides accessible programs for women who want to learn coding.
  • General
    • Code For Progress – A community that trains IT professionals, provides residency, and helps people get involved in communities and causes.

Video Games

  • Charity
    • GamesAid – An UK-based “Umbrella Charity” that supports a number of smaller charities that help disadvantages and disabled young people via video-game related events and activities.
    • Indie Games For Good – Indie Games For Goods raises money for Child’s Play by focusing on Indie Game marathons.

Writing

  • Literacy
    • LitWorld – A global nonprofit that does on-the-ground solutions to address literacy.

 

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, publishes books on career and culture at http://www.informotron.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Why Archie Is Hip

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http://www.salon.com/2014/10/25/how_archie_went_from_dull_to_daring_the_worlds_tamest_comic_series_is_now_our_most_groundbreaking/

Best summary I heard “In Riverdale Anything Can Happen.”

I think there’s something to that. Archie in concept is tethered to certain ideas and characters who are archetypical. This in some ways is limiting, but as the characters are about very human situations, it is a human tether.  Archie’s situations are human ones – love, school, life, death, food (especially in the case of Jughead).

But because Archie has this tether, you can then go hog wild with it in a way. It always has a ground, so go nuts.  Team Archie up with the Punisher, have him fight Predator, explore alternate timelines, create the Legion of Archie.  Whatever works – Archie and company are still themselves.

In turn the series own limited focus – wholesome teams in their rather nice town – provides a limitation.  In some ways the best thing to do is go a bit nuts – and you can, as you have themes to work with and return to.

Finally the human-humorous grounding gives you fertile ground to experiment. The message of Riverdale is “Everyone belongs,” as we’ve seen with the groundbreaking Kevin Keller.  Everyone is a pretty wide berth to experiment with.

Glad to meet the new Archie, same as the old Archie, a difference we can all be glad is the same.

 

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, publishes books on career and culture at http://www.informotron.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.