1. a wizard never plays fair 2. reach out with your feelings. you know it to be true.
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(just a little bit) more seriously, is that actually a speculative element? what is being speculated on? the future development of military robotics? I guess that's one possible reading but the whole thing is thrown off by "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away"
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Replying to @danlistensto @Aelkus
development of military robotics in some context somewhere; spec els need not be predictive or predicated on the present day as a starting point, or alternate history wouldn't be spec fic and it clearly is mind you you're specifying the big umbrella when you say spec fic
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Replying to @chaosprime @Aelkus
sure, very big umbrella. I disagree that specfic does not need to be predicated on present day (or some other real historical timespace coordinate) as starting point though. It can be oblique, but the reference must be present on some level.
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Replying to @danlistensto @Aelkus
well sure, they told you the spacetime coordinates: it's a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (which by any reasonable standard is all of them except the one you're in, to be sure) for my part i'd say the important thing is "doing the math", not "real world" referentiality
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like, if R2D2 weren't a spec el, he'd be just some kind of robot pet who fulfills his narrative functions as a familiar and that's the end of it. he's a spec el b/c, accidentally or no, the math is done on his social function and what it would imply for things like him to exist
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Replying to @chaosprime @Aelkus
Hedwig (HP's owl familiar) performs useful functions for protagonist as well, in extremis on multiple occasions, right up to the noble sacrifice.
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Replying to @danlistensto @Aelkus
you can have spec fic fantasy; Harry Potter religiously avoids doing the math, leading to an enormous amount of fan industry doing the math and being amused at itself at the absurd results, and occasional JK forays into pretending to do the math which turn out even worse
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"prior to the invention of the toilet wizards just shat themselves and disapparated it"
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Replying to @chaosprime @Aelkus
Ok, so terminal nerdism here, but let's go deeper. is that "speculative" fantasy? I think fantasy can be allegorical but not speculative. I think if it is speculative I'd classify as a sub-genre of magical realism rather than fantasy.
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was the point of 'speculative fiction' not to break out of the technical fetishism of the 'science fiction' label and embrace fantasy that tries to have a coherent worldview? how much are we trusting the Wikipedia article here exactly?
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Replying to @chaosprime @Aelkus
I think it was to distinguish between technology focused fiction vs. culturally focused fiction. Fantasy is specifically fiction told in a mytho-poetic mode and spec-fic does not umbrella that type of fiction.
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so 1984 is spec-fic but probably not sci-fi, though you will usually find it on the sci-fi shelf (among other places)
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