I thought "I have friends everywhere" was a reference to the lyrics of "The Partisan" but that one goes

"... I have changed my name so often
I've lost my wife and children
But I have many friends
And some of them are with me"

So no. Apparently it's a reference to the Starwars spinoff Andor (which I'm told is pretty good.)

Unless Andor was itself referencing the song?

... fandoms ... listen it's fine. I just get a bit stunned how much culture comes from the same six franchises all the time.

And it's not like it's even low quality stories, it's just always the same stories, you know?

I'm being a grump. Fine I'll watch "andor" give me a moment.

@futurebird so much this. I’m so tired.

@aredridel

"Ready Player One"

Poisoned me against all nostalgic recycled media for the rest of my life. Everything that book tried to celebrate just made it clear to me how narrow and ... arbitrary "beloved classics" are.

So, now it just all makes me deeply sad. Sad to see kids still going for Star Wars which was OLD when *I* was a child.

@aredridel

And from what I hear "Andor" sounds good. But can media only make a splash by being a part of something that already exists? It can feel that way. I'm certain there are artists and writers making it amazing ... but it's also still "Star Wars" ... AGAIN.

Yes it's maybe hypocritical that I don't get as agro about Star Trek but that's also part of the problem, that's just nostalgia.

OK rant over.

I conside them kinda the mythology of our day. Lots of cultures over time have made many different legends and stories about the same pantheon of gods or previous rulers or whatever. There's comfort in making your legends all set in the same universe and connected to one another as part of a grander story. I mean, of course it's also a corporate thing where the companies who own the franchises have lower risk in pumping more into existing franchises than gambling on something new, and promote and market their cash cows of merchandise. But still, people like familiar things.
@futurebird @aredridel

@JessTheUnstill @aredridel

yeah

I think it's that corporate bit that takes some of the joy out of it for me... and it's also why things like #backrooms #thebackrooms excite me so much... because they mostly fail to be really owned by any company (even though, lord knows, some are trying to make that happen)

So it feels more like real folklore.

I didn't invite corporate mascots to the campfire to tell stories. Please go away.