You know, considering that a majority of agents work in pairs written by the same author, unless both are essentially the same character, about half of all agents at most could be self inserts. Or maybe I just need to go to sleep now.

The answer is...CHURROS! Oh, and Sue-Slaying.

But either way, 'tis very funny.

Shall we print T-shirts for every DMS agent? "OFFICIAL SUESLAYER!"

Use the definition of Mary Sue on the Wiki:

Mary Sue, sometimes shortened simply to Sue, is a pejorative term used to describe a fictional character who plays a major role in the plot and is particularly characterized by overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, or having too many, [Araeph's note: having too many flaws makes you a Sue? Wha...?] and primarily functioning as wish-fulfillment fantasies for their authors or readers.

Now, substitute "Sue" for any PPC agent ever written.

Agent Jay Thorntree, sometimes shortened simply to Jay, is:

- a fictional character who plays a major role in the [canon] plot
- is particularly characterized by overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms
- lacks noteworthy flaws, or has too many
- primarily functions as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for her authors or readers.

*snerk*

Well, I suppose she and Acy fulfilled our wish of killing Sues...


For those of you who are interested, I've posted a brand-new PPC Mary Sue definition on the Wiki. I think it's better than Wikipedia's, anyway. (Not that that's a difficult feat to top.)

What I always considered the defining trait of the Mary Sue is that they're always in the spotlight, and I just don't see that with PPC agents. When they're in HQ, it's essentially original fiction, and when they're in a fic, it's a Rosencranz and Guildenstern style "the spotlight's somewhere else" situation.

Mostly because it's obviously incorrect to anyone who actually reads it. Probably a Suethor making a potshot.

Oh, that's a trend in the Redwall fandom. Authors will create their own Sues and send in Redwall versions of themselves to kill them. These Redwall alter egos are known as Sueslayers. Lycaenion has an in-progress Suebasher fic called 'Arawolf Beechclaw: Sueslayer Extraordinaire'.

I've noticed that, though, how our agents are often self inserts, but I think the difference is that self-insert sues are often overly new-and-improved versions of the author, or what the author imagines him/herself to be or wishes he/she could be. Also, the self-insert usually has the purpose to either seduce a canon character, bash a canon character, or place oneself in something that happened in the canon and have the self-insert influence it in some way (i.e. bashing/seducing canon characters).

Alter egos, fursonas, and suchlike that WE use, on the other hand, usually have no intention of doing any such thing, and are used for a comedic effect to get rid of Sues, bad slash, etc.

I actually don't understand what's wrong with the idea of an author inserting him/herself into a story, though. Kurt Vonnegut did it, and nobody complains about that. What exactly is it we hate so much about self-inserts, besides what I listed above?