GTTS does actually fill in some gaps and answer some lingering questions.

Within the context of fanfic, maybe, but not all Trek fans read fanfic. So I wouldn’t exactly call it the same context. Also, you need to understand, pro writers CANNOT read fanfic; we can’t risk exposing ourselves to unsolicited story ideas, since that opens us to costly nuisance lawsuits. So no pro writer can or should be affected one way or the other by what happens in fanfic.

“And I’m certainly not saying this character is poorly written, but heck, you wouldn’t name a character Shurlock or Vayderr or Loosifer and expect people reading the name to not see connotations when they read it.”

The characters of Dr. House and Dr. Wilson in HOUSE were named to evoke the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Lucien in “The Magicks of Megas-tu” was named to evoke Lucifer — as was the Cylon Lucifer in the original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. And of course Darth Vader was named that to evoke “Dark Father” and possibly “Invader.” (The term “vader” was used as a shorthand term for alien invaders in Fredric Brown’s 1944 short story “The Waveries.”)

And for the reasons I explained, I can’t possibly expect anything based on what the fanfic audience has experienced.

Come on, it’s just a name. Is it worth this much debate? Why not try actually reading the book rather than going on for pages about a single word?

>>Isn’t it just the opposite, though? A Mary Sue is a character that the other characters — and the writer — find far more fascinating than she (or he) actually is, who’s built up within the story to a totally undeserved level of magnificence. It’s someone the writer and characters adore but the readers and reviewers hate.<>Not being a reader of fanfic, I was completely unaware of this. I also think it’s totally irrelevant — who cares if a character’s name sounds like the name of a different, unpopular character or type of character?<>Heck, ST has given us characters with awful names like Quark and Odo and Dax and Kes, but they turned out to be great characters. Bad fanfic isn’t bad because of its superficial forms, but because of its execution.<<

Those may or may not be bad names, but they’re not names that have become glaringly trite within the context of their genre or universe. And I’m certainly not saying this character is poorly written, but heck, you wouldn’t name a character Shurlock or Vayderr or Loosifer and expect people reading the name to not see connotations when they read it.

thats it just saying hi. I always enjoy it when the people behind the stories drop by to interact with the fans.

Isn’t it just the opposite, though? A Mary Sue is a character that the other characters — and the writer — find far more fascinating than she (or he) actually is, who’s built up within the story to a totally undeserved level of magnificence. It’s someone the writer and characters adore but the readers and reviewers hate.

24: “Anything ending with “yssa” is redolent of Mary Sue. Actually, anything with y insstead of i and/or a double-s-a in any combination has been so thoroughly overused and co-opted by poseur fanfic writers that I can’t imagine anyone not having run across a Mary Sue character with a similar name.”

Not being a reader of fanfic, I was completely unaware of this. I also think it’s totally irrelevant — who cares if a character’s name sounds like the name of a different, unpopular character or type of character? Heck, ST has given us characters with awful names like Quark and Odo and Dax and Kes, but they turned out to be great characters. Bad fanfic isn’t bad because of its superficial forms, but because of its execution.

It’s not really an apostrophe, it’s more of a schwa, or even a contraction… (if only Okrand ever had been given the green light on the Vulcan Dictionary, we’d know something about T’ being a contracted form of ‘tef’ or somesuch feminine pronoun meaning “she who…” After all, the novelizations of TWOK and TSFS indicate the Vulcan form of Saavik is actually T’Saavik.)

Certainly T’Pau, T’Pring and the like are clearer this way than if they were spelled more phonetically as Tuhpau or Tuhpring. But I’m with you on the “y” comment. (Then again, I spelled my oldest daughter’s name Cathrynn!) And at the same time, I think the double ’ss’ is appropriate: it makes it clear the vowel is short. Which brings me to my point. It’s Vulcan. Perhaps the ‘y’ is a different vowel from ‘i’, just as happens in many languages. Who’s not to say Christopher will tell us that the ‘y’ in T’Ryssa should be pronounced like the German ‘y’ and not an English ‘y’? ;)

Anything ending with “yssa” is redolent of Mary Sue. Actually, anything with y insstead of i and/or a double-s-a in any combination has been so thoroughly overused and co-opted by poseur fanfic writers that I can’t imagine anyone not having run across a Mary Sue character with a similar name.

Sure, nobody can “own” a style of name, and of course every writer has the right to name his characters whatever he likes, but a writer who knows his audience knows the sort of cultural context in which they will read his work.

Any heavily-featured non-canon character (especially one who fits the description of “one of the most interesting and potential-filled new characters”) runs the risk of coming off as Mary Sue, but add a name with “yssa” and an apostrophe and you’ve crossed over into that territory whether you meant to or not.