Fictional Sub-Universes

 I've been thinking about expansive universes such as Star Wars, Warhammer 40K, or Dungeons and Dragons. They exists as wholistic entities within pop culture. However, not a single one of them has a comparable "universe within a universe." Star Wars denizens do not have a Marvel Cinematic Universe. The drow of Dungeons and Dragons don't have fully-fleshed out tabletop worlds that their warriors spend their free time playing.

The concept of "universes within universes" is something I would like to see explored. The current, modern world is full of various fictional universes with extremely detailed and fleshed out contents. The SCP foundation, Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones (before it fell apart). I realize the logistical impracticalities of actually creating a fully-fleshed out "world within a world," but the fact that the Star Wars universe has trillions of inhabitants but not a single tabletop game with a really complicated backstory always leaves me feeling like something is missing. 

Humans create stories. In this day and age we create them so prolifically that the number of stories published in a single year cannot be consumed by an individual in their lifetime. There is Netflix, there are hundreds of indie games being published every day, there is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There are so many stories, so much frivolous information and worlds created entirely in our imagination. 

And yet the only form of entertainment that Star Wars seems to have is pod racing and holo chess. What gives?

Have you seen the true depth of the indie game sphere? Have you seen how deep board games go? Have you ever been to a library before? There is so much entertainment, so much art. And yet most universes within that sphere don't have equally rich universes within them, and so on. 

I think what I want to say is that, after reflecting on humanity's penchant for creating stories, I think that we've gotten so good at it, through so many different mediums, that it's starting to get a bit crazy. The internet has billions of years of entertaining content within it. So many books. So many games. So many different universes that are like castles of storytelling, each one lovingly crafted by people who dedicate their entire lives to the craft. This is not a whirlwind of undifferentiated garbage like some less positive people may see. It is a carefully crafted masterpiece of individual and collective spirit, aided by the various storage and communication methods invented by the human race. Historians two thousand years from now will have a million Beowulfs, two million Hamlets, and three million Odysseys. 

This is the legacy of the human race. This is what we have created for ourselves. There is an old saying that a populace will stay submissive if it has bread and circuses. Well, as for circuses, it seems that no one has to make them for us; we'll make them ourselves. It's a rabbit hole of information. And as a writer and a denizen of the internet, I just really like staring at it.