October 1, 2014

                                


Commentary for October 1, 2014:

I don't have a great deal to say about this page, really, other than I'm generally quite pleased with how it turned out.

Addendum for December 12, 2019:

In order to bring the format of the earlier chapters into line with Chapter 7 onwards, I’ve made an updated version of this page, which is larger, with clearer text. Hopefully, this will make the earlier chapters easier to read.

I don’t know why I had so little to say about this page originally. I know I felt, at the time, that exploring Horatio’s reasons for staying with the Echidna Empire was long overdue, but I didn’t seem to have anything to say about it. So I’ll offer some thoughts now, as the essence of what he originally said here is still the same, even though I have made slight alterations for the sake of worldbuilding. (You don’t need to worry about them, though.)

I enjoy villains with compelling motivations. Sure, a villain like Eggman, a selfish narcissist who thinks he should rule the world because he believes he’s smarter than everyone else, can be good fun. (And don’t get it twisted; Doctor Eggman is incredibly fun -- I enjoy reading him in the old Archie Sonic comic and the new IDW one, and I love writing him in Eon’s World Vol. 1 and I'm sure I'll love writing him eventually in Vol. 2 as well.) But a villain with more complex and nuanced reasons for what they do, reasons that make some degree of sense, that could even be persuasive in the right (or wrong) circumstances -- the kind of villain you could almost sympathise with -- is also enjoyable.

I think both types of villain have value in a story, and I think both can be found in real life.

But, in any case, part of me feels like I really should unpack some of what Horatio says here, particularly his points about democracy and freedom. I don’t want to go into too much detail, because I’d be writing an essay about what I think if I did, so I’ll keep it to two brief points: 1) While I think Horatio has some legit criticisms of democracy, I don’t agree with his conclusion; democracy doesn’t need to be destroyed, it just needs to be fixed to remove corruption and ensure voters are better informed about their choices and that politicians and news outlets don’t lie to or otherwise mislead them (all of which, I believe, can be done). And 2) while Horatio makes some fair points about the concept of freedom, I don’t think that means we have only a choice between absolute freedom in a Hobbesean state of nature, where life is nasty, brutish, and short, or no freedom at all in exchange for the benefits of living in a civil society.

I feel an overwhelming urge to say more, which is bugging me. Honestly, that’s probably why I didn’t have a lot to say in the original commentary. It’s not that I had nothing to say; I probably just had way too much to say.


Eon's World is a fan comic created by Bethany Turner. All characters are copyright © to their respective creators. The contents of this site are not public domain material and should not be edited, distributed, or otherwise used without first obtaining permission from Bethany Turner.

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