giving new meaning to "it's happening again"
what strikes me the near absence of world-building for the PPC itself. We've got basically four pieces of tech, or five if you count the console screen separately from the portal and disguise generation functions. And there's a vague allusion to the power structure Jay and Acacia are operating under, in the line, " I just want to know why sending everyone out of character doesn't count." It's just enough to show that the agents aren't solitary vigilantes, certainly nothing that hints at sapient plant aliens. We don't even see much of the furniture in the RC beyond the console's parts, let alone any explanation of the overall HQ. Rivendell gets much more description!
And why? I feel like the real thematic focus of this first story, the main goal, was to contrast the agents with the fic's OCs. Laurel barely talks to her own bandmates, to the point where they don't even feel much like people; "bit character" indeed! All her focus is on interacting with the popular characters, particularly two attractive ones. In comparison, Jay and Acacia stick together for the majority of the mission, playing games, camping, eating together. Even when bickering, they still stay focused on the mission, and work together to get it done. Where Laurel refuses to dress like the natives, and insists on playing anachronistic music on unsuited instruments, Jay and Acacia are so dedicated to preserving canon they change their physical bodies into monstrous, scary creatures just to make the assassination accurate! (Also, can you imagine being offered free clothing made of Middle-earth textiles, hand-woven by an actual elf, AND NOT WANTING THEMeyfdcegdeeugh??!?!!??) ((Also, the agents "do as the Romans do when in Rome," which becomes hilarious in light of where Acacia retires to!)) Lastly, while Laurel inserts herself directly into one of Middle-earth's most historically important events, the agents arrive in Rivendell and are content to be tourists, snapping pictures and watching their favorite characters from a distance. And I feel like that's one of the most important precedents to have established in our very first entry: that the agents are fully formed people in and of themselves, without needing to rely on The Lord of the Rings or any other setting to prop them up. While Laurel and her cardboard bandmates wouldn't be very interesting to read about without interacting with the Fellowship, Jay and Acacia are interesting characters before setting foot in Middle-earth and after leaving it.
A couple interesting notes:
-The console doesn't [BEEP]; the flashing red light seems to be the indication of a mission. (Though it could have stopped BEEPing just before the narration picks up?) The console does, however, hum while opening the portal, something I don't think many spin-offs have continued? I don't think I have.
-The lines:
Jay looked pained, and drew Acacia away from the window. "Any excuse to be in a pretty dress..." She blinked, as the memories-of-what-could-be flashed in front of her eyes.
seem to allude to something in Jay's backstory, but I think it was ever mentioned again. Might even be a reference to some real life event as an in-joke between the authors?
-Acacia's Canon Analysis Device flashes a light in response to the Fellowship departing Rivendell at dawn instead of dusk. Nowadays, such devices are usually depicted as only scanning characters and making very broad scans like story tense. Looks like Harpwire originally intended for them to detect a broader range of canon? Location and time, perhaps?
—doctorlit, overanalyzing in the way a doctorlit overanalyzes
