Subject: Now, here's something I've never said before...
Author:
Posted on: 2009-03-22 15:14:00 UTC

...Permission half granted.

That is, permission to write Jasper Caspi is granted, but I'm afraid you're going to have to scrap Valdis. Or at the very least, tone her way, way down.

First problem: an agent does not have to care about every canon in which she finds herself, but she should at least have an undying love for one or two universes. The whole reason for being an agent is out of love for a specific canon. We're not generally "out for blood" at the PPC. The reason we hate Sues and badfic so much is that we love good stories even more.

Second problem: "Valdis has one yellow eye and one green eye, her coat is black and she has a red marking on her chest that upon closer inspection is revealed to be the Japanese symbol for death. When she is angry her eye color changes to red and the pupil disappears, a very disturbing effect."

So, let me get this straight. Your agent has unusual, multi-colored eyes that change with her mood, a "badass" Japanese marking, super special abilities, a "cool" nickname, and an attitude problem?

...

I hope I don't have to tell you what's wrong with this. But if I do, please hold off writing your first mission until you've spent more time here.

Here's a good test of an agent character: does she take herself too seriously? If so, does it get hammered into her skull early on that this is a bad thing? Also, could you, the author, poke fun at this agent multiple times during the story? If not, the agent should not be in the PPC.

You do write well, so if you pair your second agent with someone else, go ahead and send me your first chapter, so I can look at it. My e-mail is araeph_aflame at yahoo dot com.

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