I'm not sure vindication really enters into it. I guess it's the word itself
that troubles me, and its ties to the word vindictiveness.

At the end of the day, as you say, what matters is the quality of the
storytelling. Who was first, who was last...in 20 years nobody's gonna
remember or much care. The only question that matters is, was the story told
well, and does it endure the test of time?

If it was, then it will; it it wasn't, it won't. Everything else is ephemeral.

jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)