Ey there! I'm Twistey, and I write both fanfic and (tons and tons of) original worlds. We'll get to my newbie gift for you at the bottom of this post.

That's pretty cool that you're already familiar with MST stuff - it's gotten somewhat obscure in these times. Given how you enjoy the missions and whatnot, you seem to be a good addition.

About the agents, no, they don't need to be from badfic you wrote! Sometimes we recruit background characters from badfic other people wrote, sometimes we even recruit Sues or borderline Sues (but only when a long list of conditions are met), many agents come from World One (aka IRL), and there are even some that come from goodfic! And about your characters becoming agents, you (the writer) choose which badfics your agents spork, so you can avoid NSFW or violent missions, or whatever you're uneasy about. Also, most of the time, PPC technology and training will protect the agents from being dead or worse, so they'll be safe in most cases. If you're interested, we can every so often exchange tips from olderbies about creating agents as we go through the process - I myself am also currently converting a few of my beloved characters and finally making my first agents. Lovely coincidence, eh?

And finally, about the newbie gift, I have several souvenirs and replicas from the iD Software fandom for you to pick from. Here's the list:
- Bunch of blue bricks found exclusively in castles from Wolfenstein 3D
- Bunch of used syringes from Wolfenstein 3D (may contain residue from the zombifying chemical, who knows)
- Replica Spear of Destiny, also from Wolfenstein 3D
- Replica "Call Apogee Say Aardwolf" sign from Wolfenstein 3D
- A very flat flamethrower
- A Supercharge item from Doom (it's a health item.)
- An Armor Bonus item from Doom
- Replica of Commander Keen's homemade spaceship
- And any powerup from the first Quake game.

Sorry if this overwhelms you. Hope to hear the reply!

-Twistey

Have one of my own shed feathers and a complimentary kit of Spikes!

Always nice to see a new face and a fellow Pokémon (Mystery Dungeon) fan. Here's a link to a cool NPR story: http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/07/03/533676536/test-your-fake-news-judgement-play-this-game

In response to your question, they can be whatever works. A lot of people, myself included, make at least one of their agents a version of themselves. Recruiting inoffensive characters from badfic is also a viable option once you have your agent pair established; that's how about 6/8 of SkarmorySilver's characters showed up here. :P

If your characters are afraid, you probably shouldn’t expose them to badfic. Or perhaps it might be fun to write and read about them having to deal with it anyway. But then you need a good backstory about how they got into the PPC and why they don’t just run away.

One of the agents I’ve been talking about for years is a player character I once created in World of Warcraft. Since "protect and heal the world and all its natural inhabitants" is what I believe WoW druids do, and this may easily be transformed into "protect and heal all word worlds and their natural inhabitants – intruders beware", she is predestined to be an assassin in the DMS (and there is space for character development, because she will need to learn that not all OC’s are bad). I actually made the decision the other way round: realizing that I already had a prospective agent at hand, I hesitantly started to think about whether I might like to write PPC stories.

My other agent is a blatant self-insert. Thus, his home canon is what we call "World One", the AU version of real life where it is actually possible to be sucked into a computer, be trapped in that tiny corner of the internet where the PPC exists, and meet a fictional character you created.

About your newbie gift – I might just pretend that it is the advice you got. But since I have no further use for it after getting out, have this Pokeball.

HG

As a welcome, accept this block of ConCrit- stronger than concrete, now with twice the feedback!

How's that fanfiction writing going for you? :D

Please have some black-hole chocolates. Hope you're here to stick around for a long time.

For your newbie gift, take this Royal Ice Cream Container! It will give you any flavor you desire, and can double as an indestructible shield in a pinch.

As for how I decided it... weeeell... I mostly just went through a long period of revising and toying agent concepts that eventually lead me to my current pair. I can't really point at one spot and say, "Here, I decided here," except that I thought at one point, "Hey, what if I had a silly guy from a serious canon and a serious guy from a silly canon?", and I think it was at that point that Michael's home universe (which is the Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians series, by the way) was decided on for me, but I wouldn't be willing to swear by it.

Hey there! For your newbie gift, have a replica of the elder wand. Although, it has no function except for shooting harmless, but pretty, sparks.

'ello, 'ello, 'ello! Nice to meet ya!~

Here, have some pudding. Useful in dealing with pesky Glossarycks.

Welcome to the PPC, we're glad to have you here!

As your newbie gift from me, have two cents, so you can put them in during discussions.

Out of curiosity, what mission did you read first (if you remember) and what spin-offs have you started going through?

- Tomash

I know my handle is the Triumvirate, but the namey-name I use is Calliope (often shortened to Cal). So don't worry about calling me some shortened version of that long probably-Latin word!

For your Newbie Gift from me, have a full set of roleplaying dice! We have a massive group of tabletop gamers here (so many, you seriously have no idea, it's insane), so with these, maybe you can join in! Feel free to decide the pattern and texture and whatnot on your own.

Have an object of indeterminate size and color.

It's very nice to have newbies show up. Normally I just lurk on the Board, so you probably won't see me here often. As for a gift, take this wand of magic missile!

I do hope you choose to stay for a while!

Have a pile of multi-coloured pens.

Hey there, and welcome aBoard! Take this plate of SPaGhetti—it's made fresh just for you.

As to your question: Everyone has a different way of deciding things! My first agents were self-inserts of myself and my then-writing partner. Later agents were badfic recruits, or simply fell through plotholes from various continua where they had just existed quietly in the background before. Original characters are totally okay—just so long as they don't glitter. ;)

I have a question for you in return! What are some of your fandoms?