Protocol for fic where agents don't know the canon?

Subject: Protocol for fic where agents don't know the canon?
Author: Tungsten_Monk
Posted on: 2011-06-08 02:40:00 UTC

I'm currently planning my next PPCing, which is a short but utterly horrific, possibly-plagiarized fic from the GI Joe fandom. I don't know of any agents who are currently active in the Joe world, so I went ahead and just used my best pair--Suicide and Diocletian. I know the canon, but they don't, and I thought that them being as much at sea as most of the readers hereabouts would prove a good way to explain said canon to both agents and readers at the same time. (Since Suicide is a former soldier, and this is a soldier-centric world in addition to a Mary Sue, it could be justifiably sent to him.)

My question is: do we have established protocols for when agents don't know the canon? Is there any kind of special CAD, a Pocket Fictionary or something, that could help them do their jobs? A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Continuum? I've searched the wiki but haven't been able to find anything. Is this an unprecedented situation?

I normally wouldn't send agents into an unfamiliar canon, but trust me when I say this thing needs to go.

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Protocol for fic where agents don't know the canon? by Tungsten_Monk on 2011-06-08 02:40:00 UTC

Mostly OT by Miah on 2011-06-08 06:30:00 UTC Reply

Off Topic: I completely forgot to mention in my reply on your last mission that I released a Tae-Quon-Doe to live with Alice. It is a Korean Water Deer, which is a small-ish species with medium brown coat and spots. They have small fangs. This one is wearing a do-bok tied with a bleen belt (which is enough to kick the butt of the average agent apparently), and has a very aggressive attitude.

I was thinking about this, because of the release of the horses, and Suicide putting his name on one of them. I thought he might go visit it later.

And actually on-topic. I don't have any agents that have stated they know that canon. If you can't find anyone else, though, you could borrow Cali. He is still actively learning canons, especially TV or movie based canons, so it wouldn't be too odd for him to suddenly know a new one.
Bring someone who does? by Neshomeh on 2011-06-08 04:57:00 UTC Reply

That's why I stuck Jenni on that Pern crossover: she knew the canon, the boys didn't (and it gave me an excuse to recruit Derik). And why Nume and Ilraen were assigned with Barid and Brightbeard for "The Dark Side." Both sets of partners needed ringers on that one.

Whatever happened to young Agent Rowan? Could you tap her? Adding another character complicates things, but so does not knowing what's going on.

~Neshomeh

It might work . . . by Tungsten_Monk on 2011-06-08 05:02:00 UTC Reply

. . . but there aren't any PPC agents who actually do know the canon, as far as I can tell, and inventing a new one just for this mission might cause more confusion.

Possible solution(s) by PoorCynic on 2011-06-08 13:40:00 UTC Reply

Agent Cornelius (http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/Cornelius) could arguably be familiar with the canon. As an AI, he could just upload the various details of any canon he doesn't know about into his memory banks.

Another possible answer might be to have DoSAT give your agents an omni-tool (http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/Omni-tool). That way, they could upload the details of the GI continuum into it before hand and consult it at will throughout the mission.

I also like the pamphlets idea that was mentioned in a previous post, mostly for the sake of humor.
Mine do. by Data Junkie on 2011-06-08 08:54:00 UTC Reply

Specifically, Agent Zee. He's rather familiar with the comics as published by Marvel, and has a passing familiarity with the rest of the GI Joe 'verses. Ecks probably has some sort of familiarity with the early cartoons, stemming from his love of late 20th century/early 21st century cheesy programming.

Just saying.
Was Rowan not yours? by Neshomeh on 2011-06-08 05:25:00 UTC Reply

I'm referring to Rowan Windfall, from "Ow, Ow, and Ow Again." So, she wouldn't really be new, and if she's yours she could know anything you need her to know. (I like the idea of the two of them muddling through with just pamphlets or some such to go on, though. I might be evil. >.> )

If she's not yours, though, who wrote her? I've got her attributed to you on the Glossary of PPC Characters.

~Neshomeh
Hmm... by Guvnor of Space on 2011-06-08 05:25:00 UTC Reply

Perhaps DML's military themed agents/PMC's would know the canon. This seems like the kind of thing they are ideal for.

Well, for myself, my current active agent is actually a Spy. by Keily on 2011-06-08 04:46:00 UTC Reply

...so a little knowledge on the canon beforehand is best, but not always a must. Sometimes, just knowing the signs of a Sue by using common sense is enough for her. But that's in reporting a badfic that needs killing and sporking.

There could be a pocket fictionary. In most worlds it would fit in, because there's rarely a place that doesn't have books of some kind. You can have the hardcover version and a nice electronic version, for those continuums without books. Or paper.

Shinra has her own kind of personal pocket fictionary called the Mini-Master Book, but she got it fair and square from the Ironic Overpowers in Little Red's Fairy Tales. So it wouldn't be wide spread that one...

I haven't helped in adding to the confusion, have I? ^^;
Similar issue by Elemarth on 2011-06-08 04:19:00 UTC Reply

What does an agent do if he/she doesn't know a detail about canon that's important to the fic? She can't get onto the internet (unless the continuum is in modern-day Earth, if then, since you still have to get a computer). She probably wouldn't be carrying any extra information about canon, since she knows the continuum. Can she call someone at HQ to check a detail for her? I wanted Elena to do this last mission, but I didn't know if it was possible to call from a fic to HQ, and there's every indication that Elena has no friends in the PPC, so I didn't know who to have her call.

A Pocket Fictionary or Hitchhiker's Guide for the specific continuum would be a fantastic idea, except that no other agents so far have used one, so I think we'd have to explain where it came from. Also, don't forget that the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was not exactly the most reliable or unbiased book. Earth was described in two words because the authors had spent too much space on subjects they liked better.

A device that keeps updated to the latest changes to the relevant wiki as of the time the agents leave for the mission would be really convenient. It would be very complicated to make, but DoSAT is surely about to become more productive with Makes-Things back. It might make life too easy for the agents, but considering wiki-editor mistakes and vandalism, incomplete wikis for less popular continua, and the tendency of PPC technology to mess up, you could keep it from being too useful.

Re: Similar issue by Antigone68104 on 2011-06-08 12:18:00 UTC Reply

Can she call someone at HQ to check a detail for her?

The wiki says some of the CADs have been modified to act as agent communicators. I'm pretty sure at least one mission had agents checking on fic activity with someone at HQ. I can't recall the exact mission, though.
Pocket Fictionary (my agents carry around canon sources) by Sedri on 2011-06-08 07:09:00 UTC Reply

Admittedly, it was for Star Trek, so it was very easy for them to carry around a PADD with the entire Memory Alpha database on it, but I don't see why agents couldn't all have something similiar anyway (a Pocket Fictionary sounds like a marvellous idea) - it's not as though it'd be much different from PPC technology such as neuralysers or Portal Generators.

Also, why be stopped by the fact that no agents so far (except mine, I guess) have used one? There's no reason not to invent gadgets as we go - that's part of what makes it fun. Trojie and I invented the Capillary Towel during one mission simply because we needed a way to clean up. No one I know of has made a fuss over the fact that we didn't give much explanation as to where it came from, nor would it be all that hard to make. We work in plot holes, remember?

Certainly, though, I agree with you that we don't want it making life too easy for the agents - and I can easily imagine some agents screaming at them in frustration when the batteries die or there's a glitch that shuts it off just as they're finding the information they need.

So shall I just go out on a limb and suggest that we just go ahead and add Pocket Fictionary to the standard tools agents use in the field?

It could be a small, handheld computer, like my agents used, that has a wiki (or wiki-like) compilation of information written and organised with agents and missions in mind, and it can have a nasty habit of breaking down or becoming sentient, like other PPC tech. Might I also suggest that it have a very basic camouflage function, or, if they are made to hold information one canon only, that they be disguised as some object common to the 'verse so that agents can consult it without ruining their cover? It could also be amusing if some were disguised as, say, rocks (for fairly primitive-era 'verses) and were given the additional authenticity of weighing the same, just to be annoying.

So, what do you all think? Does anyone have anything against the Pocket Fictionary? Any suggestions?

Sedri

(Also: Hi everyone! I know I haven't been around in a LONG time. Believe me, I've been lurking, just too busy to post most of the time.)

I like that by Elemarth on 2011-06-08 16:38:00 UTC Reply

I was just pointing out that we'd have to say it's a new tool that's just been developed.

I think it should be wiki-like, as you said, because it won't give enough information as a dictionary. But I think it would make sense to have it be a book in universes where computers aren't used -- which would probably mean that there's no search function and the agents have to use the index. It could easily have a camouflage function like DORKS. If the universe has something canonical that performs a similar function (the Wizard's Manual in Young Wizards is a very obvious example - it gives information to the characters about whatever it thinks they need), it should be made to work in the same way as that.

It should have the ability to show their opinion of what you're searching, to some small extent. That would make things much funnier. And it would have to be glitchy, since it's new technology.

I've been wondering where you were!

Pocket fictionary it is! by Tungsten_Monk on 2011-06-10 17:28:00 UTC Reply

I can work with this. :) Thanks for the ideas! If it's glitchy and weird enough, I suspect it won't feel so deus-exy. And since it's the equivalent of training wheels for a PPC mission, I suspect it'll talk down to/coddle the agents. :D

I think by Elemarth on 2011-06-11 03:33:00 UTC Reply

it shouldn't always talk down to agents, since there are details of canon that even the best agent doesn't know. The thing I wanted to look up last mission was pretty obscure (one of them had literally a one- or two-sentence wookieepedia article). But I think that if you use it a couple of times in a row, or you're looking up really general or obvious things, it should catch onto that. Maybe it has a trigger so that if you search something REALLY obvious, it assumes you know nothing about the continuum. This would also be funny, because then the agents would notice how it was starting to think that they're clueless.

I guess it could talk down to the agents and make the experienced ones feel really frustrated with it. We'll see how it goes.

Since my agents will be wandering around HQ at the beginning of my next chapter, and I don't think Kath has a CAD, I will probably have them visit DoSAT and notice

Sorry by Elemarth on 2011-06-11 03:35:00 UTC Reply

Clicked "post" too early.

I was going to have Elena take Kath to DoSAT to ask for a CAD, then notice that there's a Star Wars Pocket Fictionary. It'll be something she's heard that they were going to get sometime, but she hasn't seen before. This leaves it open as to whether other agents have had them or it's a new thing that was a long time in the development. And, of course, it'll be typical PPC that she gets it the mission AFTER she wanted to check canon.

My agents . . . by Tungsten_Monk on 2011-06-11 05:46:00 UTC Reply

. . . are going to have an early-model Fictionary that was originally put together for Ithalond to help him PPC while traumatized. So we can say it's been in development for some time. I've envisioned it as looking like an early Gameboy, with a slot for a cartridge; each different universe comes in cartridge form, and it can only have one at a time.

Since theirs is an early version and buggy as hell, that can accommodate some of the comedy functions that you can remove at your discretion with your agents' version.

That works. I think we can get away with a lot, though. by Sedri on 2011-06-11 23:52:00 UTC Reply

When I wrote a similar (also protoype?) device for my agents, I described it as a Star Trek PADD (did I mention that already), so perhaps every Fictionary is a little bit different? Or, how about there are a number of standard forms it can take, rather than an infinite amount, and the camouflage generator is there only to disguise it in-world?

Just ideas,

Sedri
(Who really has no time today, but is just having too much fun thinking about it...)

Replying uber-late . . . by Tungsten_Monk on 2011-06-17 04:51:00 UTC Reply

. . . to say was it strictly the same device? I mean, was it called the Pocket Fictionary? If not, we can say they were similar but not quite the same devices--possibly the result of several DoSAT techs working on the idea independently.

Good idea! by Sedri on 2011-06-11 00:09:00 UTC Reply

I look forward to seeing it in practice!

(And, putting on my PG hat again for a minute, please don't forget to make an article on the wiki for it. Thanks!)

Will do! by Tungsten_Monk on 2011-06-11 02:06:00 UTC Reply

Once the mission's finished, of course. :D I want to make sure I know what it is before I make a page for it.

Nice to hear I've been missed :) by Sedri on 2011-06-09 21:50:00 UTC Reply

If you like, sure, though I see no dire reason why we can't pretend it's been around for a long time and not everyone has known about it - it's not as though the PPC is great at memos to keep everyone informed about things. Probably the best way to go, I think, would be to have your agents recieve one for the first time and be deliberately vague about how many other agents know about or have one (because, really, I'd love it if my agents had one of these before and I just didn't name it).

The DORKS camouflage function, yes - that's what I was trying to remember. Thanks. Also, I agree completely about the wiki/encyclopaedia function and being opinionated and glitchy - such fun.

I think we're on the same page, then! Lovely. I look forward to seeing the Pocket Fictionary in your mission (and its wiki entry!).

Hm... usually I... by Aster Corbett on 2011-06-08 03:27:00 UTC Reply

One of my agents has no knowledge of canons, the other is a big nerd.

When the one that does not know anything about the canon has to do something himself, I usually have him juggle some 'know your canon' pamphlets as released by Intelligence.

Or have a stack of books/tapes mysteriously appear outside of the RC a week before the mission along with a mysteriously menacing note from the Department of Personnel that they had better brush up or face an acute toothpaste/toilet paper/tissue/orange juice/misc. requisitions shortage or something.

Mmm, pamphlets. by Tungsten_Monk on 2011-06-08 05:03:00 UTC Reply

That could help. Right now I'm looking at a possible piece of DoSAT tech, but I can always fall back on the pamphlets if need be. Thanks. :)