Guide To The PPC & FAQ: For Newbies
This article was proposed by [[Neshomeh]] and largely written by [[Sedri]], with a great deal of input from [[Trojie]] and [[Boarders|The Board]] as a whole.
If you have a lot of general questions, please read the Guide first, as it’s meant to explain as much as possible directly. This FAQ is more of a jumble of miscellaneous questions that fit nowhere else.
==Guide To The PPC==
So! You’re a newbie. Welcome, welcome, welcome. This FAQ has been written for the sole purpose of answering as many questions as possible, since we Not-So-Newbies generally forget how many things you Shiny New Newbies might not know about who we are and how we do things.
Please be aware that not everything can be answered here. Make sure you also read [[FAQ: The Board]] and take a look at the [[List of Everything PPC]], which will help you find the Mini adoption lists, standard charge lists for various ‘verses, the Complete List of PPC Fiction (though sadly, it’s actually far from complete), lists of technologies and [[Response Centre]]s, Official Fanfiction Universities, and a lot of other things. Also, this wiki is itself very helpful; if you’re not sure about something, start by running a search.
This Guide & FAQ is here to deal with all the questions that the above resources don’t.
So! Let us start at the beginning.
===The Original Series===
It is expected that if you’ve come this far, you will have read [[Jay]] and [[Acacia]]’s [[Original Series]]. If you haven’t, go and do that now, then come back. Besides being a great deal of fun, those initial missions explain a lot of our quirks, and set the tone for the PPC in general. That series is the only required reading around here.
… Read it? Fun, no? Good. Moving on.
===Expanded History===
In the years since Jay and Acacia first created this world and gave [[Permission]] for other people to write stories, there has, of course, been a lot of extra material created, and since life would be very boring without some variety, that means there are a lot of bits and pieces – some bigger than others – which are commonly used in today’s PPC stories that were never mentioned in The Original Series. First, let us stress that you do not have to read it all, though if you want to, you’re welcome to try. You can find most of the major events by looking up [[Events]], [[PPC History]], and [[PPC Emergencies]], and individual missions can usually be found linked to the profile page of individual agents, or at the [[List of Everything PPC]].
Several later PPC stories, such as [[Huinesoron]]’s [[Crashing Down]] and other works which outline the Multiverse History, are largely accepted by the community and often referred to, but no one has to follow them. As an example, the death of [[Makes-Things]] during a roleplay is widely disliked, and several PPCers are currently entertaining ideas of how to resurrect him, or to show that his death was faked. Others ignore the issue completely and declare that he is still alive, while some simply side-step the issue by never writing anything about it one way or another. It’s a personal choice. In short, anything but The Original Series can be treated the way fanon is for normal fanfiction.
Also, it has since been agreed that decisions of this sort must be discussed by the community as a whole (on [[the Board]]) before being written. Generally, we don’t like upsetting the status quo Jay and Acacia set, so, if anyone asks to kill off Luxury or invent some new technology that will make [[CAD]]s redundant, the answer will almost certainly be “no”.
On that note, any changes to the structure of the PPC must also be discussed on the Board first. This means that one cannot arbitrarily invent a new Flower or Department or anything of that sort, because that would ruin the fun for everyone else. Please remember that this is a shared universe, and we aim for harmony within the community. Please see the Emergencies section below.
In contrast, there are some small elements of The Original Series that are no longer widely used, such as the title of “constable” being given to agents of the [[Department of Mary Sues]]. These are generally aspects that Jay and Acacia faded out themselves, but there is often no real reason not to continue using them anyway.
===Spirit of the PPC===
Since there seems to be no better place for it, we’re going to take a moment to talk about the spirit in which the PPC has always been intended. This is actually important.
Put as simply as possible, the PPC is aboug having fun.
This means that the primary focus of our stories and interactions is comedy, and that we don’t like rainy day people very much. Anyone taking things Too Seriously or who doesn’t enjoy our particular brand of silliness probably won’t have fun here. This is all done for the laughs; we’re not going to change that. We love the PPC just the way it is – with no logic, sanity, and above all, reality. After all, we have miniature firey deamons pop into existence every time a random author misspells a name – this place couldn’t touch realisim with a ten mile pole.
We are also here because despise bad writing, but let us make it clear that this definition has to be applied more or less objectively – it is not a matter of taste. There is no such thing as a bad genre, or trope, and even some of the story elements which almost always result in badfic are not necessarily bad themselves. In the words of [[Trojie]]: “I have actually run across a GOOD, FUNNY, Real Person Slash Mpreg fic. Admittedly it was crackier than a crack sandwhich with a side order of crack, but it was well written, funny real person slash Mpreg.”
We’re here to support goodfic, and goodfic includes all sorts. If you don’t like a particular genre, that’s fine – you don’t have to read it, let alone PPC it (and we suggest that no one PPC their personal squicks anyway) – but no bashing of other people’s likes and dislikes. Allow me to direct you to the [[PPC Board Constitution|Constitution]] which, though written for The Board rather than the PPC in general, should give you quite a good idea of what sort of tone and style we’re after.
(Please also see the What Not To Write section below.)
===Writing A Mission===
So let’s say you’ve hung around for a month, gotten to know the Board regulars and read a good amount of existing missions. Now, of course, you want to write one yourself.
How?
First of all, [[Permission|get Permission]]. Everything you need to know is in that article. Read that and then come back, and we will walk you through some of the details.
Please be aware that writing missions is not as easy as it looks. Many people have joined the PPC, waited a month, written a mission or two and then faded out. Some keep hanging around to chat on the Board, always meaning to write and never do, or simply vanish entirely. Remeber that writing a mission, like any other story, takes quite a bit of time and effort. Of all our members over the past years, only three have met and passed the twenty-five-mission mark set by The Original Series ([[IndeMaat]], [[Trojie]] and [[Paddlebrains]], though the latter pair usually work together). The average number of missions per writer is more like four, or maybe five.
Now, we’re not going to scold anyone for this – most of us are guilty of it ourselves – but we want to make sure you know in advance.
That said, now it’s time for the fun bit.
====Creating Your Own Agents====
A brief character summary is required for your Permission request, but it is always good to flesh out your new characters before you as for the [[Permission Giver]]s’ approval. After all, you will (hopefully) be working with them for a very long time.
=====How many agents can I have? Do I have to have a pair?=====
No, you can have as many or as few as you like. Some PPCers create different agents to work in various [[departments]], such as [[Bad Slash]] or the [[DMS]], while others keep the same agent for every mission they do, and therefore put said agents in the [[Deparment of Floaters]]. You could write solo missions, one pair, two pairs, or co-write a mission with another Boarder, each using one or more of your own agents.
However, there are several reasons why two is the preferred number, at least for writing on your own. For one thing, it’s very hard to keep writing distinct, original characterisations when you have lots of original characters – that also makes it hard for anyone reading your missions to keep track of who is who, and keep their backstories straight. On the other hand, writing an entire mission with only one agent can be boring as well as hard. Pairs of agents are very often polar opposites that drive each other crazy (we usually blame [[the Flowers]] for this), and a one-man show, even a very snarky and witty [[MST]] of the badfic, is rarely as much fun as a banter, good-natured or no. Having dialogue between your characters also makes exposition much easier.
=====I’ve noticed a lot of Boarders go by the same name as one of their agents. Are they meant to be the same person? Can I do that?=====
If you like, sure. Most of us have one agent who is essentially a caricature of ourselves, and often the backstory of those agents is that they were recruited from the [[Real World]], so as to make the entire thing plausible. Don’t make the mistake of equating Agent with Boarder, though; we like to have fun with our alternate selves, and tend to exaggerate or change them over time. Some, like Agent [[Trojanhorse]], have been warped almost beyond recognition.
=====Can I give my agent a special race / talent / power / weapon?=====
Strictly speaking, yes, but be careful. As said in the Permission article, we do not want them to become [[Sues]] or Stus.
Pleanty of PPC agents have powers, talents, or belong to a magical race because they were recruited from badfics. This can make mission writing a lot of fun, however, the risk is that if you give your agent too many powers, it makes it too easy for them to do their jobs. Half the humour involved here is the challenge of completing a mission without being caught by posessed canon characters, and if we all could just walk in, snap our fingers to kill the Sue / [[exorcise]] the [[Author-wraith]] / untangle the [[crossover]], it wouldn’t be any fun at all.
Also, the Flowers tend not to like having underlings with any sort of power.
This doesn’t mean that powers are necessarily bad. [[The Force|Force]]-users from Star Wars, for instance, are perfectly canonical, and being a [Jedi] does not automatically mean the agent is boring – [[Rilwen Shadowflame]], for instance, uses the Force as a weapon, but her missions are still a challenge, and fun to read.
As for weapons, the same principles apply. Almost all agents use some sort of weapon, be it a knife, gun, bow, wand, or fist. Some of the more interesting choices include a sledgehammer, lightsabers, an eight-pound bell (for exorcisms, but a useful blunt object), and an ice pick.
You’ll note, however, that none of these tools will win the day without a great deal of skill on the part of the wielder. Agents do not use big explosives, uncanonical spells or technology, mind control, or any faintly god-like powers. If your agent is a Time Lord out of Doctor Who or a Q out of Star Trek, their powers will have to watered down immensely, or removed all together (bear in mind than an ex-Q raging about how they’d be able to get this done if only they still had their old powers could be incredibly funny).
Last, mind that your agent’s personality doesn’t get too uppity. No one should be nonchalent on this job; half the time we write missions it’s because the badfic makes us angry, and the writing is cathartic as well as funny. If, for example, your agent is entirely unphased by even the worst badfic, they’re no fun to read, and you’ll probably be asked to change it before getting Permission.
Of course, any of these ideas can be done well, but it takes practice. If you’re heart-set on your agent having a particular trait, why not start out by writing a fairly normal character (insofar as any agent can be normal), and then after a few missions, actively show them changing or toss them and write a new one? No one’s stopping you. All they need to have is fully developed personalities.
Again, see the section on What Not To Write below.
=====The oldbie who read my agent profiles said they’re too flat. What gives? I thought you didn’t want super-special agents?=====
We don’t, but there’s such a thing as going too far in the other direction. Your agents still have to carry the story, and for that they have to be interesting. Not shocking, just interesting. Every person has a past, experiences which have shaped them – unless, of course, they are recruited bit characters, in which case their entire history is dictated by the story they came from (an example, if I may, is Agent [[Iza]], whose lack of properly-written background means she is in the process of discovering her own personality, a quirk which in itself leads to a lot of humour).
Some questions to ask yourself are: Where do they come from? If they are a reformed badfic writer, what sort of fics did they used to write and how did they come to realise it was horrible? How did they get to the PPC from [[World One]]? If they are recruited from fics, what kind of fic did they come from? What fandom? What aspects of PPC life (or that of other fandoms they may work in) would strike them as absurd, or what (wrong) assumptions would they make? What lingering effects do they struggle with from being ‘born’ in a bad fic? In short, what are their main characteristics or quirks?
=====Can I say my agent went to an [[OFU]] even if I didn’t officially register them when the fic was being written? =====
Yes. For that matter, if you want your agent to come from a badfic, you can make it up – you don’t have to search around the badfic archives to find someone you can directly snitch.
=====I got Permisison a while ago to write an agent for the DMS, but now Bad Slash looks more interesting. Can I change my assignment?=====
Of course. Many agents bounce around at will if they find they can’t take a particular style any longer, or if the Flowers reassign them (or they just go Freelance, or to the Department of Floaters). You don’t need Permission to do this, or even mention it to the community; they’re your agents, and you have free reign.
=====Are their rules for numbering [[RC]]s?=====
Yes. Letters are reserved for Jay and Acacia, but you can have letters in the RC number, as long as it’s not the first character. You can use decimals, single digits, or multiple digits, as long as it’s not already taken. The full list can be seen [http://community.livejournal.com/the_ppc/21812.html here], and to request a number of your own you must either comment there or ask on the Board.
=====How can I decorate my RC? What about the front door?=====
There are absolutely no rules, besides pragmatic ones, and even they tend to be weak when one points out that HQ is notoriously wonky. Every RC must have a console, and they generally have bathrooms, but everything else is up to the agents. Some are tiny and cramped while others seem to be suites with multiple bedrooms (probably attained through extensive use of plotholes, or just knocking out interior walls). Some agents keep only their mission tools, canon sources, and a few spare clothes, while others acknowledge that they’re going to spend the rest of their natural lives there and hoard things, including furniture, accordingly.
Just remember that the Ironic Over-Power tends to make consoles BEEP! at the very moment an agent starts to get comfortable
As for the front door, many are plain, but others have plaques or nameplates indicating who lives inside, or at least the room number. Nothing forbids an agent from adding to that with posters or whatever else.