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Jamie's Universes and Milliways
Aug. 5th, 2007 09:40 pmOkay. The Homeward Bounders posits a nearly-infinite number of universes arranged in smaller or larger groupings, with many of them echoing each other and the closest ones linked by places where people can cross from one to another. So far, that fits almost perfectly into the Milliways cosmology, such as it is.
However, all of the universes in The Homeward Bounders have been drained of reality, taken over by Them, and turned into giant playgrounds for complex war-games. I think it is safe to say that most people would rather not have this assumed of their character's universe, so this is where I tweak canon a little. We know that there are a finite number of Them, because there are a finite number of Homeward Bounders; it's the plot point that allows Them to be defeated. Therefore, it makes much more sense to me to assume that instead of taking over all possible universes, as Jamie believes, They have only infested certain groups around the edges - definitely far far away from central universes, or universe-groups, that have powerful beings to protect them (for example, the Fionavarverse with its gods, the Dark Tower universes with the Guardians and the Tower, or the Young Wizardsverse with its PTBs).
Of course, while They remain in control of those universes, none of the Homeward Bounders could have been allowed to move to any universe not under Their control. It would allow the random factors an escape and invalidate the rules of the game. Jamie narrates the book, and he's clearly not infallible; since Jamie has never been to any universe outside of the game, he would have no way of knowing that there were free universes out there as well. After They are defeated, though, Jamie should be able to travel to any universe in the whole of the multiverse. Assuming this explanation allows for some of those universes to belong to Milliways characters, if desired, without forcing a complicated canoncross - and of course, if anyone wants to say that their universe had a set of Them, that would be perfectly possible as well.
A further consequence of this is that the rules set up by Them to deal with the Homeward Bounders should really only apply in those worlds run by Them. While in any of Their worlds, Jamie can't kill, can't die, can't be interfered with in certain ways (stolen from, imprisoned, etc.) without something drastic happening to those who attempt it. None of this will apply while in Milliways, and probably not in any of the worlds after They are banished - something which Jamie will have to figure out for himself before he accidentally gets himself stabbed. I haven't decided how I want to deal with the aging thing in Milliways yet. I'm tempted to say that while in Milliways he ages normally in a way he doesn't while walking the Bounds, but that might be too great a temptation for him.
However, all of the universes in The Homeward Bounders have been drained of reality, taken over by Them, and turned into giant playgrounds for complex war-games. I think it is safe to say that most people would rather not have this assumed of their character's universe, so this is where I tweak canon a little. We know that there are a finite number of Them, because there are a finite number of Homeward Bounders; it's the plot point that allows Them to be defeated. Therefore, it makes much more sense to me to assume that instead of taking over all possible universes, as Jamie believes, They have only infested certain groups around the edges - definitely far far away from central universes, or universe-groups, that have powerful beings to protect them (for example, the Fionavarverse with its gods, the Dark Tower universes with the Guardians and the Tower, or the Young Wizardsverse with its PTBs).
Of course, while They remain in control of those universes, none of the Homeward Bounders could have been allowed to move to any universe not under Their control. It would allow the random factors an escape and invalidate the rules of the game. Jamie narrates the book, and he's clearly not infallible; since Jamie has never been to any universe outside of the game, he would have no way of knowing that there were free universes out there as well. After They are defeated, though, Jamie should be able to travel to any universe in the whole of the multiverse. Assuming this explanation allows for some of those universes to belong to Milliways characters, if desired, without forcing a complicated canoncross - and of course, if anyone wants to say that their universe had a set of Them, that would be perfectly possible as well.
A further consequence of this is that the rules set up by Them to deal with the Homeward Bounders should really only apply in those worlds run by Them. While in any of Their worlds, Jamie can't kill, can't die, can't be interfered with in certain ways (stolen from, imprisoned, etc.) without something drastic happening to those who attempt it. None of this will apply while in Milliways, and probably not in any of the worlds after They are banished - something which Jamie will have to figure out for himself before he accidentally gets himself stabbed. I haven't decided how I want to deal with the aging thing in Milliways yet. I'm tempted to say that while in Milliways he ages normally in a way he doesn't while walking the Bounds, but that might be too great a temptation for him.
