I have never written fan fiction or ‘fanon’ (fan canon). My experience with this type of personal mythos is that they run the gamut from absolutely horrible, atrocious half-cocked parables to stories that have sparks of sense of wonder and turn into what could have been. And actually, not all of them suck. The recent outcry of fans over the way that Mass Effect 3 ending has prompted the co founder of Bioware (the studio that made the game) to work on some sort of clarification to the ‘controversial’ ending of the game.

On one hand, it’s awesome that a company as prestigious as Bioware would listen to the consumer and respond to them by adding new content to refurbish the end result of Shepherd’s trilogy and let the players feel closure. I applaud them in this regard. On the other hand, it’s not about the ending we want. It’s about the ending we get.

In every manner of media or medium and in every genre, I’ve been arrogant enough to give my two cents. I would have had Tony Soprano get whacked at the end. In my revision of ‘Daredevil’, Guy Pearce would have been Matt Murdock instead of Affleck. Starbuck would NOT have been a ghost, spirit, vision, etc on Galactica. These are only a handful of my own versions (Matrix 3, anyone?) built from the time, patience and passion that I put into properties and ideas that I admire and that inspire me. My own personal canon.

What do you mean ‘Your OWN version?’ These are the correct versions as intended by the authors and artists. All artistic work is open for criticism, and people are free to like it and dislike it.

To stand there and say ‘I’m telling myself the ending is different’ is like looking at the Guernica and saying ‘I’m imagining this painting with a little more color.’

If you hate someones work, or disagree with the choices that were made, do what any good artist does- remake it BUT make it your own. That is how REAL art is forged. An artist hears or sees something that inspires them and then goes on to produce their own work, similar, but unique and in some ways better.

If you want to preserve the integrity of whatever cherished franchise you have in your memory, that’s fine. But reciting that Episodes of I through III of Star Wars ‘Never happened’ is wishful thinking at best and delusional at worst.

I do music but I am not a musician in the traditional sense of the word. I write words (i.e. lyrics) over melodies and musical arrangements. What I do is not for everyone and I’m perfectly fine with that. Take it or leave it, all of it is formed from the way I interpret ideas, feelings, thoughts etc and I wouldn’t change any of it for anyone.

Bioware should raise two middle fingers to those who hold the Mass Effect trilogy as sacrosanct. Don’t compromise your artistic integrity, EVER. You can’t be everything to everyone so why try. It takes some conscious effort to separate ourselves, step back and try to appreciate something for what it is, rather then for what it isn’t

-Dagobot