Subject: As I said in the chat,
Author:
Posted on: 2017-03-09 13:11:00 UTC
I support a non-published, non-canon PPC mission being used for curricular purposes. Calliope got to get that grade, y'all!
—doctorlit, student for life
Okay, so. Various people requested that this subject be brought to the Board. Namely, Ix, Des, and Tomash.
Recently, a new project was announced for my English class. To simplify it (because this is Necessary Information), we're all supposed to write seven essays revolving around a shared topic. Without really going through the proper official channel things, I submitted the PPC as my topic. The problem there is that I don't have Permission yet, and one of the essays must be a narrative.
Now, at this point, I cannot change what my topic is. So what I'm asking is: would there be too much objection if I wrote a mission for my English class? I could consider it a practice mission and never publish it anywhere else, if that would help.
After all, you're not publishing this or otherwise making it canonical.
So go have as much fun as you can (given the obvious constraint that this is graded work for a class) writing this. I hope to see the results after the whole assignment is finished.
Grumbling about not obeying the letter (and quite possibly the spirit) of the rules aside — that's just my peeve, though — I propose the following, which I think will make everyone happy.
1) Triu will write an interlude — not a mission — for her essay (thus fulfilling the narrative requirement).
2) The interlude will be explicitly considered non-canon from the get-go.
3) After everything is said and done, Triu may use said interlude as part of her Permission request.
4) If she gets Permission, she may canonise this interlude, if she wants to. Otherwise, it will stay non-canon.
Also: neither your position as a member of the PPC community nor your PG hat gives you the right to dictate what someone can do for their schoolwork. It just... doesn't.
hS
Yes, I've read your comment. No, I'm not dictating anything. I'm just proposing something I think everybody will find acceptable. Is that a bad thing?
You seemed to be proposing a plan which she would be required to stick to. I apologise for my misinterpretation.
My comment was specifically about the fact that an interlude might not meet the requirements of the work. That's why I asked if you'd read it, since you were proposing an interlude without addressing that point.
hS
I don't know what that particular essay requires, only that it needs to be about/on the PPC and that it needs to have a narrative. In any case, if it doesn't work, I'll scrap this proposal and find a new one; it's not like it's set in stone or anything.
My aim here is to clearly enumerate a plan of action, as it were. I like it when things are laid down explicitly; it helps to prevent misunderstandings.
I mean, it's just a casual community vote deciding on if she can write a story set in the PPC universe for school. Not like we're amending the Constitution or anything.
I didn't mention a vote, nor did I intend for this to be a vote, nor (I think) did anybody else. I just brought up an idea. Sheesh.
"I propose the following" is generally a way of signaling that you want people to vote, especially when you follow up with a list of terms and conditions.
I actually decided this morning - after another discussion with the teacher - that an interlude would suit the assignment much better. It's shorter, I have more creative license, and I get to show off some of the wackier parts of the PPC.
Specifically, most of the decision revolved around the length. My entire peer-grading group vetoed the mission, because the entire class did not want to deal with a thirty-six page mission, especially for things they'd probably never even heard of. On top of that, I've never written a mission before - trying to write my first mission under a time limit and for a grade would probably be a really bad idea.
Though I should point out that writing doorstop missions is hardly de rigeur - look at Driftwood, for instance. =]
And I hope you show us the rest of the essays when they're done, too. A few people have done similar things in the past, and it's always interesting. ^_^
~Neshomeh
I support a non-published, non-canon PPC mission being used for curricular purposes. Calliope got to get that grade, y'all!
—doctorlit, student for life
Especially considering you're not planning on publishing it. I mean, at that level, you can do whatever you want!
Anything. Anything. Aaaaaaanything. Long as it's not published.
And, I mean, I'd say it's a good way of practicing writing and practicing for the PPC setting so, I mean, seems more than good, to me!
One thing: is there any reason why the narrative has to be a mission? It would show off the PPC just as much--actually, probably even more so--to write an interlude. HQ is weird and exciting all on its own, and not everyone is in an action department. On the other hand, you haven't been with us too long yet, so odds are that that might take a lot more wiki/reading research than writing a practice mission would. However, HQ, with its large variety of species, weird laundry room, odd Cafeterias, Rudi's, Courtyards, and, reportedly, a Fountain of Bleepka (or was it the pool that's supposedly around and the fountain is findable?), not to mention the...unique ways of getting places that HQ residents have to develop...well, that's very far from boring and unrepresentative of the PPC, I'd say. And that's not even mentioning interesting places like DoSAT (good for showing off gadgets and grumpy techs) and FicPsych, and of course Upstairs...
On the other hand, re: a practice mission: I'm not really against that idea at all. It's also a good way to learn about your characters and figure out something about how writing missions goes. I just really wanted to point out that, unless you've absolutely promised your teacher a mission and there's no way to change the plan, an interlude where, say, some agents go about completing a bunch of errands that went undone while trying to avoid a new mission for as long as possible, would hardly be boring. You have options, unless you, well, don't.
~Zing
PS: Also, good luck with the seven written pieces! I think I had an assignment a little like that in Writer's Craft, though in my case the topic they shared was something along the lines of the theme of family (both biological and not). (So sue me, I was pretty into Supernatural at the time and the whole "Family don't end with blood, boy" theme really resonated with me for some reason.) Anyway, reminiscing aside, good luck!
Not about whether it's okay to write a mission for essayish purposes - that's fine, of course. Just be aware that the reason we have a Permission process is to make sure a) you can write, and b) you can write the PPC. So writing without it means that you might produce something that wouldn't be acceptable in PPC canon.
(This is why 'I've written my first six missions and now I'm asking for Permission!' would be a problem, by the way. If you're writing before getting Permission, then you're writing before getting confirmation that your style+knowledge fits into the PPC. If you get turned down, you'd have to scrap everything you wrote.)
But whether it should be a mission or an interlude... depends on what you see the PPC as being about. Is it about the weird and wonderful world of HQ - or is it about criticizing badfic from an in-universe perspective?
Everyone will have different answers to that. But if The Triumvirate writes six essays about the criticism side, then a HQ story wouldn't fulfil the role it's supposed to.
hS
I mean, it would be a mission shown to your teacher only rather than the entire internet, and it could make for an interesting, unconventional way to get Permission in the future. People have gotten Permission by doing, well, Permission Missions before, if memory serves, so I don't see why the same can't apply here. :)
Of course, I'm interested to know what other people think, too.
