You said you'd need to look at the A/V Division, so I figured you would have more to say after you'd seen the links I provided.

I'm really okay with it either way. I'd love to see a pre-existing concept like A/V revived, but I also stand by what I said about a Songfic Department before.

One caveat, though: if you do end up making a new department, try to name it something that won't make the acronym "DBS," because that's the Department of Bad Slash. {= )

~Neshomeh

Also, I was kinda joking about being a fangirl in the first place, being well-aware of the drooling, glomping connotations as I am. ^_~

Perhaps fangeek would be a better term for the non-drooling type, combining the fan's obsessiveness with the geek's deep knowledge of subject matter...?

~Neshomeh

1 is definitely a mini. However, I would say that precedent suggests that the answer to #2 is no.

The main reason for this is that minis are OFU things, not PPC things, and there would be no point in mini-Sue-things turning up at the OFUs. Also, since Sues are defined by a source outside the canon, then they can be defined and re-defined however that source chooses without the canon having to be bothered about it. Canon characters, on the other hand, are defined internally, so if an outside source doesn't invoke the character properly, the canon isn't going to supply said character. Kinda like a bad HTML tag.

However! This does not stop you from having funny things result from a misspelled Sue name. I just don't think it's going to be a mini. At least, not in the same way misspelled canon names are.

~Neshomeh

Besides, I knew all about the name "Estel", too.

I tend to notice it most when it seems especially out of character. For instance, in the mission I'm working on now, the 'Stu is being attacked and has grabbed his attacker's, er, masculine body parts. Being an ice mage, the Stu threatens to freeze said masculine body parts. That's all well and good, except that the actual dialogue tag used is 'cooed.' To me, that doesn't fit at all, and it's annoying. So I have the 'fic take the language literally to emphasize how ridiculous it is.

--anamia

Hooray cats! I shall call her Sulle, after my cousin!

I guess, yeah. You have a point about killing the writing. I've seen works (I dare not call them 'literature') where that happened; they weren't pretty.

And yes, that would be amusing. xD

I understand what you are saying. It isn't that we are overly critical of figurative language. I use it often myself. What we may have a problem with is a paragraph that is all about how someone looks or sounds that is so full of figurative language that you aren't even sure what it is about anymore.

Consider, for a moment, that every time a character speaks the word "chirped" is used. Wouldn't a character who only seems to chirp (and they chirp often) become a bird in your mind?

When we make figurative language seem ridiculous in a mission, we are simply saying that the fic has broken the rules of the word world to the point that the world is taking every word literally. It makes a mission funnier, especially if our agents say something that they soon regret.

I hope this helps clear things up.

-Barid

The thing with figurative language though is that there is only so much you can squash in. Too much of it, and you end up with purple prose and something that's nigh impossible to read. At the same time, metaphors and similes can also be a bit of a crutch when you're writing when you start to rely on overused ones.

My personal stance on it is 1) Too much figurative language can kill the actual writing, 2) using this sort of thing in missions helps to emphasise to readers that some thought should go into it, and also that 3) missions are supposed to be funny, which is where having someone turn into a tiger temporarily while fighing because the Words Said So comes into play.

...but is the debate on the new Department over? The posting just sorta stopped when I said I could maybe do a remake of the A/V division. I don't know if I was unclear - I probably was, knowing me, sorry - but what I meant by that was that I could do it if the Department didn't go through. But so far, I haven't got a concise "yes" or "no" as to the new Department.

I do have a compromise. Maybe I could write a couple of missions for the new Department, on a trial basis. Like, the Flowers have disagreed on the best way to deal with a division like this, so they've made a temporary Department which will police songfics until they've made a decision. It might also give everyone a better idea of where this is going, and where a division like this would belong.

Would that work?

Something I've noticed in a lot missions I've read is that that the agents are incredibly critical of figurative language. Okay, so so-and-so isn't really a tiger when s/he starts fighting (to give a random example), but metaphor happens.

Also, the use of speech verbs. "Chirped", "warbled", "barked" etc. are normal words used to describe a person's tone of voice when speaking (or singing badly, in the case of "warbled"), but they seem to get a lot of abuse... I guess when a fic is bad enough, you want to point out anything you can find, but it just seems like normal writing to me.

Anyone want to discuss?

When I tried earlier, I did get a sort of drop down menu, but there was a gap between the menu and Gallifrey Fanfiction U (caused by that frase not being on a single line). As a result of which the drop down menu disappeared when I tried to get to it.

I agree that it prologues should be linked under prologues. it's more intuitive.

1) Yes, that's a mini. They are about half the height of the usual minis. At least, that's the case with mini-Deckers. I've picked up a few of these minis (face and stockwell).

2) I'm actually surprised this has never come up before, considering how bad at spelling Suethors usually are.

3) Since you'd probably be the first to spot a Sue-mini on a mission, you get to decided how much like a regular mini or like a Sue it is.

As a side note, if I don't feel like coming up with a funny situation surrounding a mini, I don't bother mentioning a mini was created. I don't believe all minis should be saved from badfic; they should be saved when it's funny. A Sue-mini for instance, could be saved at first (with the agents arguing what they are going to do about it), but be lost in the end because it tried to save the Sue and took a bullet for her.

A fangirl is a squeeing, drooling, Suefic-writing mass of hormones. A fan who happens to be female is quite another thing, and quite likely to know more about Aragorn than you can shake a stick at while also having the ability to avoid glomping the poor fellow, which one assumes is an ability that Neshomeh possesses.

That... is even worse, then! Sorry; internet names don't tend to have genders and around here there are more girls than guys, so you tend to assume.

Candi is a famous Mary Sue, not short for your name.

The 'fic in question already has characters turning into birds due to the use of dialogue tags such as 'cooed' and 'chirped,' music notes falling from the sky due to poor phrasing, a randomly appearing man in the canon character's bed, and now a mini-Stormwing with pink eyeshadow and sparkly lipgloss. The saddest thing is that I can actually picture that, and it's not pretty. I feel sorry for my agents...

--anamia

1) I think it would be a mini.

2&3) I think it is a mini and I like the idea of it being pink and glittery. I don't know if it has to be the same as a mini from the continuum that you are in, but I think it could lead to some humor if it is. Imagine a mini-Sue!Balrog (A beast of glitter and eye-shadow?). It would be interesting to say the least.

-Barid

So I have a couple questions about minis.

1. Does an un-capitalized proper noun count as a mini? (I assume yes, but I thought I'd check.)

2. If an author misspells the name of their OC, does that count as a mini, and do the agents have to take it? I can't imagine any of them would really want to deal with a mini with a former 'Sue's name.

3. If OCs do count as minis, do they still look like the other minis from that continuum, or are they different? (I can sort of picture a pink glittery mini Stormwing here, and I can't imagine my agents wanting it. Maybe they could deliver it to DMSE&R, though that seems cruel to the innocent mini.)

I guess that was more than a couple questions, wasn't it?
--anamia

Though I only added in appearance and personality. (Which reminds me, if you want a picture of Lyra, I can supply one. -grins-)

--anamia

Scroll over the Gallifrey Fanfiction U option at the top and you'll get a drop down that lets you choose prologue. Took me a while to figure out as well.

Which reminds me, it might be better to link the prologues to the word prologue on the page. It makes it less confusing.

--anamia

So being possessed by her would be rather weird.