1. What is your age, gender, and nationality?
61, male, German (not your average boarder).

2. What, in your personal opinion, constitutes badfic?
Disregarding canon to make the word world fit a plot or character which or who should better have been used in an original story, as opposed to deliberately twitching canon to explore the consequences in a what-if AU. No, wait. That constitutes bad fan fiction, combined with the general characteristics of badfic: implausible plot, contradictory characterization, obvious errors about facts that could easily be researched and bad SPaG showing that the author didn’t bother to put much afford into this fic.

3. Do you think there is a "formula" or "script" to writing Missions?
Not really. There are standard ingredients and guidelines, and it’s unusual to have the climactic assassination or exorcism before the flashback where the agents get the mission, but varying the recipe is what keeps it interesting over years.

3a. If so, can you describe it?
I could try to list the ingredients and guidelines, but that’s what the wiki is for.

4. What, in your personal opinion, constitutes a "good" Mission?
Actual concrit, disguised as a funny story.

4a. What are the essential tools for writing one?
A critical mind and a good sense of humor, combined with at least basic writing skills.

5. Do you write Missions?
Not yet, and considering my lack of spare time I will probably not even ask for permission before I retire from my job. But I’m working on my future agents’ back story.

6. What initially drew you to the PPC community?
I found the PPC on a derivative of the Evil Overlord List concerning trans-dimensional organizations. I became curious and, although I had never been into fan fiction, I liked the humor and silliness of The Original Series.

7. What keeps you here?
The people, I guess. Actually it’s the wide variety of discussions to lurk on and to contribute to when I find the time to put my thoughts together. And doing this in a foreign language keeps my brain alert.

HG

I'll have to go back and see whether I read and forgot about your missions or just didn't find them the first time through. Anyway, questions!

QUESTIONS:

1. What is your age, gender, and nationality? 21 on Saturday, female and American.

2. What, in your personal opinion, constitutes badfic? Fanfiction that is written incompetently or lazily. It frequently warps the canon and/or characters in order to accomplish some kind of wish fulfillment.

3. Do you think there is a "formula" or "script" to writing Missions?Yes, more or less. It gets played with, usually for more serious or important Missions.
3a. If so, can you describe it?Agents are interacting with each other, maybe continuing a subplot from previous Missions, when they are alerted to an incoming Mission. They read the report and make angry preparations to enter the fic. Once inside, they scan the characters for OOC-ness, take down charges, and suffer from the bad writing--figuratively and literally since a lot of badfic elements manifest physically. Then they capture and charge the Sue or Wraith and execute them in a creative fashion. Afterwards they return to their base and possibly get reprimanded if they broke any rules.

4. What, in your personal opinion, constitutes a "good" Mission?One where the Sue's obnoxiousness is conveyed in all its cringe-inducing glory, the Agents are engaging, and any snarking is funny.
4a. What are the essential tools for writing one?Tricky...Agents whose characters the writer really gets. What's the justice in mocking someone else's bad characterization if you can't write a competent OC yourself? Also an ear for good jokes. And, of course, basic writing skills like SPaG, pacing and so forth.

5. Do you write Missions?No, I don't have Permission, but seeing the next question I have sporked a badfic independently, and I've written a PPC-esque series with made-up Sues and Stus called Shattered Hourglass.
5a. If so, have you ever had an interaction with the author of the fic you are sporking? If so, what was the nature of this interaction? Was there any change in the author's behaviour after your interaction?Yes. I was in a position of authority and felt what I did wasn't quite appropriate and apologized. She (gender presumed) and a friend each posted a comment calling me names a few months after that. Her activity on Wikia and DeviantArt petered out, with no apparent change in behavior.

6. What initially drew you to the PPC community?I'm a fan of MST3K, so hearing about MST'ings led me to the PPC's Original Series.

7. What keeps you here?The community? A lot of the time I'm nervous to speak up or interact, but this place is really unique. It's critical, but also creative. Even if I didn't enjoy the catharsis, the meta-fandom is cool.

I: 32, M, American

II: That would take a while to explain and I've got

III: I don't know how to answer that.

IV: Funny, respecting canon, etc.

V: Wrote thirty-three of them, and then when I asked what a Rider of Rohan would make of Equestria it was suggested that I write the mission--I am currently working with TM in the OOC horror of Cheerilee's Garden as Suicide and Dio work with a husband and wife recruited from a fic with an Éomer Sue. As for the second half of that question, a couple authors of badfics I PPC'ed found the missions amusing.

VI: I saw all the Narnia badfic out there. I was introduced to the PPC by way of The Official Fanfiction University of Cats.

VII: I e-know a lot of people here, and with all these new fandoms (and the Hobbit films) there's no shortage of new missions.

Welcome back.

1) 20, Male, British
2) Mainly a badly written piece of fanfiction that either ignores the current state of canon (at the time it was written) and instead replaces or inserts the events and/or characters within canon with original characters or events (either outright or hiding in canon character/event's clothings), which often make the fic unbelievable in any number of ways. Or that attempts to fix some wrong the the author has perceived to exist within the canon, whether this be pairing, death of a character or whatever so fulfill what the author believes to be the 'correct' state of canon, using whatever means they deem necessary, even if they do not make sense (in or out of canon). For me those are the two main things that constitute badfic, although they are not the sole ones.

3,3a) There is a loose one yes. Part 1, or more effectively the prologue is where the agents are introduced, with a loud BEEP the mission is introduced and the agents prepare for the mission. Part 2, for me is roughly the first couple of chapters of the badfic, the agents arrive and take in their initial surroundings as well as taking in anything that is introduced in the badfic and filtering through to make sure it fits canon, or else working out whether they can charge for it and if so under what. Part 3 constitutes the main picking up of charges, and working through the badfi...il the point where either the agents have enough or that there is a perfect moment for the agents to intercept whatever is causing the badfic and deal with it whilst they have enough charges. Part 4 is made up of the agents picking up the pieces and sorting out what bits of the badfic they need to/can that aren't already dealt with. Part 5, the epilogue is the agents returning to their RC and preparing for the next mission.

4) I don't know, I suppose a "Good" mission for me should be funny, and with that I mean tickle my particular tastes of humour, but then obviously this is for me and not in general, it should not be too long, or if it is there should be something that makes me want to keep reading (actually a shorter mission needs that as well) and overall there's got to be some connection to the Agents, I can't really explain it, but there's got to be something human in quality about the Agents (even if they aren't actually humans).

5) I have Permission, and am in the process of writing missions, but I have not yet finished one.
5a) Kind of, I've got a base for a mission I'm writing sporking my first attempt a fanfic, looking back at it now I can see how much I've changed between when I was writing it and now.

6) I'd started realizing that the stuff I was reading (and writing) wasn't that good and I wanted a place where I could improve my writing skills in a friendly environment, I saw the TvTropes page and thought the PPC looked quite nice, I started lurking on the board for a bit before I actually introduced myself and I liked what I saw even more, it was then just a question of plucking up enough courage to actually write an introduction post...

7) Besides really wanting to get a mission out? I mean, I really like this community, it's a fun place to be and overall they're good people to know, most of whom I'd happily call friends. I'm still improving when it comes to my writing and it's all thanks to people on this site, and in some ways I feel like I owe them and I want to show them that all that yelling at me about comma's has got through. And I know that if I keep trying I can improve my writing so much more, and it feels natural to me that this is the place where I do that. I love the overall sense of community, how it doesn't matter what you like you're welcome here and how on here everyone truly does the best they can to help others, it's rare to find somewhere like that, on the internet or in real life, and for someone like me, that's the sort of place that I want to be, the community I want to be part of, somewhere I feel like I belong.

Storme Hawk
Who may have got a bit emotional at the last bit...

Even if it's just for a little while. I hope you'll stick around, though. {= )

The survey:

1. 29, female, American.

2. A badfic is a fan-written story that's poorly written mechanically (e.g. spelling, punctuation, and grammar) and/or poorly told as a story (e.g. unrealistic characters, flawed logic, haphazard pacing). Usually both. Badfics tend to ignore or change aspects of the source canon, either because the writer forgot about them or didn't know better, or to "make the plot work" or benefit an original character inserted into the world.

3. Yes, but not more so than any other narrative.

3a. More than that, I plugged the standard PPC mission into Syd Field's paradigm for fun a few years ago: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RMkTrDaAFMi8rnccdLe2glT51SzyQjz1IUzg8Ztpyxc/edit?usp=sharing

4. My favorite missions are the truly parodic ones that take the text of the badfic and transform it into something hilarious. Rather than just pointing out each thing that's wrong, groaning about it, and moving on to the next thing, they take what's wrong and express it in an exaggerated, absurd way. For instance, in Tungsten Monk's latest mission, a character is described as a "green shirt" instead of a "greenshirt" (a rookie). Therefore, in the mission, the character appeared as a floating green shirt the whole time. Much funnier than the agents simply pointing out the typo.

My favorite missions also star characters who are more than just interchangeable talking heads. Half of what makes a mission funny is what the writer does with the badfic; the other half is the interactions the agents have with each other and with the fic. If the agents are two-dimensional cardboard cutouts that can only groan and point out the literal errors, they're not interesting or funny. If they each have their own quirks and foibles, and get annoyed by different things, and disagree with each other sometimes, and their snark is insightful and revealing, that's gold.

4a. You gotta have a sense of humor, and you gotta push the envelope. I mean, okay, start with the basics: solid writing skills, knowing the canon, knowing the PPC universe. But then you have to have an eye for material you can work with, and you have to have a flair for the absurd. You have to take the time to look past the literal text of the badfic, both understand what the author intended and get past it, and extract comedy from what it could mean. Then build a story around it with characters who really engage with their situation and have it affect them.

5. Yep!

5a. Once, I was in the middle of sporking a fic when I went and looked at the summary for the first time, to find that the author had actually repented ages ago and was all for the PPC sporking the thing. I got in touch with him, let him know I was doing it, and actually invited him to have a cameo. He accepted, and ended up assassinating his own Gary Stu. ^_^ That's pretty atypical, though.

I have occasionally reviewed fics I've sporked, but I've never had anything come of that, to my knowledge.

6. The humor and the fact that they were a bunch of Tolkien nerds, like me. I don't think I had ever met a bigger Tolkien nerd than myself until I found the Board. It was a little intimidating, but awesome, especially because everyone was so nice and welcoming.

7. I've been a member for over a decade, and at this point I can hardly imagine my life without the PPC in it. It's a part of my identity now. Furthermore, I've made some great friends here, and I still have stories to tell and other contributions to make, such as my work on the wiki.

I hope that helps. {= )

~Neshomeh

Glad you're having fun in college! Here we go:

1. Twenty-eight, male, U.S. white.

2. A badfic is a fanfic that undoes, perverts or goes against some aspect of the source material, caused by lack of careful planning and thought during the writing process. (Not to be confused with an exploratory, alternate universe fanfic that intentionally changes something and examines the full consequences.)

3/3a. No. The only thing that's universal enough to missions to call the "formula" is the bare bones mechanical structure of the agents reacting to the writing of the original badfic. Even showing quotes from the original probably isn't strictly necessary, though it's probably easier to do it that way. I suppose the ending of missions (remove the problem) is also part of a "formula," but even then, we see unforeseen problems and consequences interfere with the resolution as often as not.

4. To me, the best missions are those that don't merely remove the uncanon and restore the canon, but celebrate the canon. This is sometimes as simple as writing in the same style as the original, or quoting it cleverly. More complex examples could be giving a canon character a moment to shine and reinforce their canon theme or attitude. In the best case, such a mission contrasts those canon themes with the mistakes made in the badfic, so that the reader of the mission sees the conceptual errors that contributed to making the original fanfic a badfic.
4a. The only tools needed for writing a good mission are a strong familiarity with the source canon, and a critical eye for narrowing down the badfic's themes: not just looking at superficial errors, but the major problems that cause the badfic to fail to properly coexist with the canon it takes place in.

5/5a. I do write missions, but I have never communicated with the authors of any of the fanfics I've written missions for. I have no desire to do so, mostly out of discomfort interacting with unfamiliar people.

6. I've always been interested in crossovers, and looking for both subtle and overt connections between different fictional universes. The in-universe PPC offered the opportunity to interact with essentially infinite canons from a single base point, which was exciting for me as a writer. (As a reader, all the free content produced by the other community members is also fantastic!)

7. I am heavily invested in the PPC setting, and have many plans for my characters, whom I hope to continue writing for many decades. Aside from my personal enjoyment in writing my PPC characters, I love seeing the reactions other people have to reading them, and getting other opinions and viewpoints about what I write.

On a more personal note, I have made many friends in this community; I have more close friends in the PPC than I do in real life. I don't often meet people who think like I do, so the PPC is fantastic for my continued sanity. I am also a better person now than I was when I first joined the PPC, due to the other members teaching me about people and the real world, a world I had little knowledge of at the start.

Hope that's useful! If you're quoting anything of mine, feel free to restructure any sentences to make them read more professionally.

Good luck, both on this assignment and with school in general. I hope we'll see you some more once you've graduated!

—doctorlit

I'll certainly take part in this, but it'll likely have to wait until Friday due to tangling with linguistic type things on my own end.

How have you been?

Or, rather, hello there.
1. [REDACTED], male, Israeli.
2. Badfic is when someone takes other people's works and decides to ignore them, then write a story with them nonetheless. Alternatively: clueless people writing fanfic. Alternatively: disturbing people writing fanfic.
3. This exists, but it's mostly a set of guidelines. Ultimately, a mission depends on the badfic it is sporking and on the agents; there is no set 'formula' per se, though some patterns are recognisable ([BEEEEEEEEP!], reading charges and other PPC SOP, etc).
4. Varies. It's usually either funny or cathartic. The latter is reserved to truly horrifying fics, stories that make you want to spork them because you won't feel alright if you won't.
4a. I'm not sure, but inspiration is important, as are good betas.
5. Yes. Sorta. When I don't have writer's block.
5a. No.
6. Reading the PPC's TvTropes page and thinking it is awesome.
7. The people. Writing's just a common interest; the people are amazing.

Before I go into the survey, have a honking llama with an urple bow around its neck! If the urple becomes too painful, feel free to remove it.

Okay, you need some questions answered? Lessee...

1) 17, almost 18; female; American

2) Badfic can consist of several different things, but to me it's mostly a blatant disregard for canon, including but not limited to: Major OOCness, Sues who contribute nothing to the story, Sues who derail the story for no reason, horrendous grammar, and not doing research. Of course, it's usually found in a combination of all that.

3) The majority of them follow the same pattern, but I like it.
3a) 1. Agents get mission. 2. Agents enter fic. 3. Snark happens. 4. Agents kill the fic and go home.

4) Good missions? The funny ones! The ones that make the badfic less horrible.
4a) Tools? A sense of humor, a knowledge of the continuum, and lots and lots of Brain Bleach.

5) Yep! Got Permission back in February. :D
5a) No, I have not... unless interacting with yourself counts? I'm working on my old badfic right now.

6) The idea was appealing. I'd already gotten sick of all the badfic and was leery of browsing the Pit as a result. And then I found this place and thought the idea was really cool, sending agents into badfic to clean up my beloved canons. The idea alone had me sold.

7) Writing my own missions and reading others' certainly plays a part, but I mostly stay here because of the people. I love this community and how close everyone is. Honestly, it would take a lot for me to leave.

Hope this helps!