Mr. OS/2 <g>, aka acme_at_use.usit.net, said:
[editage]
>> ...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.
Exactly. While I don't like some of the stories on Book's page,
I would be the first to stand up and yell my head off if Sega or anyone
else tried to get it removed on the basis of content. It's just the way
I am, y'see. I've said it once, and I'll say it again. Censorship is bad.
Bad, bad, bad. It's not good sense, good business, or psychologically
healthy to force someone to express their thoughts in a way that *you*
dictate. After all, that's how they *win*...
>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.
Another point I agree with. Personally, the only things I have about
people utilizing Joseph in their fanfic are timeline gumups and
little errors in character development. This is why I usually avoid
including my character in other people's writing...I've got Joseph's
adventures loosely planned out for the next several arcs, and I don't
like crossovers gumming up the works.
>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.
I've got to write the fence a bit on this one. For one thing, Sonic's
original creators, most likely a group of coders, have really left
the blue guy to blow around in the wind creatively for a good, long time.
Archie and Fleetway've had their way with him, as well as a goodly
number of fanfic writers. It's like the American colonies after the
French and Indian War; the salutary neglect of the character (the colonies)
have given the stand-in creative influence (the people of the colonies)
a feeling of psudocontrol (the desire for independence) over his destiny.
Therefore, any attempt by the long-absent creators (the British Empire)
at Sega to interfere with our setup would cause a big ol' fight.
And you know what? Unless the story was personally offensive to myself,
I'd pass the ammunition.
>> 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.
Just one word: Bingo.
Joe.
--
| Joseph deLaCroix: hk512_at_po.cwru.edu | See:
http://rat.org/bookshire |
/ MiSTie, orange fox, writer, MUCKer, builder, hacker, cynic, wiseass \
He slices! He dices! He crushes! He bashes! He liquifies and chops!
Information wants to be sold for exorbitant fees, then totally devalued
Received on Wed Jan 31 1996 - 23:28:10 PST