Two cents from a new guy

Subject: Two cents from a new guy
Author: High Voltage
Posted on: 2011-07-16 06:22:00 UTC

From my perspective, it would be cool if you toned it down to a few people (being your future agents) that were discovered by actual PPC agents who came on board the ship. The ship could be a semi-functional beater or entirely derelict. That's up to you.

Having a large crew flood headquarters could disrupt the main canon, which is something to avoid. It's also a cool idea to have an organization that runs counter to PPC (going back to your idea about working for badfic authors), but organizing an overarching story for that across several authors would be difficult, unless it's resolved in that story.

Zany and eccentric characters are great, but you seemed to be pushing random for random's sake. All the PPC agents that I've read about so far are grounded in some kind of plausibility. Quirks can be introduced as we get to know a character more.

Those are just some thoughts of mine. I do like some of your ideas, though.

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Official request for permission by Gandalf the Beige on 2011-07-15 17:51:00 UTC Reply

After many years of Lurking, I officially request permission to write a PPC derivative series, mostly involving the decommission of the Imperial Star Destroyer Titan's Fist (snarkily called "Plot Device" by some among the crew) and the re-integration of the motley crew back into the multiverse, including Headquarters.

It may not be pretty.

My Writing Sample, unfortunately unbeta'ed as my fics are wont to be, though I do try to go over it again once or twice.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6291316/1/WhattheEyecanSee

Also, I hereby claim this fanfiction as mine to spork.

http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic/view_st.php?id=2017

"When Escaflowne Rescued Trilladen"... I thank Rez for the initial charge list made out some years ago.

Character Bios up next, for my agents and two side characters.

Character bios by Gandalf the Beige on 2011-07-15 17:59:00 UTC Reply

Agents

Name: Mulrun Krolek
Rank: Unofficial Captain
Age: 25 standard years (or so he appears)
Species: Human Male
Homeworld: Yaga Minor

Description: Captain, formerly Lieutenant aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Titans Fist. A tall, slightly pudgy man with brassy blonde hair, Malrun can come off as cold, pompous, prone to meddling in things that should not be meddled with and seemingly too involved with his crew. However, seeing as he used to be the Bridge Liason to Enlisted and NCO affairs, it’s probably an acquired useful skill. Specializing in the Discworld continuum (excluding the Aching series), the Escaflowne Anime and various movie franchises, he carries a particular grudge against one particular Escaflowne sue-fic. No one knows why. He has become used to authority although he wonders if it has actually done him or others any good.

Name: Portia McSweeney
Rank: Crewman
Age: 18-19-ish
Species: Human Female
Homeworld: Harry Potter Fandom Homeworld (quasi-Dreamlands where the Shipping Wars happen), Kabocha province

Description. At about five feet tall, with dark brown hair, a “sort of Minnie Driver thing around the nose and cheeks”, a slender (make that skinny) frame and rather bad acne, Crewer Portia McSweeney is definitely not what one would call a stunning beauty. For many of her crewmates and members of the PPC, she is neither what one would call particularly sane, being subject to nightmares of a battle she was never in along with occasional waking flashbacks. Part of this apparent oddness may come from being unable to truly forgive herself for “failing to protect” her friend, Ensign Soyoto Akima (traditional name order), to whom she was an unofficial member of retinue, with Akima the daughter of a proper samurai family in the Harmoni clan and Portia the descendant of namban traders. Has a thing for rant-fics, especially concerning HP and the last two books. While not a bad hand with a naginata, Ms. McSweeney is denied access to the Harry Potter continuum for her own mental health... or what passes for such.

Leader of the Soyoto Mourners Society.

Side Characters

Name: Joseph Clayton
Rank: Ensign
Age: 21-ish
Species: Human male, briefly touched by the power of the Outer Gods
Homeworld: A version of Cthulhu Mythos Earth

Description: At the most basic level, Joseph is one of HP Lovecraft’s nightmares made flesh. He is a strapping Yankee boy, the pinnacle of the “aryan” physical and educated ideal, who is deeply, passionately in love with the tattooed daughter of a clan of (what HP would consider) degenerate cannibals from the mountainous depths of Annam and has adopted the markings of her people. Working as a Navigation officer aboard the Titan’s Fist, he hopes to save enough pay to afford a decent wedding and/or honeymoon for him and the future misses. He worries about being tracked down by the Mi-go or Majestic 12, as he fears he’s made an enemy of the latter or just interests the former in the brain department. However, since he and the Mi-Go worship the same gods and know each other from the past, they may just want a lunch date.

Name: Marie Trinh
Rank: Ensign
Age: 21-ish
Species: Human female, ethnic Viet, subgroup Leng Viet (one of a number of groups known by the derogatory “Tcho Tcho” label).
Homeworld: A version of Cthulhu Mythos Earth

Description. Communications Ensign Marie Trinh and her fiance, Joseph Clayton, are from the Mythos. Her people, a Viet subgroup who adopted some of the sorcerous ways of the men of Leng around 2000 years ago (mostly to keep the rice growing and keep hidden), are infamous for cannibalism, a fierce and isolationist territorialism, kidnapping and human sacrifice. Her family, however, never did anything except sending home the obligatory remittances of money and ketchup. She acts as the replacement for Ensign Soyoto Akima, who died while trying to knife JK Rowling. She also becomes embarrassed when others relate tales of the battle that led to her people judging Joseph a suitable match for her, feeling that they take too much delight in battle and blood and heroism and that they know nothing of the fear and panic of that day.

On second thought... by Gandalf the Beige on 2011-07-15 22:07:00 UTC Reply

Since two partners is the standard, I think that until the Captain goes on his little Ahab-hunt, I think Portia and Marie should partner up.

What IS the standard for investigations anyway?

Of course, two intelligence agents in one mission and both living in different response centres... might prove a challenge.
I'm a little confused. by Neshomeh on 2011-07-15 19:11:00 UTC Reply

So, the idea is that these guys are returning to HQ life as we know it from the ship, right? What department(s) are they joining? How did they get on the ship in the first place? Is this the same ship you were talking about earlier, with the MST sort of stuff? Where did it come from?

I apologize if you addressed these questions elsewhere, but it wasn't part of a permission request at the time.

~Neshomeh

As to you first question.. by Gandalf the Beige on 2011-07-15 21:34:00 UTC Reply

Yes, they are "returning" (or should I say, retiring) to HQ life after as much as 10 real-world years on the move, though the funny thing is that aging is much slower on this ship.
There is a seperate backstory by Gandalf the Beige on 2011-07-15 19:52:00 UTC Reply

But I read on the Permission page not to go too deeply into the full history.

Anyway, the origin:

Shortly before the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion Arc in the canonical Star Wars Universe, the Titan's Fist was apparently lost in some sort of spatial anomaly in the minimally mapped depths of Wild Space. Imperial and New Republic salvage teams found nothing and the ship was declared MIA.

What actually happened is much more interesting. Slipping through a rupture in time and space, the Fist came upon a giant, ancient construction of unknown design. Having lost almost half the crew including the captain and having sustained massive damage to the sensor and drive systems, Lieutenant Krolek was forced to gather the other junior commissioned officers and decide on a course of action.

Eventually shuttles were sent into the massive structure, in which was found an abundance of non-euclidean architecture and strange technology. Items such as a shrinking device, dimensional dampeners and even a teleportation engine were found, salvaged and incorporated into the engines of the Titans Fist. Specialty sensors that could tune into thoughts, specific locations, the past and the future were also grafted into the systems, with no one yet having a complete understanding of how they work.

Given the command for his role in organizing the salvage, Acting-Captain Krolek also had to deal with one other important fact: he had discovered what others would call the “multiverse”. In short, there was one “real” world (aka Earth 001, aka The Real World) and then there was the universe of all the fictions written of, called “continuities”. While shocked that his own universe was one of these “continuua”, it also presented an interesting path.

In a few instances, the Titan’s Fist woulds jump to these universes in order to witness plots and stories in progress and, on occasion, to hire their services out to the author in order to implement some occurence or another that was vital to the plot of the story. These jobs were responsible for fulfilling most of their supply needs, not to mention gaining new crew. Most of the new recruits came young and, green as they were and as isolated as the ship was, they had to be drilled hard. From universes, fandoms and even Earth 001 did crew come and, with the coming of the Yuuzhan Vong and the destruction they wrought and the time that has passed in the Star Wars EU, many arguments were given for and against going home or staying as effective mercenaries.

"Plot device" is a name snarkily given by a number of the crew who are disturbed, dishonored or tired of playing facilitator to every author and two-bit fanfic writer merely for food. That's why many of the officers voted to come here so that the Fist might be put to good use... whole or as salvage.

The rest of the Crew... are free to go home or to join up, as soon as they are given story identities.

Now, assignments.

Malrun requests placement in the Mary Sue department, as many of then grind his colon.

Portia, as she is of... uncertain mental stability at the moment, will likely be put in the Dept. of Intelligence, drawing up charge lists for fanfics (the reading of which is her hobby)

Joseph has requested a post in the Dept. of Dead Author Electricity Generation, since he will probably get the most out of the Lovecraft Turbine.

Marie is undecided... but because Portia seems to have transferred her protective urges to the older woman, an attempt to lure her into Intelligence and fact checking is most likely.

Mmkay... by Neshomeh on 2011-07-16 04:22:00 UTC Reply

That's cool, and it would make an interesting story on its own, but to me it seems too grandiose and non-humor-based to really fit in with the rest of our construct here, even as a backstory. These characters and their history just don't say "PPC" to me, and the only conclusion I can draw is that your missions would be the same way.

If others have different opinions, now would be a good time to speak up.

~Neshomeh

Very, very good points. by Gandalf the Beige on 2011-07-16 05:23:00 UTC Reply

I realize now that the grandiose aspect was part of the attraction, as was the sheer potential for humorous chaos with 50 000 crewers crowding into HQ... including, but not limited to, trying to blast through walls until they found the fabled pool room.

As a note to Makes-Things, his equipment dump was stupidly easy to raid.

I think the principle two characters may work if I remove the star wars angle: one is a proud Star Wars fan with an ancient writing shame and an intellectual attitude towards the Harry Potter fiasco, the other is a Harmonian irridentialist with a guilty pleasure for rant-fic (and cookie dough ice cream), adoration for the really good AU goodfic... but who knows when enough is enough in the bashing and OOC departments.

Just do not ask about the naginata.

Joseph and Marie were actually a Mythos fanfic idea, more Howard than Lovecraft, that somehow found it's way in here. If I ever get it written, expect eldritch chicken soup and the cheese of Shub Niggurath for everyone.

Two cents from a new guy by High Voltage on 2011-07-16 06:22:00 UTC Reply

From my perspective, it would be cool if you toned it down to a few people (being your future agents) that were discovered by actual PPC agents who came on board the ship. The ship could be a semi-functional beater or entirely derelict. That's up to you.

Having a large crew flood headquarters could disrupt the main canon, which is something to avoid. It's also a cool idea to have an organization that runs counter to PPC (going back to your idea about working for badfic authors), but organizing an overarching story for that across several authors would be difficult, unless it's resolved in that story.

Zany and eccentric characters are great, but you seemed to be pushing random for random's sake. All the PPC agents that I've read about so far are grounded in some kind of plausibility. Quirks can be introduced as we get to know a character more.

Those are just some thoughts of mine. I do like some of your ideas, though.

Thank you. by Gandalf the Beige on 2011-07-16 19:22:00 UTC Reply

I'll have to rework the agents a little bit, but If I just have them as crewers or officers on a post-Caamas Joint-Faction ISD that has been hijacked and run down into beater-status by multi-verse mercenaries (wanting to sell their services to badfic authors) with little overarching story... It could work.