As for Ebony/Enoby/Egogy/Eboby/whatevertheheck Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way... she's certainly bad, but I'd have to say the most Sueish Sue to ever Sue that I've seen is Rose Potter no I don't have problems with her... actually, yeah, Rose Potter. Gawd.

Though Maddie and Terrah were obnoxious; they beat up Voldemort with an umbrella and a baseball bat, and that's just the start of their crimes.

Hi, Silenthunder's dad! So you're a bit worried about what this whole 'PPC' thing is about; I can understand that. It certainly doesn't help that our FAQ For Other People is really old and pretty angry - we've been meaning to update it, but we've got a lot of things we haven't gotten round to yet.

One thing you've mentioned is the idea that we look at the bad, but not the good, in fanfiction, but that's far from being the case. We love to share goodfics with each other, and find something new to read. Even within a bad piece of fanfic, we try to give credit for the pieces which are good - my 'Driftwood' series specifically includes after-mission concrit, and I've taken pains to highlight the good parts.

You've also said you're worried about people being mocked and belittled instead of encouraged. If you find a PPC writer or someone claiming to be from the PPC doing that, please, please let us know! Here at the PPC, we're emphatically not about the author. How could we be? We've never met them, we know nothing about them - and we all wrote badfic back in the day too. We'd like nothing better than to see everyone in the world learn to write well - even if they start out by writing badly! If someone stops writing because of the PPC, that's awful. :(

So why do we seek out badfic and write PPC missions at all? Simple: for fun! It's entertaining to take bad writing literally, and see what weird situations drop out. We've also got a really complex setting in the PPC, which can create some really interesting stories. There's also some aspects of using the missions to explore what makes writing bad or good, but honestly, it's mostly just entertainment.

So are we having fun at someone else's expense? I'd say no. At the expense of their stories, yes, and on the rare occasions when people find out (we're not going around rubbing it in their faces!), they can get upset about that. But at the end of the day, if you're sharing your writing online, you're implicitly suggesting that it's good. The PPC is on the extreme edge of constructive criticism, it's true - but that's still what, ultimately, it is.

I've been writing with the PPC for over ten years now. In that time, I've written missions into my own stories and those of other PPCers; I've had my website brought down by an irate writer; I've made friends and lost them, and vastly improved my own writing; and in all that time, I've never used the PPC to attack any writer. I've never tried to get their stories taken down, never sent them insulting reviews, never for a minute thought of them as anything less than people trying to write the stories in their heads as best they can.

hS

The mention of the Pharisees is a good example, I'd say. Their main problem was hypocrisy, that they would tell people to act one way while acting another. As teachers of the Law, they felt they had a pass to do whatever they wanted, and they were NOT happy when Jesus called them out on it.

I can assure you that the PPC is nothing like that. Normally, I would not bring my faith into something like this, but I feel it might be relevant in this situation. As a follow of of Christ, I would not associate with a group like the PPC if they were bullies of any sort. 99% of what I have seen here is kind, and the people here want nothing more than to help people improve both as a writer or as a person. We do not tolerate any bullying, insulting remarks, or anything that would be disrespectful toward another human being.

This is how I interpret what we do: the basis of fanfic is that a person uses the characters, situations, and locations made by another person and turns it into a new story. In the right hands, this can create something wonderful, something new and refreshing. However... it can also lead to situations where characters are twisted and situations are changed. The original work is desecrated, an insult to the hard work of the original author. All we want is for these original literary works to be respected. If someone is going to "borrow" the work of someone else as a basis for something else, we want to see it treated properly. It's like seeing somebody borrow a priceless painting, hang it upside down, and throw splotchy paint all over it. Our missions are not meant to make fun of the author or say "look how much better we are than you"; they are meant to help an author look at their work from a different perspective so that they can work on improving it. We never intend to offend, and we will never be anything other than helpful towards anyone who wants to be a writer... So long as they are willing to learn. It's all in good fun, and never meant in a malicious manner.

That's my perception, at least. Your mileage may vary.

That especially bothered him.

Good.

Another question: How do you create a spin-off without completely flaming the badfic? Then again, it depends on the content.

Oooh. Thanks for clearing that up. I have two fanfics I got my eye on. I'm not telling. Hee-hee…

So besides reading spin-offs, what else can I do in the meantime?

I was thinking of using the shovel only as a last resort, like there would be a rule for not using it unless absolutely necessary.

AAARGH! I keep forgetting to put my name in! Sorry!

By the way, if I had a future agent use the shovel, would that make them overpowered?

Though since you had to ask, I guess you're not a brony. Oh, well.

Whoops, the anonymous person is me, Slenthunder. I didn't know you had to keep signing your name.