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Comment by MaxScheiber | Hacker News Reader

Interestingly enough, Yudkowsky probably uses these tropes deliberately. He himself is a reader of tvtropes.org[1], he's made explicit reference to using tropes before[2], and it makes senes that someone like Yudkowsky would know exactly which tropes he was and wasn't including.

[1] http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/EliezerYudkows... [2] http://hpmor.com/chapter/7

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But that almost makes it worse! Knowingly writing a Mary Sue is almost inexcusable if you're trying to write legitimate fiction (rather than an educational parody). I have nothing against parodies, especially good ones, but I just think they should be labelled as such. It slightly pains me that it's being held up as a good example of fan fiction when, arguably, it's not.

I have mixed feelings about "trying to write legitimate fiction". Sometimes I have distinct feeling the author just abandons all pretense of writing literature in order to get the point across or turn the story in the way necessary for him. OTOH, I have seen stranger (in my opinion) styles being considered legitimate, and even commendable, examples of literature, so who I am to judge? I'd read it as long as it is entertaining and thought-provoking, and stop if it ever stops being so, and I think that'd be enough.

As for labeling, who cares?

I'm not sure if you're a fan of HPMOR. I personally am, and I think that this parody would lose a lot of appeal were non-Canon potter not a Mary Sue.

I also don't read fan-fiction at all (this is the only fan-fiction I've ever read), but I definitely don't go around saying it's good fan-fiction. I go around saying it's a good read that makes me laugh and makes me think.

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