Sonic fandom, The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
I got bored one day and checked out some of my favourites on DA's Journals. Normally I'm only really interested in the artwork as I like to detach the artist from the art. However Wraiths latest journal entry about Sonic Fandom
She has a prefectly valid point and I'm half in agreement with her.
Sonic Fandom has escalted into a huge community to rival those of general fantasy and sci-fi. Ok maybe that's a bit OTT, but the fact remains it's huge. Sonic is so open to interpretation there are so many forms of it both official, [e.g. SegaSonic (the games), AoSTH (cartoons - Scratch and grounder), SatAM/Archie (cartoons/comics - Sally Acorn), Sonic X (cartoons - Chris), Fleetway (Comics - Kintobor theory, Johnny lightfoot)] and fanmade spinoffs such as Exterminatus now, and my own 3 Shadows.
It can be interesting to see how someone else has interpretted Sonic. Whether they have chosen to merge the universes, or stuck with one. How they have molded a universe around their own ideas. A lot of Sonic fans have loads of ideas they wish to express in any form they can. I know that's the case for me. Writing Sonic Fanfiction is so much more for me that it is for anybody else.
Unfortunately this means there's so much to go through, and to be honest quite a load is crap. Maybe that's a bit harsh, perhaps not for me is a better phrase. This includes coupling besides Knuckles and Rouge, especially Gay couples (search for Sonadow sometime). One of the reasons I love Sonic so much is the fact that there are no real couples and it doesn't have a love story attached for the sake of it. The main character doesn't fall in love with the main girl.
Then there's the fan characters. Every real Sonic fan I've ever met has got a Sonic Avatar in some shape of form. I have Joz the bat as well as a few of my own creations.
But here's the thing. There are so many that quite simply reak of laziness. It's like searching through a desert to find a well hidden jewel deep beneath the sand. You have to deal with characters that while look good are clearly Mary-sues. They are characters that are near invincible, ocassionally recolours of existing characters, made to be the girl/boy-friend of an official character with their own names attached. As soon as I see a "real" name like Becky, Jen, Lisa, Alex (sorry it's mostly girls it seems) alongside a species like Hedgehog I cringe.
Names should describe a characteristic of that character. Personality, appearance, ability are all good grounds for a name.
Sonic runs at Sonic speeds
Tails has two Tails
Knuckles had oddly shaped fists that have his Knuckles sticking out
Amy Rose I feel relates to the colour of her fur
Cream, Big, Shadow, Rouge (Swap the u and g), Eggman/Robotnik, etc.
The only time it fails is with Humans, Robots and the Chaotix Crew (with the exception of Vector and Mighty).
Human characters are better with real names.
Robots take a little more thought. Perhaps part of a series (Beta, Gamma, Delta), or simply Metal Something (Metal Sonic).
HYPROCRIT I hear you cry. Yes I fail too with the name Joz the bat. In my defense however he had the codename Master hunter before I named him Joz, which is a literal name. He also has a massive weakness, blah blah blah I think my point is made.
So you really have to excuse me if I find fanart of official characters more interesting than art of your own characters. I'm more attached to those characters. I've saved the world with them and intend to do it a lot more. You really have to do something special to catch my attention with a fanmade Sonic styled character.
This doesn't mean your art is poor it just means I'd rather see a good pic of an official character than an amazing pic of a fan character. Besides it's not as if I'm that good of an artist to make a justified criticism with any art related features.
The thing is though, and I know it's certainly the case for me, that I do art and fanfiction for me not for anybody else. It's frustrating when you don't get any comments on your stuff from other people (see my Sonic Adventure Zero post not too far back), but overall the only opinion that matters is what you think. It's your release for yourself, no-one else.
Sonic fandom has come a long way and it's different for every Sonic fan. Don't get so worked up about it.
She has a prefectly valid point and I'm half in agreement with her.
Sonic Fandom has escalted into a huge community to rival those of general fantasy and sci-fi. Ok maybe that's a bit OTT, but the fact remains it's huge. Sonic is so open to interpretation there are so many forms of it both official, [e.g. SegaSonic (the games), AoSTH (cartoons - Scratch and grounder), SatAM/Archie (cartoons/comics - Sally Acorn), Sonic X (cartoons - Chris), Fleetway (Comics - Kintobor theory, Johnny lightfoot)] and fanmade spinoffs such as Exterminatus now, and my own 3 Shadows.
It can be interesting to see how someone else has interpretted Sonic. Whether they have chosen to merge the universes, or stuck with one. How they have molded a universe around their own ideas. A lot of Sonic fans have loads of ideas they wish to express in any form they can. I know that's the case for me. Writing Sonic Fanfiction is so much more for me that it is for anybody else.
Unfortunately this means there's so much to go through, and to be honest quite a load is crap. Maybe that's a bit harsh, perhaps not for me is a better phrase. This includes coupling besides Knuckles and Rouge, especially Gay couples (search for Sonadow sometime). One of the reasons I love Sonic so much is the fact that there are no real couples and it doesn't have a love story attached for the sake of it. The main character doesn't fall in love with the main girl.
Then there's the fan characters. Every real Sonic fan I've ever met has got a Sonic Avatar in some shape of form. I have Joz the bat as well as a few of my own creations.
But here's the thing. There are so many that quite simply reak of laziness. It's like searching through a desert to find a well hidden jewel deep beneath the sand. You have to deal with characters that while look good are clearly Mary-sues. They are characters that are near invincible, ocassionally recolours of existing characters, made to be the girl/boy-friend of an official character with their own names attached. As soon as I see a "real" name like Becky, Jen, Lisa, Alex (sorry it's mostly girls it seems) alongside a species like Hedgehog I cringe.
Names should describe a characteristic of that character. Personality, appearance, ability are all good grounds for a name.
Sonic runs at Sonic speeds
Tails has two Tails
Knuckles had oddly shaped fists that have his Knuckles sticking out
Amy Rose I feel relates to the colour of her fur
Cream, Big, Shadow, Rouge (Swap the u and g), Eggman/Robotnik, etc.
The only time it fails is with Humans, Robots and the Chaotix Crew (with the exception of Vector and Mighty).
Human characters are better with real names.
Robots take a little more thought. Perhaps part of a series (Beta, Gamma, Delta), or simply Metal Something (Metal Sonic).
HYPROCRIT I hear you cry. Yes I fail too with the name Joz the bat. In my defense however he had the codename Master hunter before I named him Joz, which is a literal name. He also has a massive weakness, blah blah blah I think my point is made.
So you really have to excuse me if I find fanart of official characters more interesting than art of your own characters. I'm more attached to those characters. I've saved the world with them and intend to do it a lot more. You really have to do something special to catch my attention with a fanmade Sonic styled character.
This doesn't mean your art is poor it just means I'd rather see a good pic of an official character than an amazing pic of a fan character. Besides it's not as if I'm that good of an artist to make a justified criticism with any art related features.
The thing is though, and I know it's certainly the case for me, that I do art and fanfiction for me not for anybody else. It's frustrating when you don't get any comments on your stuff from other people (see my Sonic Adventure Zero post not too far back), but overall the only opinion that matters is what you think. It's your release for yourself, no-one else.
Sonic fandom has come a long way and it's different for every Sonic fan. Don't get so worked up about it.
posted by Master hunter at 11:49 pm
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