Subject: Okay, I didn't think of the ramifications of mini-Dementors . . .
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Posted on: 2023-02-21 00:56:05 UTC
It's just that a lot of continua have spider monsters, while Dementors are more unique, and pretty iconic. At least, since the actual minis are acromantulas, we can still have mini-tarantulas, misspelled spiders, etc. for other continua!
—doctorlit, again, thinks about the topic a bit too much . . . (?)
Throughout my time writing the 4DK spin-off, I recently realize that they've never had a "standard" mission in which something huge isn't happening – their first mission sees them forced to do ballet, and since then we've had a mission in which one is unconscious, one where the group is split in two, one where they end up taking three fics in one go, and one where one of them is made to feel useless. So here we go, one that's relatively normal. Set after Halloween 2022, finally. Special thanks to Ls for constructing the badfic.
Okay, Linstar, I love the parody you constructed here. Having Mickey be the head of the school is so delightfully unhinged! And I love how things just degenerated into chaos at the end.
Aha! And Inasuke got his favorite at last!
—doctorlit isn't too sure about making new mini types from a constructed badfic, but he guesses the Mickey & Friends continuum wasn't exactly bustling with PPC activity, so . . .
...perhaps check out Yuki's MST of it.
As for the minis, well... I wanted to include Mickey Mouse, because of a Descendants fic that did something similar, and I have actually seen a T-Shirt that said "Mcikfy Mouse" and, well, I just loved the idea of having a "Mini mouse". And, besides, my badficcer persona clearly can't can't spell to save his life.
--Ls' reasoning.
I'm actually surprised by the lack of PPC activity in that continuum, given its popularity.
So far, we simply didn't have anyone interested in the Mickey Mouse stuff I'm afraid.
For the record, I'm with doc on the subject of creating minis from constructed fics. It just kinda feels like cheating to me.
I figure the entertainment value in mini-spotting is discovering what silly spelling errors crop up naturally. I'll grant that "Mcikfy" was based on a true story, as it were, but in general, if anyone can "find" minis by getting a friend to mash their keyboard on purpose and have those count equally, that lessens whatever value minis have.
Personally, I don't think it's all that much to begin with; certainly nothing worth going out of one's way for. But that's just me.
ETA: I forgot to add, I think there's a reasonable compromise to be had if any minis from a constructed fic are marked as such on the wiki. That way, people can easily tell "real" ones from "fake" ones.
~Neshomeh also wonders why a constructed fic was needed if the fandom is so popular, but realizes there are reasons besides lack of material.
Also, quick check, there’s not a ton of Twisted Wonderland fanfic out there. Only about four page’s worth on ff.net, so I wouldn’t say it’s a super popular continuum. It’s just one of Yuki’s favorites.
Minis don’t just have the entertainment values of “hey, that’s a funny spelling error”. They can also be storytelling devices—such as when, say, an agent is searching for a specific mini, or when a lack of apostrophe results in a character duplicating.
That said, I have nothing against marking artificially constructed minis, at least out of universe.
As for actively writing missions, we’ve had about half a dozen or so writers put out new missions this year, I’d guesstimate.
—Ls
The existence of a mini means that someone has misspelled the name of a character. If it's a character you love/respect highly, why would you want to see that happen? Just so you can have a specific pseudo-pet? Bit selfish, innit?
Also, as a reader, I don't often find minis interesting in stories. When people are collecting minis for the sake of collecting minis, and note down every single bloody one, all that does is increase the word count; there's no added story value. Agents getting mobbed by minis and having to overcome that as an obstacle, that's different, but I haven't seen that as often as I've seen "and then another mini appeared and then the agents sent it to [OFU], just like the last ten." I admit I'm old and jaded, so you may take my feelings on this with a grain of salt, but I'm so, so over that trend. The slightest suggestion of it makes me cringe.
Re. seeking a specific mini, again, why would an agent want that?
Re. apostrophe errors creating duplicates of a character... Well, I'd say it's a solid choice to write that instead of counting it as a mini. Definitely do that instead. {= P
To be fair, I get why minis are fun from our standpoint, as an expression of being part of a fandom and a community within the fandom. I totally get wanting to have minis from your favorite continuum. It's like, the thing you like is popular enough to have badfic with minis, and that's... cool...? So minis are "cool points," I guess?
I just object to fabricating "cool points" by misspelling names on purpose. It feels like cheating, and it also feels antithetical to the PPC's standpoint that bad writing is bad and should be avoided. It rubs me the wrong way, that's all.
I'm still not saying "don't do it ever"—if you want to write missions without sporking a real fic because you don't want to antagonize people, that's fine, and it shouldn't stop you from having the same fun as everyone else. But I will repeat that I think it should be noted on the wiki if a mini came from a constructed badfic, so people aren't misled. The same reason a constructed badfic itself should be noted as such.
~Neshomeh
In Yuki and my cowrite, at one point, “Dumbledores” generates a crowd of Dumbledore. doc even expanded it with a skit.
So, yeah, we did use that.
—Ls
Inasuke says in this entry, and I quote:
"Because it's the closest I'll ever get to physically living with him. It's just not enough to have his rarest cards, or a figurine of him on my desk; I want a living, moving version of him, that I can walk around with and talk to."Yes, the otaku implication didn't go unnoticed 🤣
I'm glad we agree that that's weird and a little creepy.
This being the case, I hope he soon realizes a mini is literally its namesake in name only, and that its fanbrat-behavior-curbing shenanigans drive him crazy. Maybe even enough to make him shape up. That would be an entertaining story use of a mini. ^_^
~Neshomeh
It's less the constructed typos themselves—I do like Nesh's suggestion of noting them on the Wiki.
I'm more bothered at using constructed typos to make and name the first minis of a continuum. Since the discoverer of each continuum's mini type gets to decide what the mini is, I feel that really should be left to finding the first "wild" instance for each continuum. Otherwise, we're taking fun away from future writers, and any permission-having Boarder can get "dibs" on any continuum they want by making up a badfic for it. I'm fine with Inasuke getting his Vil-based mini at last, since there's no guarantee of ever finding one. (Though imagine Shirayuki does, and she's already used this plot point? Kind of ruins the moment, yeah?) I'm more bothered by the mini-Petes, although the "Mcikfy" shirt helps mollify me a little bit on that.. And I'm definitely not on Board with the baby moray eels, which seem to have no basis in anything outside the constructed fic.
I know I've been . . . overly invested in mini creation in the past, so if I'm being Too Much again, I can back off from this. But I also think we need to have some standards, if only to free up creative space for future PPCers.
—doctorlit still wishes HFA had been just a teeny bit delayed, so we could have mini-Dementors for Potterverse instead of the spiders
Given how little it affected the mission overall, I really don’t think that a one-off typo should count as a mini-definer. I rather regret the typo, honestly. However, we could still note it, the way we note Board declarations of mini type, so that a future PPCer can choose to change it.
I definitely agree that we should note constructed minis, and I’ll try to note that... whenever I go on my next wiki-editing spree.
—Ls
Granted, they'd be less bad than full-blown Dementors, but knowing they'll only make you a little depressed and only suck a little of your soul is cold comfort. Literally. Speaking as a depression-sufferer and an arachnophobe, I'd rather have the giant spiders, thanks. {X D
Re. getting dibs on making the mini type, at least making a whole badfic is putting in more effort than just declaring it so on the Board. I agree that shouldn't be the only place they've ever been seen, though. To add an additional point, if fanwriters aren't producing "wild" minis in a particular fandom, it's disingenuous to write a constructed fic that makes out like they are. Good parody must have its roots in the facts.
~Neshomeh generally approves of having standards.
It's just that a lot of continua have spider monsters, while Dementors are more unique, and pretty iconic. At least, since the actual minis are acromantulas, we can still have mini-tarantulas, misspelled spiders, etc. for other continua!
—doctorlit, again, thinks about the topic a bit too much . . . (?)
Dementors are pretty iconic but they also rather resemble Ringwraiths, don't they? There's even a line in A Very Potter Sequel where someone jokes that the DADA curriculum is so outdated that it still calls Dementors Ringwraiths.
Yes, Harry and Hermione do make jokes about this in Heirs of Avalon Year Three.
Anyway, consider: a misspelling causes a tiny skull with a snake coming out of its mouth to erupt over the scene! Marking the scene of the crime! But it is less collectible than a mini-Aragog haha
Mini-thestrals could've been interesting. Instead of only being able to see them if you've seen death, maybe you only see them if you've, like, killed your darlings as a writer, or something?
~Neshomeh
How ‘bout mini-Boggarts? Instead of your greatest fear, they manifest as your biggest annoyance—perfect for driving agents and OFU students crazy.
—Ls
Such great comedy potential in having a small horde of mini-Boggarts turning into things like "graphic design that is slightly off-centre" or "legos constantly underfoot".
And with the snakey part present, it could still be a mobile being, even if it looks like it's made of smoke or tattoo ink!
—doctorlit has been out-creatived
I absolutely loved this. It was so funny. And Inasuke got a Vil mini!
--Ls