I haven't been doing much with permission giving lately (seems like every time I check a request, it's already been answered the next day*), but I have been reading the requests as they pop up. It reminds me of a site I used to roleplay on, Steelsings. There was a lengthy sort of application form or so, for your first character to enter the RP. Most of it was standard-- name, age, appearance, occupation, Gifted** Y/N and details, and history. But although the form itself was only two-thirds of a page or so, the characters that got accepted were two pages or more in length. And most of it was personality (and history, and best of all, how the two were related). If your appearance was longer than either afore-mentioned field, the Mentors would give concrit along those lines-- at the end of every week, they'd submit a list of accepted/declined characters.

I'm being a bit long-winded here, but the thing is-- Steelsings was my first internet community, and the site by which I found the 'Board. Some people found it off-putting, how much emphasis they placed on personality, and the argument I heard most was that personalities developed with use and practice of the character-- since it was a roleplay, this was possibly more applicable there than here. But although there is a balance, and there does need to be room for character development, I maintain that the personality is absolutely the most important part of a character, with the history being a very close second place. Don't get me wrong, a lack of history is not an automatic Bad Thing-- it's how you handle it. "She has no background because she is a bit character, so her personality is still forming," that's not okay. "She was a bit character, so her background was never described; she only has a few hazy memories of a generic life to sustain her. This has made her, in some ways, a very defensive person; she takes any slight against her memory, or the way she lives, to be an attack, and reacts as such." That, on the other hand, is dealing with the lack of background, and how it would effect someone's mind.

Sentient beings have personalities. Characters have personalities. Sues/Stus don't. That's why they're so annoying-- they focus on the Speshul bits, the appearance and the unique origin, and the weaponry and the parts of a personality that are easy to show-- anger, sexual attraction, and angst. That's the hallmark of a Stu/Sue. I am really a bit annoyed at how it's becoming the hallmark of a PPC Agent, too.

For the record-- you don't have to have a traumatic fall into the PPC, or a unique experience with a plothole, or be recruited from a 'fic. We have at least one DoSAT agent who simply submitted an application form. You really don't need an Epic Backstory of Awesome to be an excellent and memorable character.

I know I'm probably sounding harsh, here, and rambling quite a bit, but I say all this for a reason. When I started reading the PPC, and spin-offs, it was about the characters. It was about well-written interactions, reactions to canon changes, and an organization that was powered by the single most unlikely*** fuel source I know of. It wasn't about OMG KILL THIS BADFIC NOWWW. It was about humor, and writing, and goodfic.

It would be really, really cool if we could keep it about humor, and writing, and badfic.







*Not that I'm complaining! As long as you guys aren't buckling under the load, it's that this stuff is getting done that matters. Just, do say something, if it begins to get to you.
**It was a Tortall-based site. Sadly, no longer in existence, in case you were wondering.
***No less unlikely for having been used by Dresden Codak.

Neshomeh is not against brevity, simplicity, or minimalism. She is against those characters that have "doesn't really have a personality" as their default personality.

1) As permission givers, we don't want to know everything about your characters. We just want to know enough to get a feel for who they are.

2) Nothing wrong with this. You start out with a concept, that is the important bit.

3) I am sad to say that you are partially right on this one. There are some PPCers that don't care one bit about anyone's missions, except in regards to how terrible the badfic was. You can see that kind of thing around here all the time; in the reviews, in the badfic threads and chat conversations that turn into "that was bad, but mine is worse" contests. Some people around here just don't care what PPCers write. They would be just as happy reading the badfic without reading a sporking, I think.

4) Writing samples are a major part of the request, but there is a reason we want to see agent profiles, as well. If the writing sample is good, but the agents are Jack the Ripper and Cthulu, then we will likely hold off on permission. Until we get a little more explanation of where they are going with the spin-off. That's what the characters tell us; where is this spin-off going.

Like I said earlier, the problem is not with short agent bios. The problem is with people taking the lazy way out by saying "my agent has no personality".

I agree on this last bit, by the way. More non-PPC writing would be great to see in permission requests. For one thing, it makes writing a request easier, since you don't need to go to the trouble of writing a brand new piece, if you have something that already shows your writing skill. For another thing, it gets old reading the same "this is how my agents moved in to their RC" story, over and over again. Of course, some people don't have other writing samples, so writing something PPC related may be their best option.

-Phobos

To be honest, your writing sample appears rushed. It is flat, humorless, and lacking in description. Your agents show some potential, but they lose all of it in the sample, as well. Add to that the fact that you've posted maybe a dozen times since you joined 4 months ago and no one in the chat knows you, and that you don't seem to know how permission works. I have no choice but to deny.

Hang around some more, participate in the community, read up on how permission works, and when you are ready, try again.

-Phobos