Subject: Re: Then just maintain your interest
Author:
Posted on: 2010-03-25 10:18:00 UTC
I'm fairly certain that I read somewhere that the Department of Floaters was where omost Rookies started out, before being assigned to a proper division. I can't remember which mission I read that in now, I've read quite a few this week.
A (very) new member here, giving my greetings to the board regulars, and having a few questions.
1. The Constitution said one may request to be added as a signatory. I am so requesting.
2. How does one go about becoming an Assassin? Simply accept the mission to eliminate an especially egregious Mary Sue or Marty Stu?
3. Which articles on the Wiki do you recommend I read first to get caught up on the Backstory?
Here have a seventeen foot long, multi-colored, wool, knit scarf (curly wig not included), and a bag of jelly babies.
Use them IRresponsibly!
I see everyone else has already given you ample resources to answer your questions.
Welcome! I gift you with a coxcomb, which is a silly sort of hat.
Hello! I see Neshomeh came through, so I'm assuming you have your links (xie is an angel about posting them), and I'm new enough to be sorta useless anyway, but have a big cookie and a magician's top hat to keep things in. (I don't recommend putting it on...)
Aw, I can't take all the credit for that. Ansela is the most consistent about it, and July and Sedri and various other people often help, too. But thanks. ^_^;
And I am female, by the way.
~Neshomeh of the ambiguous pen name.
Thank you! It's a shame I can't wear it, though...top hats are more stylish than most people give them credit for.
Hello and Welcome to the PPC Posting Boards! Have some chocolate, won't you?
Thank you! *Nomnomnom* This is good chocolate.
Welcome to the Board! Please deposit your sanity in the provided receptacle. *indicates bucket marked "Warg Fodder"* You shan't need it. Here's some pocky, too.
I would deposit it, but I already sold it to Golentan over at the Giant in the Playground message boards...
And a new question, now. Is an Agent allowed to work for multiple departments? Failing that, can I submit characters to
several departments?
Agents are allowed to be in only one department at a time.
Note that doesn't stop you from having them transferred after awhile to a different department.
And yes, you can have agents in other departments, but try and stick to one pair at first so you don't stretch yourself (or your reader's attention spans) too thin.
Hmmm...a shame, since there are plenty of departments I'd like to work with at some point.
And take your time and work through various departments in missions. You can even split and mix partners up as you go if you care.
Actually, our marvelous and very shiny wiki lists a Department of Floaters, and a Freelance Subdivision of the Department of Mary Sues. I'll probably join the Floaters, even if the wiki does say they're already the largest Department.
My second Agent character, though, will probably be in one of the non-Action departments, because I doubt they have enough stories yet.
I'm fairly certain that I read somewhere that the Department of Floaters was where omost Rookies started out, before being assigned to a proper division. I can't remember which mission I read that in now, I've read quite a few this week.
The wiki says it's where a lot of people end up, and that it's one of the largest departments.
*pokes*
I am indeed seconding everything July said, but I will add that the very first thing you should do is to read the Original Series. Yes, all of it. It's, well, the original PPC series. That is what started it all. Everything we do is based on it and merely attempts to do it homage. In essence, it is our canon, and everything else is optional.
I'm glad to see that you found and read the Constitution on your own. Sometimes people miss it. Kudos! *gives snack bars*
And, of course, welcome. {= D
~Neshomeh
Snack bar?! Nomnomnomnom!
...sorry, I just got home and haven't eaten all day.
Thank you! I'm sure she and my guard tribble shall be the best of friends. Or bitter rivals, constantly showing each other up in comedic ways.
Welcome to the PPC! Here's a Glitter-proof shield from the Raven Armory (it can't be Suefied and it can act as a back-up wall to block out the sight of Bad Things). Also, here is a bottle of bleeprin. I can't help much with the links you need, but I think others have it sorted out somewhat, anyway.
Thank you. I imagine these will see much use soon enough...
What's your favorite venomous arthropod? I'm sure I have one in the gift sack here for you...
Hymenoptera Vespula, for the win.
Welcome! Here is a pocket-watch with the power to make you incredibly distracted.
What were we talking about again?
I think it was...ooooh, look! It's got a little spot that shows the phases of the moon!
Im fairly new (very much so) as well. Welcome to the PPC. Enjoy your stay! Since you are wanting to be an Assassin, here is somehting useful. An Imperial Sardukar knife. I have no freeman blades handy, sorry, but this should be sufficient should you ever be hunting a Dune Mary Sue. Happy Hunting!
A fine gift. Thank you. Happy Hunting to you as well!
It is trained as a guard Tribble, so be careful, it bites!
So long as it's not a vorpal tribble, I should do all right. Thank you muchly!
As a fairly newbie I welcome you to the board, have a stuffed Emu. You never know when it may come in handy.
Thank you! I shall find a way to put it to good use...
Hi, Kallisti!
I'm guessing you found us through the Wikia advertisement thing? Or elsewise? Please tell, we're curious. Welcome. ^^
Okay, number the one:
While the Constitution does say it can be signed, in reality it hasn't had any new signatures added to it for a few years now. Since P@L's site, the Oddlots one has gone down, and we've rehosted the Constitution elsewhere, we can in theory add to it once more, but I'm not the one in charge of it so one could possibly presume that either we're not editing it out of respect for the original signers who have pretty much nearly all disappeared, or that we're too lazy to get around to having it so that people can sign again.
Number the two:
That is a very excellent question!
We have an entire article on our wiki about permission to write PPC missions there, as well as a <a href="http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ:ForNewbies">guide to the PPC in general, as well as a <a href="http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ:ForNewbies">guide for newbies who are about to write their own spin off.
The best way to go about becoming an assassin is to read as many spin offs as you can before you dive into writing. The most important things for anyone who's about to start their own missions or before they even get into the idea of writing a spin off is that we're about good writing and humor, first and foremost. You can say that this is educational (because it is!) since we're learning how to be good writers ourselves and what makes bad fanfiction bad (protip: What makes badfic bad is the same stuff that makes bad original fiction bad). It's not about just badfic and being disparaging about badfic and Mary Sues.
Once you've been around for roughly a month (I personally encourage you to spend longer than a month to hang around and get to know everyone and read as much as you can; when I joined, I waited three months before I asked for permission) you just show a writing sample, your current vague idea for agents, and ask. People will comment on it, and at some point a Permission Giver will tell you you're good and ready to go if you are indeed good and ready to go. If you're not, you can always take some time to figure out where you went wrong and try again [if you don't annoy anyone too much. ;)].
Number the third:
As the person who founded/created the wiki in the first place, my personal opinion woudl be to read EVERYTHING ON THE WIKI SECOND to as much as you can from the <a href="http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/TheCompleteListofPPCFiction"> and the List of Everything PPC.
That said, everything under the "PPC Intro Pages" Sidebar section would be a good place to start as well.
Again, you're very welcome, we'd like you to stay if you enjoy yourself (and we want you to enjoy yourself!) and if you can play along with our rules and the general quirky traditions that endure as a whole for the PPC community.
And if you ever have the time or inclination, you're welcome to join some of us on the PPC Chatroom as well. I promise we'll try and make sure Maslab doesn't cannibalise you.
Actually, I found you through TvTropes. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum
After reading all that, I couldn't help but be interested. As an aspiring writer, cautious optimist about fanfic--I used to be violently opposed on the grounds that the only fanfics I'd ever read or tried to read are apparently Legendarily bad, but the Book of Dreams, a published collection of Sandman fanfic stories, changed my mind by being very good--and lover of metafiction, it sounded right up my alley.
Besides, I get to help out other aspiring writers and kill Mary Sues. Or, even better, redeem them into legitimate characters.
I've been reading over the Wiki, mostly just following various links, and the only burning question I have left is what guidelines exist for the Agent characters newbies write once they've been around long enough to obtain Permission.
What are your fandoms?
I'm not familiar with whether there are codified "fandoms," but I'd say Sandman and to a lesser extent anything Gaiman; Discworld; Thursday Next; Lewis Carrol and most derivative works, although the new Tim Burton Alice failed to impress; Babylon 5; The Nightmare Before Christmas; Star Trek: Original Series, Next Generation, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine; and of course Lord of the Rings.
The guidelines are very loose.
Some people write agents that are essentially themselves and people they know, others make up wholly new characters (original or fanfic), some use characters of theirs from works they're writing or are thinking up, and rarer is those who use doppelgangers of canons (near copies, you could say, but not quite.) The important thing is that your agent isn't a Sue or Stu and to make sure they don't become one themselves. Or are so crazily out there that they don't fit into the PPC or make sense enough as an Agent character for a spin off because they're so out there, if that makes sense.
Beyond that, not much I can think of.
One wiki page mentioned a wish to avoid "SuperPowered" Agents because an Agent arms race is no fun for anyone and the point is to have fun, not vie for the dubious honor of having the most powerful Agent. I was mostly wondering what exactly it means by SuperPowered. Can my agent have any form of supernatural ability? Could he be a wizard/sorcerer/mage/magician/insert canon title for spellcaster here? Or does it simply mean to avoid agents so powerful they're a Sue or Stu? It said to dream up two agents, and one I was planning to use was an original character of mine, who I wrote a story about and played in a sadly short-lived D&D campaign. But he's a spellcaster, although not an especially potent one. Does this disqualify him?
What we mean by "superpowered" is basically anything that allows the agent to get through a mission without difficulty. The difficulty--the horror of the bad writing, or the danger of taking down a powerful Sue, or the agent's own brand of incompetence, or whatever combination--is what makes missions fun to read, see, so if you were to write a mage who was always cool and collected and went around stopping time and casting instant death spells on every Sue, it would be boring. On the other hand, a low-level wizard who suffers from the appropriate arcane spell failure chance can have just as much trouble as anyone else, and so can be fun to read about. Make sense? {= )
~Neshomeh
The main difficulties for this character would be his lack of any real battle experience--he acts like he's such a hardened veteran, but he's only ever been in one honest-to-Eris battle, although he's been in brawls on occasion--and the fact that he's familiar with neither badfic nor any of the other continuums besides his native one, and therefore in for quite a bit of surprise and horror. Combat-wise he's a competent fighter and a decent mage, but nothing terribly special on either count. Definitely not good enough to take down a powerful Sue without help or very good Sufficiently Advanced Technology and quite a bit of luck.
Thank you.
A sentient one. Fair winds!
Ooooh, most shiny indeed! Much thanks. I shall take good care of her.