Eh, I think it's a bit more complicated.

Subject: Eh, I think it's a bit more complicated.
Author: VixenMage
Posted on: 2013-05-26 21:28:00 UTC

Events and Emergencies are quite similar, and yes, we were trying to move away from them for a few years, because they got out of hand and were becoming problematic. If the Blackout had popped up four years ago, I rather doubt it would have received such a warm welcome.

But everyone seems to be enjoying this, and it's fun and has leeway, and those of us who aren't particularly interested (like myself - many apologies, but I like writing in the Cafeteria partly because it isn't prone to Big Things Happening) can just sort of... work around the whole thing. Which is nice, and quite considerate. But mainly, we're out of that awful cycle in which everyone was trying to out-emergency/event each other, and we had a new crisis every month. So the occasional Event is quite welcome.

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Hi everyone! by Ugolino on 2013-05-23 10:52:00 UTC Reply

How's the PPC doing?

Welcome back! by Neshomeh on 2013-05-25 16:44:00 UTC Reply

We're chugging along, for the most part. The latest excitement is the Blackout event that grew organically from an April Fool's prank into a fully fledged Thing That Happened, with several writers contributing their own takes on it. This, in my opinion, is the best way to Make Things Happen. {= )

~Neshomeh

I'd like to thank the Academy... by Lily Winterwood on 2013-05-26 10:35:00 UTC Reply

...well, I'll have to give kudos to everyone who started the Blackout RP, who decided it'd be a good idea to sic Weeping Angels onto HQ, and who decided it'd be an even better idea for the Doctor to get dragged in afterwards (I think that was Ivan-the-Not-So-Terrible).

And then I'll have to thank the Boarder (most likely SeaTurtle) who suggested that sentient Cafeteria food could be the monster the Doctor finds in the Cafeteria. SeaTurtle, I confer responsibility of the Slorps onto you. ;)

Thankee. by SeaTurtle on 2013-05-27 02:55:00 UTC Reply

Though I have to admit I immediately regretted throwing the Angels in there shortly after hitting the "post" button.

It was one of those cool ideas you get on the spur of the moment and then just blurt it out and then think: "Oh pooh, I forgot the only permanent way of getting rid them is to throw the lot into a breach into the space-time continuum. Now who's going to clean that up?"

Everything went better than expected in the end. Huzzah!
Love it, but... by Ugolino on 2013-05-26 13:12:00 UTC Reply

I thought the PPC was moving away from Events?

That said, it sounds like it was good fun and I like what I've read of it so far. I wish I'd been there for it.

Emergencies, not Events. by Outhra on 2013-05-26 14:58:00 UTC Reply

The difference is, Emergencies are "Hey guys, I just wrote a story that has something affecting all of the PPC whether you want it or not! You gotta deal with it!" and Events are basically something notable happening, but without forcing everyone in HQ to do something about it.
It's still a big deal, but it's not mandatory to get involved, and if the Blackout is a prime example of an Event, it can be looked at in many different ways. That's what makes the Blackout interludes so much fun! We can have rampaging monsters, scheming overlords from canceled children's shows, a search-and-remove mission to Aperture Science, and I'm almost certain there was another completed interlude I'm forgetting about.

Eh, I think it's a bit more complicated. by VixenMage on 2013-05-26 21:28:00 UTC Reply

Events and Emergencies are quite similar, and yes, we were trying to move away from them for a few years, because they got out of hand and were becoming problematic. If the Blackout had popped up four years ago, I rather doubt it would have received such a warm welcome.

But everyone seems to be enjoying this, and it's fun and has leeway, and those of us who aren't particularly interested (like myself - many apologies, but I like writing in the Cafeteria partly because it isn't prone to Big Things Happening) can just sort of... work around the whole thing. Which is nice, and quite considerate. But mainly, we're out of that awful cycle in which everyone was trying to out-emergency/event each other, and we had a new crisis every month. So the occasional Event is quite welcome.

Eep. by Lily Winterwood on 2013-05-27 03:47:00 UTC Reply

Ahh, I'm sorry! I purposefully set the main events of my interlude in the lesser-written-about departments and places so that it wasn't all focused on the Action Departments; I didn't know you weren't all that psyched about the action happening mostly in the Cafeteria. And now the Cafeteria's probably going to need restructuring because of the meatloaf and stuff...

/ducks into corner

Nah, is fine! by VixenMage on 2013-05-27 07:34:00 UTC Reply

I sorta went "...bwah?" when I noticed what was going on, but it's not like I own the Cafeteria - as with all the PPC, it belongs to all of us! Aside from which, it's good to be taken out of one's comfort zone, and this gives me the opportunity to throw new and exciting variables at my team, which could be very good - I'll have to go through the archives and figure out how.

(And I imagine dealing with the aftermath - not least, including throwing prone Agents out of the kitchens on their ears - will be rather fun to write. As well as all of the griping about the restructuring - it will be interesting! I'm just more interested in writing about the aftermath than the main events.)

I hope you didn't mind Jof's cameo too much. by Lily Winterwood on 2013-05-27 08:11:00 UTC Reply

I imagine he and Nerys have some animosity issues to work with in future instalments. :'D

...um. by VixenMage on 2013-05-27 08:51:00 UTC Reply

Actually, that I kind of do mind. The Cafeteria is not mine, and is, as all HQ, common property. But... my agents are my own creation, and it kind of upsets me that they were used without asking? I'm usually pretty agreeable to Jof being used when people ask, as long as he stays in character (which is sorta my main-er beef - he's not, really, which is a bit frustrating*), but I would really, really, really prefer that people ask, in the future. I believe my email is available through the Wiki, and if not, it's just my username here at Gmail. So - please ask, in the future.

*Jof is agreeable, very quiet, and has a translator from DoSAT, which comes in handy, as he occasionally has about two or three words to spare when necessary. He tends to view his auto-cubing as more of a vague handicap than something that must be emulated.

Ack. by Lily Winterwood on 2013-05-27 08:53:00 UTC Reply

Well, he didn't have any lines; he just was in the Cafeteria, and my character Nerys tried blaming him for Slorp but got shot down by her coworker Lisa.

I'll make sure to ask if I write more stuff set in the Cafeteria in the future, sorry.

Thank you. by VixenMage on 2013-05-27 09:21:00 UTC Reply

It would be greatly appreciated.

Yeah, I looked it up. I should really post that last 'fic of the team, it's been done for months. I can hardly complain about people not knowing his character when I haven't really posted the illustrating works yet.

I think what also adds to the appeal of the Blackout by Lily Winterwood on 2013-05-26 15:39:00 UTC Reply

...is the fact that almost anything can be dragged into HQ, and anything can happen. As long as they don't contradict already established events, of course, but still that leeway is huge.

It's an opportunity to write the PPC crossing over with your Canon of choice without having OOCness to deal with. That's like a godsend.

*takes a bow* by DawnFire on 2013-05-25 22:33:00 UTC Reply

As one of those same writers--

...sorry, I think I'm still in the mindset of snarky fake-oldbie. I'll stop now.

~DF

Welcome back! by Lenore Snow on 2013-05-25 02:03:00 UTC Reply

Hello!

I'm somewhat new here so... I'm Len.

Have a pamphlet on septicemic plague and some papaya-scented rubber martens. I pray you'll never need them, but you never know what life will bring!
Welcome back! by Pauline07 on 2013-05-23 22:51:00 UTC Reply

Have some bleepolate ice cream for your welcome back to the board present!
Salutations! by Myrddin on 2013-05-23 19:50:00 UTC Reply

And welcome back! Have some pie, since you've already received a cookie and gummyblees I figure pie's good, and everyone needs pie! :D
Allo allo! by Karen on 2013-05-23 18:58:00 UTC Reply

I don't think we've met! I'm Karen, have a cookie. ^_^

Welcome back aBoard and have some Bleepolate!

Nice to meet you all. (nm) by Ugolino on 2013-05-24 11:29:00 UTC Reply

Have a welcome-back plover! (nm) by Tawaki on 2013-05-23 17:29:00 UTC Reply
Well, you were far before my time, but... by Ailavyn Siniyash on 2013-05-23 15:48:00 UTC Reply

Welcome back anyways!

Here, have an urple gel pen.

-Aila
Hello there, returning Boarder! by Outhra on 2013-05-23 15:16:00 UTC Reply

Help yourself to anything off of the table of welcome-back pastries!

What made you decide to come back to the Board? Are you planning on writing again?
Pretty well, thank you! by DawnFire on 2013-05-23 11:20:00 UTC Reply

Er, not that I'm claiming to be the entire PPC, or anything, but...

Hello! Nice to meet you! Are you new around here, or just returning?

Either way, have some Gummyblee Enterprises as a gift! I got my hands on some in an attempt to remind myself to see the new Star Trek movie, but it hasn't worked yet, and now I've got them all over the place, so...here. I'm sure you'll find a use for them (badfic tends to provide that...)

~DF

Welcome back! by son_of_heaven176 on 2013-05-24 21:52:00 UTC Reply

As a relative newbie, I'm curious: What agents did you write?

Pfffff. by DawnFire on 2013-05-25 22:31:00 UTC Reply

Oldbie that I am, I shall now attempt to remember the answer to your question and tell it to you in my old and creaking voice.

Er, I believe...that once upon a time...I wrote an agent. Her name was Dawn. There was a cohort of other agents...in fact...

The agents came down like many wolves on a fold
Their cohorts were gleaming in wilver and gold...

Er, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Young man (or so I assume by your screenname), in my day, I wrote not one, not two, but tens of agents. Not only that, but I, yes I, wrote fake missions and posted them on April Fool's Day. Why, I was even the author of the second Blackout Interlude! Yes, my (apparently very young) friend, in my day, I kept company with great Boarders. I wrote SBEI, with my dear brain twin, Kaz...er, Karen. I collaborated with such people as...*falls asleep* *audience fell asleep after the first sentence of this paragraph, and so doesn't notice*

(Er. Yes. Haha.)
(So, I saw your correction. But I couldn't resist. Hope you enjoyed the snark; I sure did! XD)

~DF

XD (nm) by son_of_heaven176 on 2013-05-25 23:51:00 UTC Reply

Oops by son_of_heaven176 on 2013-05-24 21:53:00 UTC Reply

Obviously, that was meant for our returnbie, not for you, DF! *facepalms*

Can someone who's neither the returnbie nor DawnFire answer? by Outhra on 2013-05-24 23:23:00 UTC Reply

If not, you may want to shield your eyes, or at least not click on either of these wiki links.

It looks like Ugolino created them, got Permission, and never wrote any stories with them. Of course, Ugolino's return means that they might have an appearance at some point, which would give them more to link to on their wiki pages than just the Livejournal where their missions might have gone, which would definitely be a good thing.

Actually, I wasn't happy with the quality of their stories. by Ugolino on 2013-05-24 23:40:00 UTC Reply

They did have stories at one point (5 or 6 if I remember correctly) but thanks for the link. I'll be sure to try my hand at writing again, though maybe with different Agents.

Would anyone mind if I ran character ideas or snippets by them later?

I wouldn't mind at all, myself. by Outhra on 2013-05-25 01:15:00 UTC Reply

So, are those two Agents that you already created going to be removed, or transferred, just abandoned, or what? Actually, since the human appears to have no information about him and the Mandalorian doesn't seem that bad, maybe you could just rewrite the parts you disliked and feature them in other stories. That's a practice that's saved several characters I made.

What precisely did you dislike about them?

And like I said in the title, I would like to see some of your character ideas, though admittedly if you make any more based on Star Wars EU, I'm not going to be as much help as I might otherwise. Star Wars EU was never one of my fandoms, though I suppose I could look up some relevant details on its Wikia site. Would you like e-mails from me and the other Boarders you plan to show ideas to, or would you just post the ideas in a topic somewhere?

Ideas by Ugolino on 2013-05-25 10:35:00 UTC Reply

I suppose I didn't have clear characterizations in mind for either of them, so they may have come off as a bit bland. I have a rewrite of the Mandalorian and a different agent as works in progress. I'm thinking a pretty standard "odd couple", with one bubbly (though given badfic, she'd be more "forced cheer" towards the end) and the other a resigned deadpan snarker.

Does that sound too cliche or would it work?

Responses by Outhra on 2013-05-25 14:06:00 UTC Reply

I like the idea of a bubbly and forcibly optimistic Mandalorian. It goes against their Hat of "graar, we are the warrior race" without going so far to make it look like you're trying to force it. It's like a Klingon collecting stamps. There's potential for comedy there.

The PPC has a lot of deadpan snarker humans(which assumes that you're still talking about the human here, and that assumption may well be incorrect), but most of that is the result of 1) people like writing about human Agents more than any other species and 2) deadpan snarking is how their writers would like to react to living through a badfic. It could still work, conceivably, but it's been done a lot.

Odd couples are always good, though. They keep the banter between the agents interesting, and can help with development of both members.

If the second person was a different agent than the human, who is it? Not a name, necessarily, because I'm not wanting to rush you if you don't have one, but species, brief history, and the like wouldn't hurt. I'd just like to know what I'm analyzing.

Where are the missions that you made for your two agents before you left? Maybe I could look them over and try to see what was good and bad about the characterization.

It was more the other way around to be honest... by Ugolino on 2013-05-25 14:18:00 UTC Reply

But you've just given me a very, very interesting idea. Thanks!

Agent #1 is bubbly cheer, Agent #2 (Mandalorian) less bubbly but still fairly cheerful. I'm probably not expressing myself well, but I'm thinking of Firefly-style chatter from the Mando for some reason.

And to be completely honest, I'm not sure where my old missions went. I'll check later, but I'll definitely write up some ideas/profiles/random babbling for the new two and maybe some experimental banter.

Glad I could help! by Outhra on 2013-05-25 16:07:00 UTC Reply

I've only seen one episode of Firefly, but I've seen enough of Joss Whedon's other work to know what you're talking about. Banter is fun, especially when it is well-written banter. There is no questioning this.

Oh, is the new agent that Evangelion native you mentioned further down on the Board? What happened to the other guy? Is that his new backstory(though you mentioned the Evangelion native as a "she", so that's not likely), or is he being retconned out of existence, or what exactly?

Well, if you can find any of the old missions, I'd still like to read some, for curiosity's sake if nothing else. Also, knowing the modus operandi of the last incarantion of your agents would help for comparative purposes.

He was frankly too boring to consider writing again. by Ugolino on 2013-05-25 16:28:00 UTC Reply

I can't even remember what his personality was. I'll write something up later for the new pair. (Agents Stopgap and Fallow, I'm thinking...)
*incarnation by Outhra on 2013-05-25 16:10:00 UTC Reply

Oh, and also, don't hesitate to randomly babble about your ideas like you said you might. That's one of the best ways to figure out whether something's good.
One of the biggest rules of story ideas is that everything sounds better in its creator's head. If an idea still holds up on paper, or screen, or what have you, it might be worth taking a look at.

Much appreciated! by Ugolino on 2013-05-23 11:37:00 UTC Reply

Technically, I'm returning, as I tried my hand at writing PPCfic a while back. Thanks for the welcoming gift.

Ah, I see. Well, you're welcome, and welcome back! (nm) by DawnFire on 2013-05-23 11:57:00 UTC Reply