Subject: Recruitment?
Author:
Posted on: 2011-11-30 18:58:00 UTC
I think that sometimes when a fic is just below mediocre but not quite bad, the Sue/Stu/OC can be recruited. I may be wrong, but wasn't there an X-Men Sue recruited recently?
It appears my old question thread fell off the page after I posted a new round of questions so here goes:
What constitutes a badfic ripe for sporking? I can identify 'Sues, bad SPaG and OOCness from several kilometers away, but what separates a simply mediocre fic from something PPCable? Unintentional humour? Horrendous characterization? Something that is just so wrong it can't be ignored? I've got my eyes on a potential Zelda badfic but I can't determine if it's something that deserves attention or not...
Secondly, do Spies have SEP fields? When reading one of Architeuthis' reports, it is implied that Assassins are completely invisible to canon characters so long as they don't do something dramatic (because of their SEP field, I presume) while Spies need to be a lot more careful with disguises. I'd like to play with the idea of a Spy always having to fiddle with a DORKS to avoid detection due to a weak/nonexistent SEP field. Can I do that?
Thirdly, is it okay if I update the description or introduce a cosmetically different version of an existing gadget in a spinoff? I say this because the description surrounding the Remote Activators seems a bit lacking to me: how can Agents get around on a device that can only hold 1000 combinations (using three dials)? I'd like to give it a more practical design should I ever get Permission.
Thanks!
What is the protocol for sporking trollfics? Or at least, fics that we're pretty sure are trollfics? I know some are funny, and many should be let slide because they weren't meant seriously - but what about the really, really painful ones?
I know that there is a Department of Bad Parody - Troll Division, but I've looked there and there aren't actually any missions in it. Other really really awful fics that were possibly/probably trolls (legolas by laura, My Immortal, Thirty H's, anything by Squirrelking) either have missions written or forthcoming, and in the ones I have read they were treated like honest fics. So... I guess is there standard procedure for these, or in sporking one should I just be extra careful about the charges, or what?
(The fic that I have in mind is http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7324877/1/Homestuck_high, by the way. Yes, it was probably a troll, but I want to KILL IT TO DEATH IN FIRE SO BADLY)
Here is the mission for it.
At the time I wrote that mission, it was the only trollfic mission, so I had to come up with my own way of taking care of them.
Outright troll means a replacement, in trollish form. I took care of it by setting it on fire.
It keeps giving me the "Google sever error" message.
As to the first: It should to be clearly and definitively bad. If it is unintentionally funny, all the better. The difference between something mediocre and something PPCable is, well, the difference between mediocre and bad. If you can read it without wanting to smash your head against the wall, or even enjoy it to an extent, it's probably just mediocre. Badfic, is, well, bad. It's got bad SPaG, OOCness, and stuff that just plain doesn't add up to the point where one or more of the elements involved utterly conquer what might be okay or otherwise excusable.
All agents* have flashpatches. The flashpatch is one of the two consistent items for the PPC uniform; the other is that the uniform is black. The SEP field comes from the flashpatch. The thing with Spies is that, one can reason, while Assassins are there just for the Sue, Spies in comparison spend an extended amount of time in the field given any particular fic, in comparison to other field agents.
There are many different varieties of already existing gadgets in the PPC throughout many different spinoffs- I see no reason why it'd not be okay to have a different version of the same gadget in the PPC. That said, I'd suggest doublechecking with Dann if he doesn't comment on this thread since he's got the main general DoSAT agent who isn't a shared character.
*There is one group that use green armbands instead.
I've also been having some problems on identifying bad fic where it's not absolutely outrageous - I was about to start a new thread, but since it's relevant here I figured that would be redundant.
I found this (Warning: attempted M/M rape, NSFW) while hunting for something for my next mission. On first reading I was hissing and fizzing and thinking that this nasty thing needed to die, but I then sat back and asked myself what the actual charges would be; I do try not to target fics just because they feature a pet peeve of mine. While it does have the hilarious use of a canon character's name for an OC and genuinely confusing narrative on top of the aforementioned pet peeve, I'm not certain it deserves to be killed.
With this example, what would be your opinion?
Hmm. I read it, and while it didn't make a lot of sense, used the Elvish language annoyingly, and was just kind of stupid (and Feanor? They named the OC Feanor? What?), I don't think it's particularly sporkable. The spelling, grammar, and overall writing are fine, and amazingly for rapefics, it it really seems to do its best to not trivialize rape. Overall, while not an actually good story, I think this is just sort of "mediocrely bad" without reaching the "godawful" stage that really requires sporking.
That's kind of what I was starting to think: just because I hated it doesn't make it sporkable :)
Thanks!
I think that sometimes when a fic is just below mediocre but not quite bad, the Sue/Stu/OC can be recruited. I may be wrong, but wasn't there an X-Men Sue recruited recently?
Recruitment has been used in the past for a variety of characters but, in my opinion, some guidelines should be followed.
1) If the character in question could not conceivably be reintegrated into the canon world, then recruitment is viable option. If they can be reintegrated, then maybe they should be.
2) If you have no use for the character in your spin-off, then maybe it is best not to recruit them. We already have a fair number of NPCs that are free-to-use. Sadly, many of the NPCs we have are overlooked in favor of recruiting a character or creating a nameless character for a one-off appearance, especially the ones in Fic Psych and Medical.
It occurs to me that we have gotten away, somewhat, from the practice of letting bit characters reintegrate into the canon world. I don't know why this has happened, but I've noticed a tendency toward recruiting every minor character and putting them up for adoption (though they never seem to make it to any of the lists I posted above). I can't recall seeing many mission plugs, recently, that didn't have a recruit that the poster was putting up for adoption.
To quote a wise man, "We're not hosting an intergalactic kegger, here."
This is all just my opinion on the matter, of course.
Certainly in this case I wouldn't recruit the OC just because I would describe his entire personality in two words: 'Generic Rapist'. Given that he was named for a canon character, I was planning to say he was the canon character, pulled through a plothole and made ludicrously OOC. :P
Come to think of it, though, if he were supposed to be the canon character I'd call him a replacement and kill him, so maybe that wouldn't have worked so well...
(Though this is mostly in my spin-offs, because I'm recently trying to find ways to redeem badfic characters, or point out ones that aren't so bad after all.)
It's fairly understood the reason Suvians are killed, among other things, is because they are a destructive influence... even if they're oblivious to it. They run in, tramp mud everywhere, and brainwash people.
However, even if a suvian or sue-accomplice does some bad things, I think (and it might just be me, everyone's free to do it their own way!) if they have the potential to do constructive, non-trivializing things or have meaningful and deep relationships, they have the option to be recruited. Perhaps they just aren't fully realized as characters, or have been since glittered-over, or have been strung along by a possessing Suvian spirit... but for whatever reason, if they have substance, I personally believe they can be rescued. If it's not too late for them, anyway. I imagine it might be too late more often than I'd like.
Mind you, getting a deeply imbedded glitter network out of them might mean a long stay in medical, pliers, fairy dust, strange machines that go 'honk' every so often, the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, and apocryphal applications of a rubber chicken... but eventually they might only have to take a single handful of enormous horse pills (Also available in wahoonie-flavored chewable tablet form) to maintain productive status in society! Or what passes for society in HQ anyway.
Hmm. I forgot about Medical's armbands. Speaking of which, do interns with the urple bands also have an SEP field or do they wear some sort of pin with the generator?