Subject: A few questions
Author:
Posted on: 2014-07-30 16:02:00 UTC
Mini-Sues tend to be glittery minis of the universe that they are in, and get killed instead of adopted. What happens to mini-OC's that aren't that bad? I've got a mini self-insert to deal with. I called it a mini-Sue because the self-insert had Sue traits, but that's probably too judgemental for a Despatch case.
Let's say an agent pair does a Pokémon-verse mission. The Sue has a full team of six Pokémon, but they have relatively minor faults. Maybe her shiny Togepi/starter/Eevee/whatever is highly unlikely but possible to get in a standard playthrough, or her Raichu has one move it can't learn in that region but is otherwise normal. Whatever the case, the Pokémon are not breaking canon by existing.
After the agents kill her, are they allowed to adopt some of her team, like how you would rescue an inoffensive OC/bit character, or do they have to neuralyze and release all six Pokémon?
I think it really depends. If they're not canon-breaking, I don't think they fall under CAF rules. It depends on how much harm it would do to release them back into the wild, I suppose. Would it be acceptable to treat pokemon as minis?
Basically I follow the theory that minis are all semi-sentient enough to survive on their own when left in the RC for days at a time... if their owners stockpile enough bacon.
In fics that kill off canon characters that are supposed to live, what is done?
I'm under the impression that using this too often can be dangerous. http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/Simulation_Generator
Are fics like this killed on an incomplete charge list? Is something else done?
This reminds me of when I originally joined, and planned to have a team in the Disturbing Acts of Violence Department, Action Division (DAVD(a)).
The DAVD missions revealed that canons killed off don't actually die, even when beheaded- and proved it by waking up such a beheaded character. DAVD's medical division then simply glued the head back onto the character and they went on thier merry way.
In short, it's not really a problem- just make sure DAVD is involved, or at least DAVD(m).
until the canon’s author says that they are dead. Although I cannot link you to an example, I’m sure I have seen missions in which killed canons were taken to Medical for resurrection. This possibility is also mentioned on the wiki here (Death of Canon Characters) and here (What do we do if a canon character is killed in the story?).
HG
I'm under the impression that some Sorters only read fanfictions to look for the bad ones, but the Spies have a rotation where one day they go into fics and the rest of the time they work as Sorters. Is this a six-day rotation since there are six teams?
Since I would have two Elizabeths if I do both of her stories, I was thinking of having one that just sorts because she is afraid of dying. The other one is really crazy and some of her mission reports will mention liking some things that prove a fic needs to die.
Right-o, let's see...
- You got it: six teams, six-day rotations. A colour team goes through four consecutive days of sorting duty, one day of action duty, then one day where they assign fics to Action department teams for sporking.
- Sorting and assignment duties within a colour team are broken off into three shifts to make sure the Spies aren't on duty for 24 hours. Action duty, on the other hand, is an "on call" situation.
- Sorters sit in front of a computer and read what's put in front of them. They don't control what they get: they just make a judgement call. Fics that need boots on the ground for a better verdict get sent to the colour team on action duty.
Ah, so there's no such thing as a Sorter who doesn't do the Spying part? I could still work with that.
Some agents are cleared for Action duty while others are not. Factors include age, health, and actual willingness to go out on Intel runs. If an agent chooses to stay in HQ, they continue to sort 'fics but at their team's cubicle in the Action room.
How much damage do these do to canon? And if any, what is done about them?
I determined that this one is unmissionable because it's already meta. Two authors retain their powers as they use plotholes and deliberately cause havoc in the world. Heavy use of anachronisms. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1025334/1/LoK-Fluff
Then there is this series, in which a place called "The Nexus" connects many different worlds. She's partial to Soul Reaver, but Kurt Wagner from X-Men is usually hanging around. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/917668/1/Magic-Kingdom
Then there's mine, which is a ripoff of these types of fics and admittedly bad. Use of plotholes, authoress powers are cripplingly energy-intensive but there is a deus-ex-machina just about every mini-arc, plus every stupid situation that could come up actually happens. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2465079/1/Self-Insert-Authoress-Tripe
Mini-sues: Actually, they're typically depicted as being miniature versions of the Sue in question, and are usually killed by either the agents themselves or the other minis spawned by the fic. Since they're not actually even characters, I don't think an offhand reference to one of the agents shooting it is particularly bad. Or just ignore it in the mission itself. It might get pointed out in the comments or something, but if you're honest with people, they probably won't care.
Intelligence: You can see some sample reports here. Honestly, you can probably say the intelligence report is as detailed as you want it to be. In-universe, the PPC isn't all that organized; if an Intelligence agent screws something up, the field agents can go yell at them, but it's unlikely anything else would happen unless it's a recurring issue. In the past, agents have been accidentally assigned missions they're completely unqualified for and basically told, "well, go do it anyways."
Plotholes: The PPC isn't so empty that you could wander it for too long without running into anyone. Plus, given its highly mutable architecture, new arrivals may have a tendency to find themselves ending up at the Marquis de Sod's office. As for what happens after they're found, it seems to vary from character to character. Some people go through official training; others just get dumped at an RC and told to go to it.
Oooh, reading those intelligence reports was so helpful! I need to figure out why I didn't see those before. It gives me an idea as well.
I know mini-Sues get killed, but I'm under the impression that mini-canons are not to be harmed. I was asking about minis that fall between those two extremes.
Hmmm, would it be acceptable for the plothole refugees to refuse recruitment? One of them is enough her own author to offer a semi-fic blip instead of herself. If she drops into the cafeteria or similarly-crowded area, would it be too Sueish to have the agents have a civil argument about who would get the credit while trying to recruit her? (I heard that's how they earn vacation time.)
I don't really know of any? It's a gray area, and I'm not even sure if anyone's run into it before. I'd take Phobos' suggestion and just write around it. You can probably even edit things so that the misspelled name doesn't actually appear in the mission.
Um... maybe? If you want to use the semi-fic blip, why not have them be the one who fell down the plothole instead? It feels a little overcomplicated, unless you want an agent that only reluctantly joined. And I don't see anything Sueish about having the agents who find her argue over who gets the credit. They're essentially treating her like a "day off" voucher instead of a person; it would be more annoying for the recruit than anything else.
I saw the fic where Printworthy fell through a plothole in front of an agent, and was immediately taken to SO.
I see a lot of profiles where the backstory is they fell through a plothole, but I don't see any expansion on what happens before they get assigned to a partner.
What happens when a random person or persons don't immediately run into an agent?
In this case, it would be a character replacement and a... not sure if she's a self-insert, an avatar, or both. She wouldn't have any Sueish powers outside of her own story.
Would the DIA pick them up? What would happen to them?
Standard procedure is most likely to find out what the heck the refugee is doing there, if they got there by accident, and to either take them to Personnel for recruitment or deal with them depending on how things go. I do imagine picking up people who got stranded in the corridors by plothole is something DIA patrols would be expected to do, but if you're not drawing attention to yourself a lot of agents might just assume you're some other Assassin/Untangler/Whatever they just haven't seen around - HQ is supposed to be big after all.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9549791/1/
I'd also like advice for this one Despatch case I'm working on. It starts off with a lot of subjective things for my charge-happy agent to get peeved at, but not much she's allowed to write down as actual charges. (Continuity error on a rocking chair, somewhat believable rich-girl life.) I don't think it's a charge for accidentally naming a SI Emma Watson.
It's a mildly decent fi...il about chapter 8 where Rainbow Dash gets mixed up with a drug dealer who's also a serial killer. Rainbow Dash gets tortured, and dies for six minutes in chapter 10 after she's on an ambulance gurney. The paramedics don't seem to be doing CPR or anything, then Fluttershy yells at her and she comes back to life. (What should be done about the serial killer if the agent removes the evidence? Will he just die with the fic?)
That part has admitted lack-of-research on the effects of crack, I don't know how much she's off yet. Afterwards, I'm bothered by what is allowed to happen during the hospital scenes.
I'm thinking it would be alright to kill the fic early in the torture scene, sending Dash to Medical and yelling at the self-insert for just the chapter 8-10 stuff.
Later on, I think there is a screw-up between insulin and epinephrine. Why the guy wouldn't excuse himself to the bathroom, I don't know.
The rest is just dull but not bad, unless something happens after chapter 15.
Basically I want to establish that the Intelligence report has a good tip about a hiding spot, and also that it points out certain chapters as the bad spot. Is this acceptable, or does it overstep authority? Or is it a case of a nice thing they can include, but it's on an agent's head if taking their advice leads to a screwup?
The folks down in DoI want to see the badfic die as much as the agent teams themselves, so they're bound to stuff tips and warnings in their reports.
If you don't know what to do with a thing, just pretend that it doesn't exist.
In this case, just don't put the Mini into the story.
-Phobos
It happens in a line I took to indicate that talking to herself is an intentional trait. Crossing stuff off the charge list is allowed when the agents make a mistake, right?
Still an option. As a writer, it is your job to draw the audience's attention where you want it. If you don't point out the misspelling, most people won't even notice it. The ones that do notice, shouldn't care too much, if you are being entertaining.
Mistakes happen. If the agents jump the gun and charge for something they shouldn't, there's nothing saying they can't cross it off again. The only thing you really need to consider is what does it add to the story for there to be a mistake and a correction? If it is only there to add words, then it probably shouldn't be there.
-Phobos
There's a point between having to dodge problems and just going "screw it." If this weren't a multi-person consensual reality, I would say "all minis not based on canon are destroyed," but some are adopted.