Subject: Re: Greetings from another Noob!
Author:
Posted on: 2010-03-22 22:55:00 UTC
Thanks! Not to be nitpicky, but is a cross-bow a crossbow, or are there some differences? Either way, it seems like a good way to take care of those annoying warrior-sues.
I'm crazy, letting myself in for this. I've heard that insanity is an asset, though? Anyway, I would like (hah!) to join PPC, after the month or two of board presence required before requesting permission. This might actually turn out to be longer, as the short story I believe would be the best style submission is currently only a few sentences and a well-planned idea (my others are idea-and-few-sentence-long chaptered stories).
Anyway, a bit more introduction could be helpful. I'm called (as you can see) Goldenrod111 (nicknames derived from that are fine, though including the "Gold" is the best way to get my attention). The hundred and ten (or two) other "Goldenrod"s are, to the best of my knowledge, unharmed--I just really enjoy that number. I enjoy well-written stories and am planning rather enjoyable things to the Mary Sues who ruin them <gollum>Curse them! We hates them!</gollum>...Sorry! I have tried (see above) writing several stories of my own, and love hearing about a character's inner conflict, rather than the external (read "often artificial") problems that most stories revolve around. The department I think I would enjoy the DTE the most, but I don't have quite the attention to detail required for it (I would have completely missed the hull-full misrhyme), so I think I will write in the DMS. Now <abrupt topic change /> I have a few questions to ask.
1. What are the rules regarding recruitment from an original canon? I have seen at least one agent on the wiki with that designation, and I know that several other agents were taken from the real world, but what about using a character from a world that I have created (don't worry--I won't go easy on him)? Are there any special regulations regarding these characters? How would the PPC and my character learn of each other for the recruitment, or should I just not mention that?
2. Is there a better way of tracking messages across the board than using the five-entry RSS feed? I have clicked the box below this box for the daily updates, but I have a feeling that that is only for this thread. With the amount of messages that go through here, there really should be some better way of tracking new information.
3. Can I put in an early request for RC #421? I know it looks random, but there is some sense to it (one part is earlier in the post, the other is 5. Who can come up with the reason?)
I am sure that I had a few other questions, but I can't remember them at the moment. Maybe in the next post!
The interested recruit laughs maniacally and drags his hand--the last sensible part of his body--from several buttons that would delete the message, before forcing it to click on the "Post" button.
Welcome! Have a cross-bow. In all honesty, it is not my style. I would much rather prefer a elven long-bow (distance over power, Elegance over bulk, etc.). Happy Hunting!
Thanks! Not to be nitpicky, but is a cross-bow a crossbow, or are there some differences? Either way, it seems like a good way to take care of those annoying warrior-sues.
Hello and welcome! Have some chocolate, won't you?
Yum...chocolate. Thanks!
Fair winds!
Thanks for that! Seems like a great way to get around in seafaring fics. Two questions about it, though: is there a PPC harbor anywhere, and is my ship also sentient, or did you stock of those get depleted?
Harbor is over there. No, the stock isn't going to be depleted anytime soon, except if we have millions of newbies right now.
Yo, welcome to the PPC! I've only been here about a week, but I think original characters from original canons are cool. One of my agent hopefuls is entirely an OC.
As a gift, please take this bag of correct grammar and a hatful of outdated slang.
I agree. You can do things with an OC that you would never be able to do with someone else's agent, customize them to an extent that would otherwise be impossible. Does anyone know where I can find a preferably female, not very Sueish Sue, possibly with some love of pointy daggers (I got a nice set of them from Cinnia Aine), that shows promise as an agent? It's difficult to find someone that matches what I'm imagining, but I hope that I'll be able to find someone that is close enough in a mission-worthy badfic.
Thanks for the grammar and the slang! I'm sure that the grammar will give my agents a bit of comfort in the turbulence of a badly-written story, and I'm sure that I will be able to come up with a use for the slang once I learn what it is (time to talk to my parents!)
*rattles chains while trying to poke Neshomeh back, but eventually gives up*
Don't worry. It seems that the only way to leave HQ is if your destination is a padded cell, and I have no intention of going into one of those. I don't seem to be that far from it, though--I doubt that the little sanity I have left would be enough to feed even a newborn warg. I do enjoy Tolken--I'm not that crazy. I probably won't venture into that canon for a while, though. I still need to read most of the non-main-series books.
Thanks for the information on recruiting one of my characters. I was going to use a plothole if there wasn't some other established method of recruiting agents (excluding contacting the target--that would be harder to explain than a plothole!) I think I will attempt to insert whatever humor I can get into finding the plothole and my character's reaction to it. I don't think that he will be over-powered; he's a werewolf, but characterized in such a way that it might actually be more of a threat to his sanity than the Sues! Finding a nickname for him shouldn't be too hard--he currently doesn't have a name for it to replace!
I'm trying out that update-mailing link you gave me, gattsuru, but it does seem like the classic method is best. *adds page to home tabs*
It makes sense to ask for the RC in the same post as the permission. I was just wondering if there was a partially-reserved state for the rooms. Oh well. It's an odd enough number that I can't imagine anyone (other than me, that is) asking for it.
I found the answer to one of my forgotten questions (the postal department is in Infrastructure, not in the Discontinued section) and remembered another (below), but I do distinctly remember having three questions. I wonder if I'll remember it, or if it is gone forever.
I'm going to use FictionPress for posting my non-PPC stories (yes, I know that it's the Pit's sister, but the stories there are generally of a better quality. Who would have thought that creating an original world requires a higher level of coherence?), but I have not seen a list of rules. Where are they? I would hate to be deleted through ignorance.
Finally, thanks for all of the gifts, and especially the bleeprin! I'm compiling a list, and challenging myself to fit everything in the story. Expect to see them in print! Now...how many ways can I think of to get a Sue to meet a venomous arthropod?
Welcome to the PPC! Here's a dagger set from the Raven Armory and a bottle of bleeprin! (Don't worry, we're all insane here. You're welcome to join the club.)
I, like some others, have no answers - I'm very new myself - but have a BOTIB (Bigger On The Inside Backpack).
Hi! Nice to see another newbie here. It's a pleasure meeting you. Here's a locker to put your sanity in!
Cheers, nyx
Let's see if I can stop myself from falling behind this time!
Thanks for the locker, though see my previous posts for how often it will be used for that purpose. All gifts are welcome, though! Will work for a Sue's sanity as well?
I personally haven't tried it for a sue's sanity. Maybe you could test it out for me.
Do you have any connections to the DMSE&R? I already have enough things for my agents to collect, and don't think that giving one of them a fascination for Sue sanity would add anything (a sense that many Suethors strangely seem to be lacking). However, if there is some way to get the DMSE&R involved, we have a semi-reasonable sequence of events. Somewhat off-topic, but this discussion is reminding me of a line from a song. <singing>Lucy, please be still and hide your madness in a jar...</singing>
Here have a seventeen foot long, multi-colored, wool, knit scarf (curly wig not included), and a bag of jelly babies.
Please use them IRresponsibly.
As to the question about original story characters, my Agent Miah Arthur is sort of from an original story. I don't believe there is any rule as to recruitment of these characters. Most Agents that aren't recruited from badfics have randomly fallen through plot holes to land in Head Quarters, I believe. If you found a funny way to write a recruitment encounter, then I'm pretty sure that would be okay too.
*pokes*
Welcome welcome! Also, have a bumper sticker! It says "What part of [series of editor's marks in red] don't you understand?"
I believe I see a Tolkien fan before me. I approve. {= D I believe you will approve of the name of the website I am about to introduce to you, which is the PPC Lost Tales archive. It is so called because there are several things there that you will not find anywhere else now that GeoCities has gone into the West. I maintain the site, so please let me know if you spot any typos, bad formatting, bad HTML, etc.
I think gattsuru covered the questions pretty well, but I'll add a couple of things:
1. No, I don't think there are any special rules about agents from original continua. They shouldn't be massively over-powered (or if they are it should rarely ever work to their advantage), but that goes for everyone. As for how they find out about the PPC, if you've no other way to justify it, there is always the good old standby of falling into HQ through a rogue plothole. {= )
2. I'm not familiar with RSS, but my eyes have worked extremely well for me for years now. ^_~ It's really not that much to keep track of. A few minutes a day pretty much does it unless you're like me and you feel a compulsive need to respond to almost everything.
3. Yeah, best to keep the number in mind and wait. Just make sure you tag "RC request" along with "Permission request" in the post title, because Araeph maintains the list of RCs by herself, so you need to make sure she knows about it.
Fear not the post button! It is your friend!
~Neshomeh
My, but you do sound above-average crazy. You'll do very well here.
Have a venomous arthropod!
Welcome to the board! Have a stuffed panda that eats, shoots and leaves. :D
Welcome to the Board! Please deposit your sanity in the provided receptacle. *indicates bucket marked "Warg Fodder"* You shan't need it here. Also, here's a cuppa. Don't ask.
Do with it what you will.
gattsuru seems to have stolen my fire with regards to Link-giving, but that's all right - as long as you're well informed.
About your second question - sorry, no. This is an old-style board and we like it this way. General policy is just to scroll down the main page and look for updates on the threads that interest you. Once things fall off the first page, they're generally not updated anymore anyway.
While I don't have any answers to your questions I do have an internet gift for you: Taffy!
I've not got Permission yet, but this is the general feel I've gotten so far :
There are a number of canon-recruit agents, as well as those recruited from badfic or the real world. Most canon recruits from published works are very minor characters destined for death, or AU versions of a minor character, and it should be well-justified. See this part of the Newbie FAQ. These rules aren't hard-coded -- there's an Agent Wash from a Firefly AU, for example -- but it's a good guideline. Those recruited from the canon or from badfic do typically pick a nickname of some sort.
From worlds that you've created or your own fanfic, however, it's a bit easier. Some agents have been built like that, or they can even come from entirely made-up works.
There's a "Receive Daily Updates" option at the bottom of the main forum page, but I've not tested it personally.
It's best to wait until you're requesting Permission to request a RC.
On the more general greeting side :
You've mentioned the PPC wiki's a great place to start, and it'll eventually get you everywhere. I'd recommend the Board FAQ if you've not already seen it. If you plan to write PPC missions, take a look at the Permission article and the Manual -- it's a good guide on what the PPC does, and the humor they try to do it with. The Mission Writing Guide can be a great help at figuring out answers to the more common questions, or finding questions that you wouldn't have thought of otherwise. There's also the Big List of Everything PPC if you want to find new PPC missions to read.
You've mentioned the wiki, so I'll assume you may have already see the article on Legendary Badfic. Either way: before forewarned that they really are that bad and you don't (and if you want to keep whatever good taste you had, maybe shouldn't) feel like it's a test. Reading normal badfic is enough of a masochistic thing; it's better to stay at stabbing insanity rather than brain-breakingly flamethrower crazy.
And, in the tradition of providing newbies with random goods... *hands Goldenrod111 a mug of dandelion fizz*
This doesn't answer any of your questions, but I'm just letting you know I'm not allowing you to leave.
...Ever.
*chains Goldenrod to the board*