Exorcism



An exorcism is the standard way of getting an author's evil influence out of a canon character or (sometimes) a canon location (see Alumia) in the absence of a Mary Sue to kill.

Exorcisms are done in the traditional manner using a bell, book and candle. The 'book' may be any source of canonicalness, including but not limited to actual books, CDs, and DVDs. The source of canon you use should be the most appropriate to the subject being exorcised, for instance, first-year Harry Potter should be exorcised using a copy of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', Paris of Troy (movieverse) should be exorcised using a copy of the DVD of Troy, and Kurt Cobain should be exorcised using a stereo playing an appropriate song from his back-catalogue.

It is absolutely vital to invoke the right creator when performing an exorcism. The wrong one may warp the characters. One agent, upon accidentally invoking George Lucas in the Sailor Moon continuum, was shocked to see a character transform into a half-Ewok, half-Jedi.

Similarly, the 'candle' can be any source of canon-appropriate light (or skipped entirely if you're in a hurry), and the 'bell' need not actually be a bell. Any instrument may be used to disrupt the emergent wraith. A particularly weak one may even blow away on its own. The nastier ones, of course, require more aggressive banishment. Lots of shouting of things like 'avaunt', 'abjure' and 'banish' is usually involved. Perhaps an exorcism could be done with, say, 3cc of mouse blood, or a fresh egg and three bits of wood, but like the wizards who perform the Rite of AshkEnte, PPC Agents live for the theatrics.

The Department of Bad Slash handle most of the exorcisms that are required, as the usual cause of author possession of canon characters is for the purpose of furthering inappropriate romance.

Large-Scale Exorcisms
When a planet or a country is possessed, it is often necessary to perform a large-scale exorcism. This takes a lot of manpower and a good deal of cooperation, but has been accomplished twice. Planet-wide exorcisms are considered minor emergencies. The general procedure is to gather a lot of agents and a lot of canon sources, send them to important points across the surface of the planet or continent, and synchronize the exorcism by means of some kind of long-distance communications.


 * Alumia, who possessed Arda
 * Robecca, who possessed Narnia