(I typed this out about a month ago, and have been dithering about whether to post it ever since. Obviously, I've finally decided to do so...
Commentary and rebuttals are not just requested, they're encouraged - it's a fairly big part of the background assumption that I'm poking at
here.)
Way back, before I started contributing, a question was raised. Somebody offered an answer, possibly in jest. That answer was discussed for a short time, and a
conclusion was reached by the simple matter of discussion dying off - I don't recall seeing agreement reached, just discussion dying off. So, near as I can
tell, we've got an Elephant in the Parlor ...
Here's my position on the topic, to get discussion going again: As far as I'm concerned, the Fenspace characters calling themselves Haruhi and the
SOS-dan are biomodded Fen, not the anime or manga characters.
Here's why I take that position: If we were to allow the alternate possibility - that Haruhi and the SOS-dan actually
are Haruhi and the SOS-dan - then we'd be opening a can of worms that we've already agreed
to keep closed. I doubt anyone wants time travel to actually work in Fenspace, and esper abilities are part of the super-powers that we've already agreed
are simply not possible. But if the SOS-dan really are the SOS-dan, then they've got at least one time-traveler and at least one esper in their number...
Oops; there go the "no time travel" and "no super powers" restrictions in the setting. (Also, doesn't Haruhi-kami
want espers? If Handwavium came from her, then it should be able to create super-powers that match
esper abilities. But it can't, so...)
Less importantly, saying "the magic goop came from Haruhi-kami and acts the way it does because that's what she wants" assigns rules to the
Handwavium, which in my opinion goes against the spirit of the Guidelines. I'd have the same objection if you replace "Haruhi" with
"Belldandy", or "Washuu", or "Dark Schneider", or any other godlike fictional character. It's
Handwavium - the embodiment of handwaving away awkward details. It's the setting's
"unicorn in the garden" that doesn't need to be explained. This isn't Hard SF, folks; it's Space Opera - not everything needs an
explanation. (I'm reminded of the explanation for FTL travel and communications in "Doc" Smith's Skylark
series: "Einstein's theory is only a theory. That distance is an observed fact." That's classic handwaving - in that
universe, FTL travel Just Is. In the same vein, in my humble opinion, Handwavium Just Is. You don't explain
handwaving - if you do, then it isn't handwaving any more.) But this whole paragraph is just my artistic sense talking...
As for the SOS-dan themselves, we already have plenty of secondary characters based on anime or manga characters: Matel, Catty, and Sora are three who came to
mind immediately. (And the Auska-AI makes a fourth.) Who'd blink at another "anime
character come to life" or six?
Untimately, of course, it makes no difference to the stories that have already been told whether the SOS-dan are or aren't the "real" SOS-dan.
But it may make a difference to future stories...
(Especially since we're looking at making indirect contact with aliens in December 2012.)
-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Commentary and rebuttals are not just requested, they're encouraged - it's a fairly big part of the background assumption that I'm poking at
here.)
Way back, before I started contributing, a question was raised. Somebody offered an answer, possibly in jest. That answer was discussed for a short time, and a
conclusion was reached by the simple matter of discussion dying off - I don't recall seeing agreement reached, just discussion dying off. So, near as I can
tell, we've got an Elephant in the Parlor ...
Here's my position on the topic, to get discussion going again: As far as I'm concerned, the Fenspace characters calling themselves Haruhi and the
SOS-dan are biomodded Fen, not the anime or manga characters.
Here's why I take that position: If we were to allow the alternate possibility - that Haruhi and the SOS-dan actually
are Haruhi and the SOS-dan - then we'd be opening a can of worms that we've already agreed
to keep closed. I doubt anyone wants time travel to actually work in Fenspace, and esper abilities are part of the super-powers that we've already agreed
are simply not possible. But if the SOS-dan really are the SOS-dan, then they've got at least one time-traveler and at least one esper in their number...
Oops; there go the "no time travel" and "no super powers" restrictions in the setting. (Also, doesn't Haruhi-kami
want espers? If Handwavium came from her, then it should be able to create super-powers that match
esper abilities. But it can't, so...)
Less importantly, saying "the magic goop came from Haruhi-kami and acts the way it does because that's what she wants" assigns rules to the
Handwavium, which in my opinion goes against the spirit of the Guidelines. I'd have the same objection if you replace "Haruhi" with
"Belldandy", or "Washuu", or "Dark Schneider", or any other godlike fictional character. It's
Handwavium - the embodiment of handwaving away awkward details. It's the setting's
"unicorn in the garden" that doesn't need to be explained. This isn't Hard SF, folks; it's Space Opera - not everything needs an
explanation. (I'm reminded of the explanation for FTL travel and communications in "Doc" Smith's Skylark
series: "Einstein's theory is only a theory. That distance is an observed fact." That's classic handwaving - in that
universe, FTL travel Just Is. In the same vein, in my humble opinion, Handwavium Just Is. You don't explain
handwaving - if you do, then it isn't handwaving any more.) But this whole paragraph is just my artistic sense talking...
As for the SOS-dan themselves, we already have plenty of secondary characters based on anime or manga characters: Matel, Catty, and Sora are three who came to
mind immediately. (And the Auska-AI makes a fourth.) Who'd blink at another "anime
character come to life" or six?
Untimately, of course, it makes no difference to the stories that have already been told whether the SOS-dan are or aren't the "real" SOS-dan.
But it may make a difference to future stories...
(Especially since we're looking at making indirect contact with aliens in December 2012.)
-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012