The extended 10,000 Dawns franchise has very good reasons not to give a damn about the concept of “canon”.
The first is that it centres on a multiverse, so even if a given story didn't happen to “the” Graelyn Scythes, it's quite likely that it's real somewhere. The second is that it's young enough and inclusive enough that no 10,000 Dawns story anyone might want to characterize as "non-canonical" has yet been published.
However, we, as a Wiki, do still have to set some boundaries about what gets in-depth coverage and what doesn't.
Rule 1: Crossovers[]
The "crossover universes" are canonical…[]
The 10,000 Dawns may be the primary setting of the series, but they are not the whole of the omniverse — and on more than one occasion, they have interacted, in a 10,000 Dawns story, with dimensions that, instead of being created for the occasion, already existed as part of other unrelated media.
Case in point, the Totality is in fact N-Space, also known as the Doctor Who universe. The extended Doctor Who/Faction Paradox universe may possess a close relationship with the 10,000 Dawns, both in-universe and in the behind-the-scenes history of 10,000 Dawns.
…but they're not valid[]
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TECH TIP #1: How to link to another Wiki? Typing “[[w:c:tardis:Voyager (comic story)]]” into the source code of the page will get you a link to the page Voyager on the Tardis Wiki. |
The above doesn't mean we should cover everything that ever happened in the Totality on this Wiki. Obviously.
Therefore, if a given story takes place in a "crossover universe" with which the 10,000 Dawns has interacted, but which didn't start out as part of the 10,000 Dawns franchise, it is this Wiki's understanding that it is canonical but non-covered. Other Wikis already cover those stories in detail, and you should link to their pages about those stories and events when necessary.
Any concept or character from the "crossover universe "which appears in the 10,000 Dawns crossover — however minutely — should have a page. However, that page should focus on the stuff they got up to while interacting with the Dawns, even if it can and should cite the stories covered on the other Wiki to give a fuller idea of the concept's overall history. See Auteur for a good example of what we're talking about.
Rule 2: About licenses[]
We're not as tough on stories being 100% licensed as that other Wiki you might be familiar with. In particular, there is absolutely no rule against "charity works" here. If a book was made with the various rights-holders' go-ahead, then it doesn't need to be a "commercial project" to be covered on this Wiki. However, it should go without saying that outright fanfic, while much appreciated in spirit, doesn't become a valid source. A story should be authorized by one or more 10k Dawns rightsholder before it's worthy of being a valid source for the in-universe pages of our Wiki. It's not unimaginable that someday, the likes of James Wylder might reblog or otherwise showcase a piece of fanwork, and perhaps even outright call it canon. Whatever its origin, such a story would then become a valid source through this retroactive endorsement.
Rule 3: Citing non-narrative information[]
Reference material[]
Official information about James Wylder's characters is sometimes released in non-narrative features on official Arcbeatle Press outlets such as the website James Wylder, Writer. See, for example, the official "Characters" page. Unlike on certain other Wikis you may be familiar with, such things are absolutely valid sources for the writing of in-universe articles here on the 10,000 Dawns Wiki.
However, since listing the contents of a character profile for Graelyn Scythes is going to look an awful lot like a stubbier version of our own character page for Graelyn Scythes, we don't generally create specific pages for non-narrative reference material of this sort. This isn't an absolute rule, mind you! But generally, if it's information is released on the website rather than as a specific text within a book and an author credit, we're going to simply cite this information to the website.
So for example, to write in the Personality section of our page on Dawn 6's Manuel Salazar version of Manuel Salazar that he had “a deep sense of loyalty to the people of his homeland,” a phrase used in his bio on the aforementioned Characters page you wouldn't link to a nonexistent Wiki page about the “Characters” page of the official website. Instead, you'd write in the source code:
| Manuel Salazar was described as having “a deep sense of loyalty to the people of his homeland”. ([[REF]]: ''[[James Wylder, Writer (website)|James Wylder, Writer]]'', [http://www.jameswylder.com/characters.html]) |
Which would get you the following result:
| Manuel Salazar was described as having “a deep sense of loyalty to the people of his homeland”. (REF: James Wylder, Writer, [1]) |
With the [1] being a link pointing to the specific page you mean.
Offhand comments, personal websites and unlicensed information[]
There exists another form of in-universe information about the 10,000 Dawns with a claim to validity, but which we need to be more careful with: information released in an out-of-universe format in interviews, on personal blogs and the like by 10,000 Dawns creatives. These are of a different kind from the reference material because they're quite often not made with a license to discuss some of the concepts involved therein.
The most famous example of this might be James Wylder himself's Tumblr post about the exact relationship between the Totality and the 10,000 Dawns, wherein he bandies about words like Great Houses and Spiral Politic which he didn't have the right to use in his stories.
That's perfectly alright, and doesn't invalidate it — but it does mean this is of slightly lesser status than stories which had the licenses to do what they did. Therefore, we must be careful about citing such information. It must be linked to a reliable source just like the reference material, and be preceded by the prefix UNOFF, for “unofficial”. If a later story from the author who originally made the comment, or made with that author's go-ahead, changes some detail for "how they first said it worked", the in-universe, published version takes primacy, and the earlier version must be rezoned to the "Behind the scenes" section of the relevant pages.
Also note that we must enforce a (loose) policy that you have to have worked with the concepts involved before, or close to it, before your UNOFF information starts being acceptable for in-universe portions of articles. Having provided the design for an official Lady Aesc T-shirt once doesn't give you the right to have your Unified Timeline of the Life of Archimedes Von Ahnerabe to be "canon until further notice".
Rule 4: Images & illustrations[]
We won't say anything goes, but compared to other Wikis, that's certainly the feeling you might get, and very welcome it would be too. Official novel illustrations take priority if they're available, but promotional images, covers, “fanart” and guest art featured on one of the official websites, are all acceptable sources for the illustrations of in-universe pages.
For crossover elements, art of their appearances in non-10,000 Dawns medias are very much valid sources for illustration. Similarly, art created outside of a direct 10,000 Dawns context of a writer's creations, and endorsed by the artist as correctly depicting their vision, can also be used.