LNH/META: Legionnaires and the Authors Who Love Them

[Tom Russell]

Arthur Spitzer wrote:

> > PC Person         wReam             N
>
> Did wReam create PC Person?

Apparently not. :-)

Thanks to Martin for finding the truth.

> Arthur "Always hated the concept of reserved/not reserved" Spitzer

Ideally, there would be no need for it: people would be respectful
enough of one another's people out of courtesy, they would ask
permission, they would understand a character before they wrote it, et
cetera.  But, the fact is, with different people having different
conflicting points of view, the concept is necessary for a little
protection.

I mean, if Doug Wojtowicz had sent INTEGRITY QUEST # 10 to Hubert
Bartels to approve Panta's appearance there, then there would probably
never have been a Woody Scandal.  If the reserved/not reserved concept
had been in place at that time, then maybe it would have made for
better stories.

At the same time, one of the great strengths of the LNH is the large
pool of stock characters that any author can use.  Really, you can tell
just about any story with just the "not reserved" class of characters.
It's like we're all writers for the same sitcom, and these characters
form the LNH "bible".

In general, people tend to respect these characters-- i.e., no one
kills them or alters them fundamentally.  But every once in a while, an
author thinks "anyone can use them" or "public domain" (not reserved is
a much better term) means free license to do whatever they want with
them.  And that's why an author will do what they can to protect
themselves.

That's one of the main reasons why I reserved the bulk of my creations
again; if I let them remain unreserved much longer, there probably
wouldn't be any left. :-)

--Tom