Subject: Ooh, I like that idea.
Author:
Posted on: 2010-07-03 13:38:00 UTC
For some reason, the idea of the House connecting to HQ appeals to me a great deal. I might have to do something with that someday. Once I've finished the four or so missions stored on my hard drive and gotten my agents to a place where they can think about something other than recent trauma and how much they don't really want to be here at all. -grins-
--anamia
I've had a bunch of questions which I've been nursing for a while, and since I get to request Permission in a few days (:D My first post was a month ago this Monday) I figured I'd ask 'em all now.
1. MSS. The PPC archive says it affects World One characters, but can it affect natives of other canons? One of my potential Agents is the offspring of a 'Sue and a Possession!Stu, so I figure it's only fair that she get the disorder.
2. On Elves of the LOTR variety. Do they or do they not have pointy ears? I've been assuming so, since I don't believe Tolkien ever specified and they did in the movies. They weren't obvious, but they were there.
3. Minis. I found an HP fic with a mini ("Hegwig"). I know that the HP fandom has mini-Aragogs, but I find the idea of a mini-Hedwig irresistible (I mean, for sheer "Squee!" value... I like birds, okay?) and I've noticed other sporks with non-conformist minis. Is this just Rule of Cool/Funny, or is there an actual law governing this?
4. This isn't a question so much as a request--I need some help with Elvish languages, mostly for naming characters (and mostly Sindarin, although Quenya would be nice, too). I've found a good dictionary, but I can't seem to figure out how to squash words together. My penname in the Pit is Kaiko Aozora; send me a PM if you can help.
5. Piper's Children. This question is Keys-specific, but I can't find the information anywhere else. What makes a Piper's Child stop aging? Would they start aging again once they left the House? One of my Agent-concepts is an ex-Piper's Child, so...
6. Just out of curiosity, I have four Agent concepts. Should I post all of them with my request, or just two?
I know I had some more, but I can't remember them just now. I'll add 'em in once I do.
MSS was mentioned in an issue of the Multiverse Monitor. If you've not read that issue, you should:
Multiverse Monitor, Issue 2
The Monitor is a bit tabloid-like, so it's up to you whether you want your agent to have MSS or not--for all we know, it's about as reliable as the Sunflower official's "love vase". We know that MSS doesn't affect all ex-Sue agents; it may not affect any, or only a very few.
Relevant quotes:
"It happens to anyone who used to be a Sue/Stu. It’s something mainly found in females, though. In short…it’s like turning into a werewolf every full moon…except you turn into a beautiful, long-legged, perky breasted, urple haired freak once a month for four to seven days."
The Multiverse Monitor was published from 2006 to 2007, so this might've happened before it became common for minor ex-Sues to join the PPC. It's quite reasonable that in the four years since then it's become possible to maintain an ex-Sue without her ever reverting. A lot of the current reformed Sues take medication to prevent them becoming Sues again (notably anti-lustin and logicillin). Maybe this is part of what the meds prevent.
MSS was mentioned in an issue of the Multiverse Monitor. If you've not read that issue, you should: Hey, a question I can actually help with! What's the age range? I don't really want to have a child-aged Agent, but I like the idea enough that I don't want to scrap it. Again, not certain, but I believe the Piper's Children were anywhere between 10 and 16. Suzy, for example was twelve, and had been twelve for the past ~100 years. Also, I know they can't get sick naturally, like Denizens, which is why Suzy was interested in Arthur's cold the first time they met. Them having blue blood would also make sense. Or possibly blue-violet-ish blood, since they're only part Denizens? Either way, I don't think it was ever outright stated what color their blood was. At the end of the first book, when Susie fights Sneezer, there's sort of a Floating Hat effect (if that's not a trope, it should be) except it happens with a feather, since both Susie and Sneezer are wearing wings and are having an aerial battle. The feather in question is splashed with red blood, leading Arthur to think that Susie's dead until she shows up later. I'd forgotten about that. Maybe that's just one of the signs that they're not fully Denizen yet? I'll just stick him high up in the age range. It'll make for entertainment. For some reason, the idea of the House connecting to HQ appeals to me a great deal. I might have to do something with that someday. Once I've finished the four or so missions stored on my hard drive and gotten my agents to a place where they can think about something other than recent trauma and how much they don't really want to be here at all. -grins- The house should connect to HQ! They seem very similar in a strange sort of way. But they'd have to be different mulitverses because they couldn't fit in one. :( Well, they would have to be in different multiverses, but given the bizarre nature of both the House and HQ, that's not all that implausible.
If you're referring to something else, then not sure.
2. Tolkien said something along the lines of them having "leaf shaped ears" (He didn't specify which leaf; I'm assuming not a maple leaf or anything like that). My personal view is that they're a bit more rounded than as portrayed in the movies, but still more elongated than most human ears.
4. Ardalambion is good; Real Elvish also has some name lists (arranged by meaning) http://www.realelvish.net/namelists.php
Most of them seem to be legit, as far as I can tell.
6. I'd say post all four. There's nothing that says you can only have two Agents. That said, it's a good idea to only have as many Agents as you can write properly (hypocritical, I know, from the guy with six Agents; three of which have hardly gotten any screen time).
Elcalion
2. Generally, we assume that they do, but I wouldn't make it a big Charge if you can avoid it unless it's absolutely, definitely movieverse.
3. It's closer to an actual 'law' than not, simply because we do try to be consistent throughout as many stories as possible. There may be a reason why other minis don't conform - such as, maybe, that there was description in the fic they were found in that directly influenced their appearance. I'd really rather that you didn't make a mini-Hedwig; perhaps your agents could adopt a forced-into-OOC-ness replacement for Pigwidgeon instead?
4. Ardalambion is the best site I know for Tolkien's languages; I haven't explored the whole thing, but there's a course showing you exactly how the grammar of Quenya works, so that should help you somewhat.
5. No idea, sorry. I don't know the fandom.
6. Unless you plan on having all four of them work together in your missions (and for sheer confusion factor, I strongly suggest you don't, at least not for the first few missions), then stick to the two you will be writing about. Remember, mission writing is really a lot more work than it looks, so you won't be churning them out every few days. Start slow. There's always time later.
Hope that helped.
2. I wasn't planning on Charging; I was just curious for the sake of continuity. (I found a spork where one of the Agents was rather vehemently denying the fact. It confused me.)
3. Ah, I see. Now I'm getting a mental image of a Snowy/Scops hybrid... 'Hegwig' sounding like a mix of Hedwig/Pigwidgeon. I was just wondering; thanks for the clarification. ^.^ I'll just stick with the accepted mini form.
4. Thank you! It looks like it'll be very helpful.
6. Okay. ^.^ That seems reasonable.
2. Agents tend to have their own views of canon just like everyone else. A fanatic Tolkien purist may indeed refuse to see elves as having pointy ears, and they have every rigth to. But curiosity is good :)
3. Thanks for that.
4. Careful, it's addictive. I tried to take the Quenya course several times, but it's a lot of work.
:)
To my knowledge, though I could be wrong on this, the Piper's Children stop aging for two reasons:
1) Time flows differently in the House, meaning that what would be days for them could be anything from seconds to years in the world they came from.
2) After spending enough time in the House, their humanity slowly starts to fade, and they become part Denizen. Also, due to being part Denizen, I don't think they age outside of the House either, or if they do, it'd be much slower.
So, to that effect, you couldn't exactly have an ex-Piper's Child, because the Piper's Children are what they are. You could have a Piper's Child who no longer lived in the House, but I think it's far more likely that a Piper's Child who was an Agent would have simply descovered a hallway in the House that connected to a hallway in the HQ, and just assumed that this was all part of the House and how it worked.
I didn't think the Piper's Children were part-denizen, although I suppose it makes sense... I'd assumed that they'd have some level of magical contamination (like Arthur) but not enough to stop them aging (Arthur didn't). I'd also sort of assumed that they'd have some physical resemblance to Denizens if they were hybrid creatures; maybe the blue blood..? As it is, they don't really. But then again, it's been a while since I read the books, so I'm probably wrong.
I was taking it as sort of a House-only stasis spell-type-thing (or, like you said, just the fact that the House screws with time). Under that logic, if a Piper's Child left the House, they'd start aging again, which hasn't been discovered yet because no Piper's Children have left the House for long enough to find out (or if they have, they haven't come back to spread the word).
--anamia
I /like/ that idea.