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I think they mean Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

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~Neshomeh

The essay states that a Mary Sue is an empowered female character. This is not so. A mary Sue is a character who is empowered to the point that the character literally has no flaws, has superficial flaws, or in some cases bereft of talent to give her an excuse to be rescued over and over by an object of affection. Hating them has nothing to do with misogyny.

Everyone has wish fulfillment fantasies (hell, I know I have) and most men keep them to themselves(hell I know I do) because they know that they will be ridiculed because wishing for impossible things is something you keep to yourself. Even then, there are some exceptions (Eragon, anyone?) and these are panned as well. It just so happens that teenage girls are in the category most likely to post this sort of thing online, usually involving characters from recent media. It's not discrimination against anything but the belief that bad characters are... well, bad, and a mary sue is simply an author wish fulfillment.

Greetings from another rookie! Enjoy this genuine WWI British infantryman helmet as a welcoming gift.

Hey, just another noob here. I've been reading bad fanfic for a long time now, ever since I read my immortal. Found the ppc while looking for "legolas by laura" to read again, and after reading the original series thought it sounded like a great way to finally do something involving them. So consider me signed up! I've never written anything in a creational capacity before(that I distributed to the world at large) but I'd really like to get started.

And I've read Celebrian, so I've been to Naraka and back. And I'm kind of interested to see if anyone could find anything more disturbing since I found out it was a trollfic. Pease, if you could oblige that would be brilliant.

...I'd be happy to do that.

Yeah, that's what I meant. I have a little thing in my intro where the annoying-ness of the song is a minor plot pont.

... that doesn't mean her agents aren't allowed to sing it :P

I don't think the Mika was asking if we forbade "Love Story", but if singing it would cause widespread annoyance and feelings of "kill maim burn" among us peeps.
(Yes.)

I had a thought on this. It may be that in the universe of Bleach, Aizen's hypnosis is irreversible. However, it occurs to me that hypnosis involves the brain. That said, perhaps the use of a neuralyzer might reverse said hypnosis.

To sum up: Using canon methods = irreversible. Using out of canon methods = possibly reversible.

It might take some time to figure out the treatment, but there may be a cure using techniques and technologies from other universes.

Both of my parents are somewhat internet-phobic, and showing the records of past Gatherings will probably result in horrified "Your picture will end up on the *internet*?" gasps.

We all know Medical is phenomenal at the PPC, capable of reviving canons killed in fics and, while short of outright resurrection, healing up Agents spectacularly. Though with all its technology, is it capable of reversing things from various canons that are stated to be impossible to reverse?

Here's an example scenario: Agent Whatsisface (DMS, Bleach Division) is pursuing Mia Esplendissima, pink-haired Negative-First Espada and TWU WUV of Ulquiorra Cifer, through the halls of Las Noches when he bumps into Hueco Mundo's lord, master, and wearer of very stylish coats, Sosuke Aizen, and is hypnotized.

Now, it is stated many times in Bleach canon that Aizen's hypnosis is irreversible; once he gets you, he controls everything you see from then on. Obviously this would be a risk to the PPC, but could Medical correct it? More importantly, should they? Would reversing something irreversible cause weird things to happen?

Simply put? You can call your agents whatever you like, and sing whatever you like :)

There have been plenty of agents with similar or the same names, particularly when those names are standard normal names, like Tristan, or Bob or Amy or whatever.

Likewise, it's your agent character. If they like Hilary Duff and Nickelback, then they like Hilary Duff and Nickelback. Not everyone is going to agree, but that doesn't mean that we forbid them.

It sounds like a kneejerk reaction to me, and an ill-thought-out one at that. There's a definite suggestion that women writing is good, and I'm down with that, but it's coupled with an assumption that just because someone can pick up a pen and form squiggles, they should proudly display said squiggles to the world.

Having the freedom to write is a good thing. But I strongly object to the idea that writing of poor quality in a public place is "empowering", and that to comment on the quality is "bullying".

It seems to me that to call writing of any quality empowering simply because a woman is able to produce it in fact serves to demean women. It's patronising. Writing should be applauded, where warranted, for its own sake, not because its author has the fortune to live in a society granting (almost) all individuals the requisite education and freedom to put pen to paper. Female authors should be held to the same standards as male authors: they should be judged on the quality of their writing. I would mock a story written by a boy, a black person, a gay person, a disabled person, a French person, someone of any given group you care to name, if their writing was of poor quality, not because of who they are, but because it is poor quality. Hiding behind centuries of oppression is not a valid answer to storytelling skills in need of improvement.

Maybe all of you lot in the DMS do things differently, I don't know. But I was under the impression the PPC's raison d'etre is to spork bad writing, whether it features Sues or not. The writer of the essay doesn't seem to have realised that. Perhaps we're giving the wrong impression somewhere. Perhaps she didn't do the research. Who knows?

Boston's not that far from me at all, really.

I found this essay to be very offensive. How dare she group me and her into the same category. As a woman, I do not feel it necessary to write bad fiction to feel empowered, and it makes me mad that she is implying that that is the only way for women to feel empowered. My life is not that pathetic.

Also, I have always felt that if the writers were going to be that sensitive over their writing that they should keep it to themselves or their close friends. Putting it up on an extremely public website, and begging for people to read it is, well, begging for people to read it. All people, including those who will mock bad writing.

The person writing that essay is missing a lot of points. I like your offer to say "poorly-written, unrealistic, shallow female character."

That would explain why, on firefox, it looks as though there have been no posts for days, but IE is showing everything fine. Buggeration.

((Note: the non-Middle Earth swearing and the Grelvish name in this piece are both intentional, because I had hoped this would be funny...))

"You have some explaining to do."

To say that Legolas was angry was probably the understatement of the Age. 'Perfectly livid,' was probably a bit more accurate, and 'murderous,' even more so. However, in order to do complete justice to the Wood Elf's rage, Elrohir suspected he would have to remembered the Ancient Quenya lessons that his grandmother had hammered into his head centuries before, and he couldn't even do that in a good moment.

And, given the fact that the best reply he could come up with was a startled blink and an incoherent gurgle, this was most decidedly *not* a good moment. Though, to his defense, the gurgle was due to the fact that Legolas currently had him pressed up against one outer wall of the last Homely House, with one slender hand throttling his windpipe.

After a moment of choking, Elrohir managed a strained "Dunno...what...talkin' 'bout."

Legolas bared his teeth in a sick parody of a smile, and released Elrohir's throat. Elrohir fell into a sitting position on the ground, gasping for air and rubbing at his neck.

"Of *course* you don't know what I'm talking about," Thranduilion continued calmly, a slight twitch of his left eyelid being (temporarily) the only visible sign of his outrage. "The young groom who batted his eyes at you? Who agreed to a midnight tryst in the garden with you two months ago? Any of this sound familiar?"

Actually, none of it did. Elrohir had no memory of encountering flirtatious young grooms, and even if he had, he would have turned down any advances. In fact, just before Legolas's sudden interruption, he had been composing a love-letter to a lovely Galadrim maiden, whom he had met on a long-ago trip to Grandma's and whom he intended to propose to on the next trip to Grandma's. But, bruised as his throat was, he didn't get a chance to explain that situation before Legolas hauled him to his feet again, gripping his shirt by the lapel and shaking him senseless.

"That 'groom' is my little sister, you idiot!" shouted the Prince of Mirkwood, all calm completely renounced.

Elrohir's face contorted in confusion. "Sister? You have a sister?" It was the first time *he* had heard of it...

"Yes! A stupid, hormonal little sister who decided to be rebellious and run away from home disguised as my groom!"

The pieces were starting to come together. "Blonde, fair-skinned, only about twenty-six years old, and introduces herself as Mirkwoodelf?"

"YES! That's Tinawiel, trying to be Eowyn without knowing Rohirric." Legolas paused a little, his hands shaking violently, before continuing. "And now, not only is she pregnant with your child, she's FADING, you INCONSIDERATE JACKASS!"

A strangled gulp came from the dark-haired Elf. "But...I didn't...it was..."

"And YOU are going to MARRY her, RIGHT NOW, before she DIES, or SO HELP ME, I will DRAG YOUR BACKSIDE OVER TO MIRKWOOD AND FEED YOU TO THE SPIDERS!"

The first thing that popped into Elrohir's mind at this pronouncement was a Sindarin variant of "oh crap."

The second thing was "DAMN YOU, ELLADAN!"

It's funny to me that the author of this essay thinks PPC missions are intended as attacks against the Suethors. Most of the mission writers I know of don't even contact the original Suethor to begin with. The essay says writing badfic doesn't hurt anyone; well, neither do PPC missions or other sporkings.

Also, as Neshomeh mentioned already, using another term or phrase in place of "Mary Sue" wouldn't change the badness of the stories they appear in, or any reader's reaction to them. To paraphrase Shakespeare, a rose will always the same flower, no matter what we may call it.

I've started to write my intro piece, and I've got a few questions. One, is it alright to name one of my agents Tristan? The thing is, there's an agent Tristan on the RC list, but I can't find him anywhere else.They'd both be in Floaters.

Second, and this is just a minor plot point, would singing 'Love Story' by Taylor Swift in HQ get me shot at? What about Hillary Duff? Conversly, would Nickleback be alright to sing?

I'd really apreciate it if you could let me know. Thanks!

The author lost me at the suggestion that well-rounded canon characters would be branded Mary Sue.

I stopped reading there. I had a feeling I knew where this was going. Somewhere in the direction of: some people call these characters Mary Sues; they are wrong; therefore all people who call characters Mary Sues are wrong.

There's a logical fallicy in there I can't quite put my finger on. At least not at the moment. Perhaps after a good night of sleep.


I shall leave you with a message I received a few weeks ago.
Someone whose empowerment I apparently shamed (wrote a mission to one of her fics) send me a message telling me she thought it was "piss funny" though she'd been upset about it at first. She said she'd rewritten the story, hoped it was better, and asked me to take a look at it and give her any tips.

I think that's a case where the PPC is empowering. Empowering authors to get better at their craft.

1. All the major departments deal with a specific type of badfic: Department of Mary-Sues, Department of Bad Slash, Department of Implausible Crossovers, etc. So, Department of Bad Songfic (or maybe something other than "Bad," so it wouldn't share an acronym with Bad Slash) would fit right in.
   
   2. Most (if not all) of us have written a Mary-Sue or some other type of badfic in our past. Admitting it and moving on isn't hypocritical. {= ) Heck, some people have even PPC'd their own works.
   
   ~Neshomeh

Have a griffin! Don't worry, it's house-trained.