Subject: I have theories about why the PPC was what it was, and is what it is.
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Posted on: 2022-04-05 14:36:37 UTC

In briefest possible form:

As far as I can tell, the PPC has always been a bunch of socially awkward oddballs: lots of geeks (female geeks at that, still just before it was cool); lots of queer folk; lots of neurodivergent folk. People like us cling to our stories as form of support that we don't always get from society at large. The worlds are our safe places; the characters are our friends. That being the case, it's not remotely surprising that we take umbrage, sometimes extreme umbrage, to the sudden intrusion of society at large into spaces that were formerly ours. Especially when the writing of society at large leaves much to be desired. >.>

You see a lot of agents who are Not Like the Other Girls. That's because a lot of PPCers were (and are) truly not like the other girls, and were in the midst of adolescent struggles to be okay with that in a time when there was very little support for them. This is why the PPC community has always been such an amazing place for its members: it's made of a lot of people going through a lot of the same things, finding acceptance they don't often get. Many of us can attest that it's transformative.

It's not surprising that we weren't always good at saying no to each other. We had to learn that, and we had to learn to love ourselves without hating the Other Girls. It's hard! But that's what I, personally, hope that today's PPC community teaches. And ensuring that we continue to walk a more tolerant path is one reason I stick around. {= )

~Neshomeh

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