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Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Waterson, but you knew that already. |
I strongly dislike labels. And yet I recognize their incredible utility.
If I go into a video store (in the past..) and I know I want something cool and fantastic, I can go to the sci-fi and/or fantasy and/or horror sections to find it. I won't find it in the drama section. This is very useful because I'm not in the mood to watch 2 hours about a fucked up romance. I wanna see monsters and shit.
But it's also unfortunate because those labels are boxes that we put ourselves into. Without them, we might explore more territory and be more wildly creative. If I know I'm doing a sci-fi thing then I know I need to check off a few boxes. Maybe that alone is enough to stifle my creativity a little bit.
I dunno.
Here's a label I hate: Gen X.
I'm part of Gen X. But nobody called us that until at least the 90s and I honestly don't remember hearing that term until much later. Nobody talked like that back when I was young. Today... that's all the fuck you hear. It causes us to divide up into boxes based on the year we were born... which smacks of some kinda astrological bullshit if you ask me.
Social mores and pop trends change over time and we can broadly classify them into categories if we want. But there's no bright line between Gen X and Millennials and none between Millennials and whoever comes next. The overlap is staggering, huge.
Until you TELL people which category they belong in. Then suddenly some of them start modifying their behavior to fit it. Suddenly we're being sold products and ideas created by corporations, based on the definitions they've carved out for us. We're corralling ourselves into these dumb, stupid, silly boxes that are useful only for data mining, not for living fulfilled lives.
Here's a label you might know: OSR.
This one is very useful for one big, shiny, obvious reason. It's because Dungeons & Dragons is a trademark. We can't go around putting D&D on the cover of our RPG books, even though they are 100% part of that lineage. So, for better or worse, this label "OSR" has become the stand-in. And that does serve a handy purpose. But it still means we box ourselves in.
And yeah, I know, I know. OSR doesn't just mean D&D. But cool your heels... look around at all the game books with OSR labels on them and tell me how many are NOT part of the D&D lineage, in many cases being entirely compatible with that game. Just because you use OSR to just mean "like older games" doesn't mean the rest of the fuckin' world isn't using it to mean "this is off brand D&D".
Anyway... I feel this boxed in lack of air lately. It's probably why I've slowed down to a crawl with Black Pudding, which has always been an explicitly B/X D&D-based RPG zine... OSR. I'm in a creative head space right now where I don't want to make stuff for D&D. Not at this moment. I have other things I wanna do.
Speaking of... I do have the entire Heavy Helping Vol 2 completed and have had it completed for months. The only stumbling block has been some issues with getting it ready to go up on DTRPG. I'll try to focus and sort that out soon. I know I've promised it to a lot of people.
Real good shit. Feel like this ought to be obvious by now, but we're told otherwise so constantly that I appreciate you being a vocal voice of reason. You're one of my faves all around, and I can't wait to get Heavy Helping 2 printed whenever you're ready to put it up.
ReplyDeleteGot the ISBN sorted out this morning, so should be going live with it very soon! And I appreciate your comment. Working on a comic right now, which will eventually tie in to the space game I've been kicking around, ZSF. The comic is Hellion Cross. I'll be posting more about it as I get closer to finishing the issue.
DeleteYeah, I hope more stuff like POOL and Questing beast n shit is incoming!!!
ReplyDeleteSpace comic, space game... currently on the brain. Space fantasy, I mean. Definitely not hard sci-fi.
DeleteThe only thing I have ever found to be true is the Gen X is the last one to do anything analog or with analog technology. The rest of the label is horseshit for the most part. Depending where you grew up you might actually think more like another horsehit label: boomer. Labels aren't people as you have pointed out. Labels are a social construct cop out.
ReplyDeleteAs a big Black Pudding/Heavy Helping fan, I wanna say in earnest: feel free to back burner it for as long as you want. Doesn't matter one bit. I'll buy it whether it comes out in 2024 or 2034 (assuming we're still kickin' then and the Octopus Empire hasn't asserted dominion over Earth yet). I am extremely excited for Comic Book James to take the reins for awhile and show off some unbridled brain-to-paper, no-mechanics-just-cool projects.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this post's thesis and I feel a lot of that lack of air (for very different, but also weirdly similar, reasons) squeezing me the past year or two and it's a huge weight on me when I let it be. I think shrugging the weight of being boxed in off your shoulders is good for your health and obviously good for your creative process. Keep going with the directions that feel natural and exciting in your gut and you'll keep making stuff you're proud of and we're lining up to buy and read.
Another banger of a post.
Hey, thanks! BPHHV2 is ready to go. I'm planning to upload it tonight, actually! Then just gotta wait for them to greenlight the POD. I don't want to put the PDF up until the POD is ready so that people can get both at once (PDF free with POD).
DeleteI appreciate you very much. You and a small cadre of others have kept up with what I'm doing and it definitely lets me know I'm not just drawing into a black void. Thanks.
"I'm not in the mood to watch 2 hours about a fucked up romance. I wanna see monsters and shit."
ReplyDeleteAwesome. :)
I couldn't agree more with you about the OSR label and its association with D&D.. I use the label myself my definition though is less about mechanical play style and more about meta game play interaction and feel. Dude go with the flow.of creativity, its when we create the best. I love Black Pudding, but if something else is calling DO IT!. Black Pudding will be there when you get back.
ReplyDeleteBobby
w00tgames.WordPress.com
Do stuff in whatever order you need to, man. I'm guessing I speak for most of your readers when I say that I'd much rather you publish stuff farther down the line than expected and be happy with it.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I appreciate that feedback for sure. New BP Heavy Helping proof copy is ordered... not long now.
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