On Wed, 31 Jan 1996, Joseph Delacroix wrote:
> Kris, aka gt6005a_at_prism.gatech.edu sez:
>
> >If the original creators choose to ignore it, it is ignored. If you want
> >a more 'realistic' look at how a a sentient male hedgehog and a sentient
> >female squirrel would react to each other, then how about creating your
> >own characters to do so? Leave Sonic and Sally out of it.
>
> Kris, the "original creators" of Sonic the Hedgehog were a bunch of crusty
> coder-dudes in Redmond (or whereever) that were making a cool game to
> keep Sega from getting whooped by Nintendo. Everything else sort of
> branched out of that. C'mon, Kris, Sonic was just a corporate sponsor
> before us fanfic people started giving him *soul*. We have done most of
> the maturation of the characters; yes, Archie and Fleetway have paved
> the way for us, but we continually take these characters to new levels
> of...well, coolness on a monthly basis.
I, personally, am not all that intrested in exploring the more intimate
aspects of Sonic's and Sally's relationship. I know there would likely
be intimacy if they were live beings and chose to marry each other, but
I'll let them enjoy their relationship in the privacy of their bedroom.
But my lack of interest does not give me the authority to make up someone
else's mind on the subject. It's OK to suggest an opinion to someone and
attempt to sell them on the idea, but don't make their decision for them.
I think the original creators' wishes (if known, not second-guessed)
should be respected, but you have to remember that the characters are
"out there". If you're so attached to your character that you can't bear
the thought someone might use him/her/hir/it in a way other than what you
intended, you should probably reconsider exposing that character to the
public. You can't stop someone from thinking "naughty" thoughts about
your character (short of killing them) even if you could stop them from
writing or drawing your character into compromising positions.
If Sonic's original creators were to speak up and tell us they are
repulsed by the "plain brown wrapper" material, those of us who respect
their original work need only gather 'round and support the writers and
artists who also respect the creators' wishes and spurn those who don't.
> The people who made these characters are probably off working on
> "Virtua Fighter II" or something. Cut us some slack.
You're probably right. Sega isn't really developing Sonic et. al., and
DIC certainly isn't. Archie and Fleetway are, but only at a trickle with
a few issues per year and made none easier by difficult international
availability of both publishers' books. Any new books from Troll
Associates? Not that I know of. If the characters aren't developed
by "official" persons to satisfy the fans (read: market), someone is
going to come along and do it -- and you can't depend upon third party
developers making the same decisions you would when implementing your
characters. The fan writers are sort of in the same league as those who
developed Linux, except they write for humans instead of a CPU chip. And
whether it's Sonic or Unix, they're freely offering their time and effort
to contribute to a universe (or operating system) not of their original
design. I don't think AT&T (the original creators of Unix) would agree
with everything that's been done in Linux -- especially Linux's price
(free). The fan writers fill in the gaps left by the "orginal" sources
just as Linux opens Unix to those who don't want to (or can't) drop
hundreds or thousands of dollars for a copy of "real" Unix; both fulfill
a need that had not before been satisfied.
Erich Schulman (KTN4CA) [Team OS/2] A net.freedom-fighter for Mobius!
"Freedom Fighters are #1!" -- Sonic the Hedgehog
A! JW21 WAR++ P&B+ SL++++i SK+++ RI++^ RU+ GDF BU++ MI- MM- Dpo P+
$+++d E59b Ay68M \ StH JJ1 Son+ Sal++ Tal++++t Nic+i P++ Dopw $+++ E25
Mail: acme_at_use.usit.net | WWW:
http://nyx10.cs.du.edu:8001/~eschulma
Received on Wed Jan 31 1996 - 12:31:22 PST