Subject: Clarifications
Author:
Posted on: 2008-08-16 08:33:00 UTC

Parody can be of any quality (the term Mary Sue, itself, comes from a parody) and personally, I'd like to think that I made a (failed) parody of the generic Mary Sue type as opposed to something that really is a genuine character of the mold. She only -appears- to be a Mary Sue through virtue of being a (physically) attractive character with extensive sorcery powers that latches onto the main cast, but the universe and its characters already hate her, she's portrayed as being incredibly abrasive and irritating (to the point where she's actually the unaware villain), and she -loses- at every single major thing she attempts. I mean... come on. What can really be done here? "We're here to give you a mercy killing. Your crimes include attempted canon rape that failed due to the story already starting out that way, being a villain, and for just simply existing." It wouldn't make for a good PPC story in the standard mold. But what if one instead comes to the conclusion that a "wrongfully accused" character, carefully constructed by a self-aware author out of mix-and-match pieces (with a little something extra made of pure evil... or something equally cliche) would instead produce a self-aware, genre savvy character that gives the organization a run for its money due to all the standard operating procedure being largely useless on it? That has a lot more potential.

Anyway, when I say "C-list fodder", I'm really referring to characters that aren't cared about (any more). I guess the term is a bit obtuse (it actually refers to how in comics, "C-list" characters that publishers create and then largely abandon have a tendency to be brought back for dramatic deaths without seriously impacting the canon as a whole). I wouldn't say nobody would volunteer their characters for something like this (somebody had to volunteer the 19 characters in the Deceased Agents section). People often change over time and grow distant from their old characters (or, perhaps, the website itself). They might just want to give their character a fairly dramatic exit (or they just decide that they hate the character after all). Also, the deaths (and other twisted things) wouldn't violate the PPC standard operating procedure (if anything, the deaths would inspire the full wrath and fury of the organization, something that would be the whole driving point of the story). Certainly, the agents aren't all invincible, unerring, and completely in the right at all times. That would just by hypocritical of the whole premise ("We send Mary Sue to kill Mary Sue!"), although that would actually make pretty good material ("You strive to kill every Mary Sue there is, but fail to look within your own numbers?"). I ask for characters because I'd really like to be part of the community and for the story to actually feel like a part of it instead of just creating six or so Red Shirts.

Also, I really view the character as being somebody who would get more pleasure out of ironic punishments than just maniacally killing everybody, so it's not even like everybody that volunteers for the project would end up dead, either. For example, perhaps a character that is really, really, REALLY outspoken about their hatred of Mary Sues would end up getting brain-jacked, given a whole makeover, and forced to retain their consciousness as their bodies make them act like classical Mary Sues as the PPC unwittingly sends one of their own to kill them off (which could lead to whoever gets sent either rescuing them after they sense something wrong or finding out later that they killed one of their own agents and having to live with the consequences).

Regardless, as mentioned, I'd like this to be a joint effort if possible. After browsing the PPC Emergencies, there seems to be a gap this type of story could fill (not to mention that it would fit perfectly into the Catastrophe Theory). They've dealt with straightforward base invasions, fighting off the Borg, and major world infections... but somebody destroying them from the inside out? It would require quite a bit more in terms of planning, resources, and all-around adaptability that would test the organization and offer quite a bit of "character development", if you will.

By the way, I know specifically who added the stories in the first place and it certainly wasn't for anything involving the content (let's just say that the Final Fantasy XI endgame community as a whole is not very friendly and leave it at that). If somebody else (as in... somebody not doing it out of petty spite) deems them actually worthy of being on the list, I won't oppose it (although I'll most likely claim them myself just because I like the idea I've come up with).

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