Subject: You resemble someone who strives to be difficult on purpose. (nm
Author:
Posted on: 2014-07-11 00:14:00 UTC
-
Permission Request by
on 2014-07-08 16:57:00 UTC
Reply
I'll be changing my board name to TooPurple, since apparently that's the name I wanted when signing up for the AMSCES.
All my paperwork should be in order here. Let me know if you can't access it. https://drive.google.com/?authuser=0&usp=docs_web#folders/0B5Km1DT-wiaHVWFYek5CcXFsdG8 -
From the top, then... by
on 2014-07-13 05:29:00 UTC
Reply
I really couldn't get into your writing sample at all. It feels like it's going through the motions without any interest or emotion, a marionette show rather than a story. It's relatively sound from a technical perspective, but there's far more to writing than crossing all your 'T's and dotting all your 'I's.
I have no sense of who your characters are, what makes them tick, or what they like or dislike. I don't even have any sense that the organization in the recruitment story is the PPC - beyond the explanation that Agent Lowe gives, it feels nothing like the PPC. An interrogation room? A human in a suit? The line about Fisher being "made to be a cafeteria worker"? This is not what the PPC feels like.
Secondly, your behavior has been uninspiring. You rushed into your first permission request - which, in all fairness, happens a lot - but even your reply there showed no indication that you recognized what had gone wrong. I quote: "I suppose that it is professional to send a standard rejection notice when a manuscript has been chewed up by the post office" - a third-person-passive response that accepts no responsibility.
This permission request seems to have the exact same problem - rather than take the time to put together an organized request, you just dumped a link to a gdocs folder. This shows an active lack of respect for the PGs and process, and I would like to take this excellent opportunity to remind you that the PGs are both doing this in their spare time and are some of the more respected members of the community. Demonstrating that you don't respect people that the community tends to respect really doesn't do much to argue in your favor. (For that matter, your inability to get along with Neshomeh, who is one of the nicer PGs, is a significant point against you.)
And then there's this thread. You made a mistake, certainly - just about everyone has. However, you then doubled down and tried to defend what you had said, rather than admit that you had made a mistake.
On those two considerations, I'm going to have to deny permission.
Finally, there is this thread and its fallout. Your exchanges with Neshomeh, VM, and Ekyl were irrational, bordering on incoherent, and completely out of line with what is expected of you on this forum. Furthermore, you have demonstrated no willingness to accept any responsibility for what happened. Your first "apology" message is nothing more than a list of excuses - it contains neither acknowledgement that you were out of line nor a single mention of the people you attacked. (For comparison's sake, you mentioned yourself in it no less than sixteen times.) Your behavior in the last two days would, on its own, be grounds for denial of permission. -
Problems with the characterisation by
on 2014-07-13 14:39:00 UTC
Reply
For the recruitment story, I'm working in the dark on what happens when a self-insert who is sent to legal turns out to not be a real person. I'm also having trouble finding the origin stories for most of the former Sues, and what the process is to take them in beyond the "Sue support group." I have seen the "join or die" approach, but more for bits who would disappear with their fic.
If there is information on this, or simply a better approach to the problem, I'd love to hear it.
As for Larry's problem, I would think that some recruits are judged as unsuitable for field work and offered support jobs instead. It's not so much "go work in the cafeteria" as "choose a non-action department or ask to be sent home." I do see fics where the Flowers don't always put people where they want to go. https://docs.google.com/document/d/12dCWf7UErXDX9kAdBVIW-pVARa19kQeb70_Q-T10BuA/edit
I've got a tenuous idea that Larry took advantage of what training he could get as a cafeteria worker. It would make sense that they could have both physical training and combat training available even to support personnel, considering how often in the past they had to fight for their lives. Perhaps he even finds some Agents who actually like to talk about what they do. These things would change his suitability.
Thanks for taking the time to address what's wrong with my characters.
And yeah, I did rush into my first permission request because following the no writing rule was causing me problems. I rushed into this one as well because I'd like some support on what I am writing. I hope I can get that support on my out of continuity stuff so that it is not table-slappingly bad. -
If you're looking for support, by
on 2014-07-13 23:02:00 UTC
Reply
Have you tried asking for a beta reader? That's one of the main ways of getting advice here. I can't recall seeing you ask for one, but then I'm not that active here at the minute, so I may have missed it.
Anyway, if you'd like a beta I'd be willing to help out. -
Something specific by
on 2014-07-13 23:35:00 UTC
Reply
Could you look at Samantha's origin story and help me figure out a better way to present it? Actually sporking the story would involve me finding lost files or rewriting parts of a fanfic that I hate and want to start over on.
The interrogation room was similar to its counterpart seen on many cop shows. It was a box with a single door, the entirety paneled in generic surface. On one wall, where a large two-way mirror should be, were instead a series of tiny windows that did not try to disguise the darkened room beyond. A large table with a bar affixed to its surface stood between two pairs of chairs that were bolted to the floor.
A female humanoid with dark hair and pale skin was chained the table's bar. She perched on the edge of the chair so that the manacles didn't dig into her wrists. She shot to her feet and bared her fangs as the door opened, but the chains prevented her from going anywhere. She seemed embarrassed as she sat again and tried to arrange herself for the least discomfort.
A bipedal bull in a black uniform entered, followed by a bearded man in a business jacket.
“Hello, I'm Agent Phillip Lowe,” the man said. “I'm sorry about the wait. There was a slight paperwork issue, but we've got it sorted out now.”
“I have the right to legal counsel. I am an American citizen,” the prisoner argued.
“Unfortunately we are not part of any country, and your rights are limited. The good news is that I'm in charge of reviewing your situation. If you are open and honest with me, we should be able to find the best outcome for you.” He gave her a broad smile.
He didn't mention that they had already determined that she wasn't really a person, according to a record-search of World One. This time it was merely a formality, thanks to her author's self-insert avatar. Lowe's job was to judge if she was a redeemable character or should be disposed of as a Mary-Sue.
She glowered. “The woman who brought me here said that she would take me with her, but she neglected to mention that it would be to a jail.”
“We'll get to that eventually. This temporary holding area is for your safety as well as ours. Don't worry, leaving that world willingly is a point in your favor,” he said, flipping through the folder and scribbling a note.
Lowe pulled out his CAD. The agents had been using an analog CAD for that mission, so their recorded reading was a non-standard “needled out and broke.” Even if they had been using a model that he was familiar with, he preferred to trust his own readings. Hiding his trepidation, he pointed his CAD at the prisoner. [Samantha, female vampire, original character, 20% non-canonical.] Lowe frowned and scribbled his finding in the relevant margin.
He flipped back to the first page of the file to remind himself of the important details. The summary read: standard “sucked into known media” plot, class five reality disruption that stabilized quickly, naturalization occurred, but in a non-canonical AU.
“Well, we have the agents' report, but we are interested in your point of view. Keep in mind that this discussion is a small part of our process.” Lowe flipped to the second page, smiled, and said, “Let's begin at the beginning. Tell me about how you arrived in that world.”
It was a moment before Samantha spoke. “I remember not knowing how came to arrive in Janos' home. I am unsure if it was because I felt sorry for him and made a bad wish, or if that is how I justified it afterward.” She paused. “When I arrived there, I only had a moment to think. I recognized where I was, but did not have time to consider the repercussions before I acted.”
Lowe made a mental note to ask about the repercussions later. “And then what happened?”
“Thanks to me, Janos survived what was supposed to be his death, and the Sarafan took me to their stronghold. I lost consciousness when they were torturing me, and when I woke up, Kain had rescued me. I hoped that by helping him, I would be allowed to return home.”
“Why did Kain help you, and why did you focus on him?”
“Kain said that something drew him to me. I believe that he could sense whatever was allowing me to defy the temporal laws of his world. He would have used my strange influence whether I was willing or not. I was fortunate that he did not hurt me when he learned that I had knowledge and refused to share it immediately.”
“You said that helping Kain might take you home?” Lowe prompted.
“It is his game, well, also Raziel's. Kain is where the story began, but he was also standing at the end. The fate of Nosgoth rests on him.”
Lowe scribbled a note about “helping the hero” in the file and said. “You mentioned something about breaking the rules of that world.”
“There are two forces in that world. Destiny dictates the important events in their lives, and there is almost nothing they can do to escape it. History will prevent a time-traveler from altering significant events.” Samantha clenched her fists. “I should not have been able to save Janos Audron. There were too many events that were tied to his death.”
Lowe gave her a moment as he turned to another section of the file. “It says that you kept influencing the main characters even after that.”
“The damage had been done, and the consequences would have been far worse if I had said nothing. I could only convince them to follow the path that they would have taken without my interference. I am glad that Raziel did not learn the truth of his Destiny from me, but there are events that would have been difficult. I eventually would have been responsible for my own sire's murder.”
He noticed how much angst-fuel Samantha had, and wondered how much therapy it would require to make her well-adjusted. “It says that you asked to be made into a vampire.”
“I would not have chosen the dark gift if I were not dying. All souls are consumed by a horrible creature and I was desperate to avoid that fate.”
Lowe decided that he couldn't stand much more. He decided not to ask about a tragic childhood because her present was depressing enough. The file indicated that she had even suffered an existential crisis about being a vampire. “Let's talk about what you did when the agents read your charges.”
“I fear I that got distracted when they mentioned 'trans-dimensional.' I imagine that I interrupted them when I demanded to know if they were responsible for my predicament,” Samantha admitted. “I should have been more wary. They wanted to remove me from Nosgoth, and I happily followed them when they assured me that the original time-line would reassert itself once I was away. Was this the case?”
“Don't worry, restoring canonical time-lines is the primary mission of the PPC,” Lowe assured her. “Reading the charge list is more of a formality, but I have a copy right here if you are curious.”
At her nod, Lowe flipped to the appropriate page and began reading. “Being a Self-Insert and causing a Class 5 reality dysfunction, having such a high Sue reading that it broke the CAD, creating an alternate universe, causing main characters to care about and fight over you, causing main characters to have rule-breaking powers, asking to become a vampire, having an important vampire change you, having angst about having to drink blood, having angst in general, posing as an oracle, using time-travel to create a deus-ex-machina, having main characters confide in you above other canon characters, causing a character's girlfriend to cease existing, and telling a main character about said girlfriend to instigate romantic feelings but pretending not to be interested.”
Samantha's nails dragged on the table, producing an unpleasant screech. “I certainly was not interested in Kain! He is a monster, and preventing his doomed romance had very little to do with my intentions.” She composed herself. “There were times that I regretted interfering, and I sometimes did question my choice to become a vampire. Of the rest that I understand from that list, there are things for which I could not be held accountable.”
For the first time, Lowe stopped smiling. “We determined that the charges stand, and the only thing left is decide what to do with you. We can't remove your vampirism, so we can't send you to any place other than Nosgoth. But if the rules of that world don't apply to you even after we remove your memories, we will simply have to dispose of you.”
Samantha snarled as she stood, but she only bruised her wrists on her restraints again. She breathed heavily as she stared at Lowe in anger. “I do not wish to die. However, it is preferable to die here than to be sent back to Nosgoth, even if I become ignorant of what will happen when the inevitable comes.”
“There is one more possibility. We at at PPC are always recruiting new agents; people who go into other worlds and remove intruders. The hours are long, the pay is nonexistent, and in my opinion you would go flamethrower-crazy in less than a year. But I could ignore my better judgment and forward your file to the Marquis de Sod. There's no guarantee that you'll be accepted, but it may be worth a shot.”
Samantha was silent for a moment, then made a sound between a cough and a laugh. “Yet another choiceless choice. By all means, send my file. It would not do to refuse this opportunity.”
Charge List:
Being a Self-Insert and causing a Class 5 reality dysfunction
Having such a high Sue reading that it broke the CAD
Creating an alternate universe
Causing main characters to care about and fight over you
Causing main characters to have rule-breaking powers
Asking to become a vampire
Having an important vampire change you
Having angst about having to drink blood
Having angst in general
Posing as an oracle
Using time-travel to create a deus-ex-machina
Having main characters confide in you above other canon characters
Causing a character's girlfriend to cease existing
Telling a main character about said girlfriend to instigate romantic feelings, but pretending not to be interested
I cannot decide if Philip Lowe is actually there to examine her, or if he is a sociopathic testing instrument that has no actual say in whether or not the file gets forwarded to the appropriate department.
The readout if they had been using a normal CAD would be [Nope nope nope *POP*] as the magic smoke leaks out. -
OK, a couple of things by
on 2014-07-14 00:34:00 UTC
Reply
1) This isn't going to be a detailed response, mostly because I'm based in the UK, and it's just gone midnight.
2) Generally speaking, betaing is done off the Board - either in GoogleDocs, a Word file or something. Putting stuff up on the Board is publishing it, and you're going to want a beta to take a look at it before that stage. I tried to access Samantha's recruitment story from the Google drive link you gave at the top of this thread, but it was only allowing me some strange preview view. If you can change the access settings so that I can comment directly on the text, then that'd probably be the easiest way of doing it.
3) Yup, I can go through the story and make suggestions. Just bear in mind that I'm not a Permission Giver myself, so my opinion of what they're after may not match up exactly with what they want. -
Re: OK, a couple of things by
on 2014-07-14 01:34:00 UTC
Reply
Here's a copy in native GDOCS, I don't think LibreOffice plays completely nice with it. Go ahead and mess, it's an extra-redundant copy.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17jop35bT-jVk4kgG-dtsgL307iQ0gOWfeYvpKwH1hgM/edit?usp=sharing -
Re: If you're looking for support, by
on 2014-07-13 23:32:00 UTC
Reply
I did not ask for a beta reader before because I was trying to hide that I was writing without permission. And most of it is in the stage of not so much needing a beta as needing some bored person to present an opinion on a rough sketch.
I forgot what some of my concerns were.
There is one thing that I wrote where I began to doubt if the story was even missionable. I'm still debating whether I should fix the glaring problem besides that, or have other eyes tell me to find a different story. I think that the mission is more NSFW than the original story, which was a YKINMK, and I might have pushed the NSFB aspect. There is also something I read today that might be a critical research failure on my part or just an odd quirk of that author.
The rest is a mess.
One that is still in the peat-moss stage needs a complete rewrite because the dominant agent should be letting the weaker one run the show.
Another one is dependent on rewriting Samantha's origin story.
The rest are too skeletal to look at. -
Samantha gets recruited by
on 2014-07-09 14:22:00 UTC
Reply
The interrogation room was similar to its counterpart seen on many cop shows. It was a box with a
single door, the entirety paneled in generic surface. On one wall, where a large twoway mirror
should be, were instead a series of tiny windows that did not try to disguise the darkened room
beyond. A large table with a bar affixed to its surface stood between two pairs of chairs that were
bolted to the floor.
A female humanoid with dark hair and pale skin was chained the table's bar. She perched on the
edge of the chair so that the manacles didn't dig into her wrists. She shot to her feet and bared her
fangs as the door opened, but the chains prevented her from going anywhere. She seemed
embarrassed as she sat again and tried to arrange herself for the least discomfort.
A bipedal bull in a black uniform entered, followed by a bearded man in a business jacket.
“Hello, I'm Agent Phillip Lowe,” the man said. “I'm sorry about the wait. There was a slight
paperwork issue, but we've got it sorted out now.”
“I have the right to legal counsel. I am an American citizen,” the prisoner argued.
“Unfortunately we are not part of any country, and your rights are limited. The good news is that
I'm in charge of reviewing your situation. If you are open and honest with me, we should be able
to find the best outcome for you.” He gave her a broad smile.
He didn't mention that they had already determined that she wasn't really a person, according to a
recordsearch of World One. This time it was merely a formality, thanks to her author's selfinsert
avatar. Lowe's job was to judge if she was a redeemable character or should be disposed of as a
MarySue.
She glowered. “The woman who brought me here said that she would take me with her, but she
neglected to mention that it would be to a jail.”
“We'll get to that eventually. This temporary holding area is for your safety as well as ours. Don't
worry, leaving that world willingly is a point in your favor,” he said, flipping through the folder
and scribbling a note.
Lowe pulled out his CAD. The agents had been using an analog CAD for that mission, so their
recorded reading was a nonstandard “needled out and broke.” Even if they had been using a
model that he was familiar with, he preferred to trust his own readings. Hiding his trepidation, he
pointed his CAD at the prisoner. [Samantha, female vampire, original character, 20% non-
canonical.] Lowe frowned and scribbled his finding in the relevant margin.
He flipped back to the first page of the file to remind himself of the important details. The
summary read: standard “sucked into known media” plot, class five reality disruption that
stabilized quickly, naturalization occurred, but in a noncanonical AU.
“Well, we have the agents' report, but we are interested in your point of view. Keep in mind that
this discussion is a small part of our process.” Lowe flipped to the second page, smiled, and said,
“Let's begin at the beginning. Tell me about how you arrived in that world.”
It was a moment before Samantha spoke. “I remember not knowing how came to arrive in Janos'
home. I am unsure if it was because I felt sorry for him and made a bad wish, or if that is how I
justified it afterward.” She paused. “When I arrived there, I only had a moment to think. I
recognized where I was, but did not have time to consider the repercussions before I acted.”
Lowe made a mental note to ask about the repercussions later. “And then what happened?”
“Thanks to me, Janos survived what was supposed to be his death, and the Sarafan took me to their
stronghold. I lost consciousness when they were torturing me, and when I woke up, Kain had
rescued me. I hoped that by helping him, I would be allowed to return home.”
“Why did Kain help you, and why did you focus on him?”
“Kain said that something drew him to me. I believe that he could sense whatever was allowing
me to defy the temporal laws of his world. He would have used my strange influence whether I
was willing or not. I was fortunate that he did not hurt me when he learned that I had knowledge
and refused to share it immediately.”
“You said that helping Kain might take you home?” Lowe prompted.
“It is his game, well, also Raziel's. Kain is where the story began, but he was also standing at the
end. The fate of Nosgoth rests on him.”
Lowe scribbled a note about “helping the hero” in the file and said. “You mentioned something
about breaking the rules of that world.”
“There are two forces in that world. Destiny dictates the important events in their lives, and there
is almost nothing they can do to escape it. History will prevent a timetraveler from altering
significant events.” Samantha clenched her fists. “I should not have been able to save Janos
Audron. There were too many events that were tied to his death.”
Lowe gave her a moment as he turned to another section of the file. “It says that you kept
influencing the main characters even after that.”
“The damage had been done, and the consequences would have been far worse if I had said
nothing. I could only convince them to follow the path that they would have taken without my
interference. I am glad that Raziel did not learn the truth of his Destiny from me, but there are
events that would have been difficult. I eventually would have been responsible for my own sire's
murder.”
He noticed how much angstfuel Samantha had, and wondered how much therapy it would require
to make her welladjusted. “It says that you asked to be made into a vampire.”
“I would not have chosen the dark gift if I were not dying. All souls are consumed by a horrible
creature and I was desperate to avoid that fate.”
Lowe decided that he couldn't stand much more. He decided not to ask about a tragic childhood
because her present was depressing enough. The file indicated that she had even suffered an
existential crisis about being a vampire. “Let's talk about what you did when the agents read your
charges.”
“I fear I that got distracted when they mentioned 'transdimensional.' I imagine that I interrupted
them when I demanded to know if they were responsible for my predicament,” Samantha
admitted. “I should have been more wary. They wanted to remove me from Nosgoth, and I
happily followed them when they assured me that the original timeline would reassert itself once I
was away. Was this the case?”
“Don't worry, restoring canonical timelines is the primary mission of the PPC,” Lowe assured
her. “Reading the charge list is more of a formality, but I have a copy right here if you are
curious.”
At her nod, Lowe flipped to the appropriate page and began reading. “Being a SelfInsert and
causing a Class 5 reality dysfunction, having such a high Sue reading that it broke the CAD,
creating an alternate universe, causing main characters to care about and fight over you, causing
main characters to have rulebreaking powers, asking to become a vampire, having an important
vampire change you, having angst about having to drink blood, having angst in general, posing as
an oracle, using timetravel to create a deusexmachina, having main characters confide in you
above other canon characters, causing a character's girlfriend to cease existing, and telling a main
character about said girlfriend to instigate romantic feelings but pretending not to be interested.”
Samantha's nails dragged on the table, producing an unpleasant screech. “I certainly was not
interested in Kain! He is a monster, and preventing his doomed romance had very little to do with
my intentions.” She composed herself. “There were times that I regretted interfering, and I
sometimes did question my choice to become a vampire. Of the rest that I understand from that
list, there are things for which I could not be held accountable.”
For the first time, Lowe stopped smiling. “We determined that the charges stand, and the only
thing left is decide what to do with you. We can't remove your vampirism, so we can't send you to
any place other than Nosgoth. But if the rules of that world don't apply to you even after we
remove your memories, we will simply have to dispose of you.”
Samantha snarled as she stood, but she only bruised her wrists on her restraints again. She
breathed heavily as she stared at Lowe in anger. “I do not wish to die. However, it is preferable to
die here than to be sent back to Nosgoth, even if I become ignorant of what will happen when the
inevitable comes.”
“There is one more possibility. We at at PPC are always recruiting new agents; people who go
into other worlds and remove intruders. The hours are long, the pay is nonexistent, and in my
opinion you would go flamethrowercrazy in less than a year. But I could ignore my better
judgment and forward your file to the Marquis de Sod. There's no guarantee that you'll be
accepted, but it may be worth a shot.”
Samantha was silent for a moment, then made a sound between a cough and a laugh. “Yet another
choiceless choice. By all means, send my file. It would not do to refuse this opportunity.”
I cannot decide if Philip Lowe is actually there to examine her, or if he is a sociopathic testing
instrument that has no actual say in whether or not the file gets forwarded to the appropriate
department.
The readout if they had been using a normal CAD would be [Nope nope nope *POP*] as the
magic smoke leaks out.
-
Writing Sample Third Person by
on 2014-07-09 14:05:00 UTC
Reply
This is from a deliberately bad metastory where the canon characters know that a crazy fangirl
runs the world with inconsistently godlike powers. What they don't realize is that she's affected
their minds so that they are happier and more maliable.
The Chess Museum was a humble building that felt more like a public library than a gallery. Rows
of shelves held glass display boxes of chesspieces and boards instead of books, though there also
was a small collection of books about chess near the entrance.
Some chess sets were normal except for the artistic quality of their pieces. Others had oddly-
shaped boards or were designed for more than two players. There were even chesslike game sets
like Shogi and Chaturanga in the rear shelves.
Multiple tables were scattered in the main area. Kain and Vorador often met at this place. It was
completely neutral and open to all, but quiet because few knew that existed.
Kain and Vorador had chosen the most generic example of a normal chess set to play with, and
were playing with the standard rules.
“What possessed you to raise my sire's murderer as your child?” Vorador asked.
“That detail had been lost to legend,” Kain admitted. “I had merely found the tomb of their most
revered warriors, and defiled them.”
“I hope you are satisfied,” Vorador grumbled.
“It was magnificent,” Kain grinned. Then he sobered. “I shall miss them.”
Vorador frowned, but did not press for details. For most, it was impolite to inquire about dead
fledglings. In Kain's case, Vorador was afraid of the answers. He hadn't minded when he learned
the fates of the traitors he had mistakenly sired, but was still sore that Umah had been lumped in
with them.
“And now we have to suffer Malek's presence,” Vorador scowled, changing the subject.
“I never understood the value of simply humiliating an enemy,” Kain admitted.
Vorador was about to make his move, but he let his talon fall to the arm of his chair instead. “I
wish that he had found me sooner so that I could have killed him outright. Rage had blinded me,
and I was afraid of the damage I had already done.”
“Why did you help me, then?” Kain asked.
“I had a small shred of hope that you were our savior, but for the most part, I no longer cared.”
Vorador finally reached across the board and placed his knight with a firm tap.
Kain stood. “How dare you keep me ignorant of my role?”
“Those prophesies destroyed far greater vampires than you, Kain,” Vorador answered, also
standing. “Either you would save us or you wouldn't, and I was not going to burden you with
incomplete scraps that could be misinterpreted so easily.”
Both froze in dread at the palpable sensation of being watched. Every shadow seemed to stare
accusingly for the simple crime of speaking too loudly. Vorador and Kain both took their seats
again and tried to concentrate on the game until those inscrutable presences once again gave them
the barest of notice.
“The only thing that is protecting Malek now is that we have been told not to kill him,” Kain said,
pointedly ignoring their argument and the forces that had stopped them.
“As if you have ever paid attention when told not to do something,” Vorador complained.
“Though I do believe that she phrased it as a request.”
Kain frowned. He had faced impossible odds, a mad god, and defied fate itself. It wasn't that he
was afraid of a capricious girl who could control all of existence and bend his very thoughts to her
whim. He was simply aware that some scenarios were preferable to others.
“Tread carefully, Vorador. She has given you very little attention, but that may change,” Kain
warned. “Ignoring Malek is a small indignity, one that he may suffer for without our interference.”
“Malek did say that he suffered a fate worse than death after I had left him defeated,” Vorador
conceded. “I can only hope that allowing him to live now will bring him nothing but misery.”
When their game was finished, Kain and Vorador simply left the set sitting on the table, knowing
that the mysterious caretakers would return it to its place. -
Agent Lawrence Fisher by
on 2014-07-09 13:46:00 UTC
Reply
Stats:
Name: Lawrence Fisher (Larry)
Age, Sex, Species: 32 years, male, human
Home Continuum: 21st century Earth, unknown origin
RC, Department, Partner: RC 387, Floaters, Samantha
Appearance: Chubby-muscular. 5’10, Sandy-blond hair a couple inches long, medium skin tone, medium brown eyes.
Character Reference: Joey from Full House.
He’s eager. Not intellectual, but also not stupid. He tends to reference TV tropes when talking about something. (Note: make him say an entire sentence that is hard to understand unless the person knows tropes, and then make him repeat it in more layman’s language.)
Larry is a fan of anime, good animation, Sci-Fi, kid-friendly movies, and fun movies with a lot of special effects. He tends to be excited about missions if they don’t look too horrible at first glance. He likes meeting canon characters and helping them get back into canon before neuralysing them.
(Animation: Batman, Spiderman, Avatar, Gargoyles, Green Lantern, etc. Anime: both versions of Full Metal Alchemist, Pumpkin Scissors, Aquarion. Movies: most of the Pixar and Dreamworks, Transformers, First Knight, Men in Black, both versions of The Time Machine.)
(Find an excuse for him to watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Haibane Renmei. Also watch Sword Art Online, Hellsing, and Attack on Titan to see if I can learn the universes well enough to add them to his interests.)
He came from a “real” world through a plothole, but no one knows which world it was. (He’s a muggle from an American Harry Potter ripoff. Or he’s a muggle from Skin Deep.)
He has an academic interest in medieval weapons and how well fantasy weapons would work. (Watch Cloud’s buster sword in real life videos.)
He was shown how to use a handgun during his PPC training. This makes him handy with a tranquilizer pistol, but he needs to hit his partner at least once. (Samantha’s flesh necrotizes around the impact site quickly, and she doesn’t go unconscious. She recovers with application of the whatsit.)
Larry is afraid of spiders for no good reason.
What department would get him used to the PPC, but still make him long for the excitement of actually going into the Word Worlds? Was he a dissatisfied Intelligence Agent, or was he made to be a Cafeteria worker for several months before training to kill Sues? -
My not-Permission Giver opinion by
on 2014-07-09 13:42:00 UTC
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AMSCES? Don't you mean ACMSES? (Anti-Cliche and Mary Sue Elimination Society) Why would that require a name change?
The second permission prompt for Kimberley and Hue seems a little short. Try adding more detail. (Samantha and Larry's second one is still missing.) I like the ones you have up, though, especially the one where Samantha and Larry get hooked on Madoka Magica.
I'll repeat what I said earlier--you're very good at building character backstories. A potential agent from Rainbow Brite is interesting as well. Remind me, what role does Elizabeth have in all this? Creating multiple characters makes them a little confusing to us. -
Re: My not-Permission Giver opinion by
on 2014-07-09 14:01:00 UTC
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I'll be changing my board name since my Wikia name is TooPurple. Apperently I forgot about that, but my computer remembered when I was messing around with names.
Samantha and Larry's second prompt is they get a mission.
Elizabeth's role is kinda growing as I think about it. Basically she's coming in as someone that Samantha irrationally hates and is jealous of. (Someone said that having two self-inserts from the same author arguing might be interesting.) Since Larry was created to be nothing more than Samantha's foil, doing interludes with him and Elizabeth will help me figure out who he is when not being overshadowed. -
Agent Samantha by
on 2014-07-09 13:42:00 UTC
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Stats:
Name: Samantha Frankson
Age, Sex, Species: Female, 23 years as a human, plus about 450 as a Nosgoth second-generation vampire
Home Continuum: Her childhood memories are from a “real” 21st century Earth, but she’s lived in Nosgoth for most of her life
RC, Department, Partner: RC 387, Floaters, (focuses on the Legacy of Kain continuum between her partner’s interests,) partnered with Lawrence Fisher.
Appearance: Petite, about 5-foot 4-inches. Black hair to mid-shoulderblades, pale skin tone, yellow eyes, pointed ears, dark lips, and fangs. When disguised as her human self, she has curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes.
View “Vampire strengths and Weaknesses that apply to Samantha” to see the justification for my head-canon vampire template.
Samantha was a twenty-something inhabitant of the “real world” and a fangirl of the Legacy of Kain video game series. She then was sucked into Nosgoth and was a Mary-Sue for the full five minutes it took to realize what was going on and save a main character from dying. Then some flavor of reality kicked in and she had a horrible and miserable week of being a less-than average human in Nosgoth. Then she became sick, had to beg the canon characters not to let her die, and the only way to save her was to turn her into a vampire. She then spends the next 500 years being an ally and adviser to the canon characters.
Her memories and official PPC file show that she was confronted for breaking the universe. She apologized that she didn’t mean it and said that she wanted to be human again and taken home, but also showed concern for the reality she was in since she knew about the damage. (The C-CAD popped before giving a good reading.) The main reason that she wasn’t killed as a Sue was because Despatch took her mission and Legal offered her a choice.
Samantha has some difficulty relating to people, especially young humans. She has an internal thought process that artificially prompts her to treat everyone as a person even if she sees them as walking prey. (She consciously thinks about how she smiles, whether or not she wants to show her fangs.) She is used to being subordinate, so will follow instructions from someone she respects as more-knowledgeable. Samantha has imperfect self-control. She can get angry without showing it, but will occasionally lash out, even if she apologizes for being so blunt immediately after.
Character reference, Florence Ambrose from Freefall. A little bit of McGonagal’s prickly on the outside with even less softness on the inside.
She is competent in defending herself unarmed against pikes and swords. She can somewhat handle a sword. She can kill someone with her bare claws, and needs training in non-lethal unarmed fighting. She is fairly helpless when disguised as a human or anything similar, but will insist on more training after her first mission gets her shot.
She has no self-agency. Things happen to her instead of her making things happen. When she graduated High School, she still didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up. Fate had her witness a crime so her attention to detail could be noticed by an investigator who told her he’d hire her if she went through the right training. She said yes. Since then, she’s been presented with choices that had a clearer “right” answer, and has the gall to be angry when the other option is death. It is strange when she expresses a desire to do missions outside of the Legacy of Kain fandom.
She has the ability to memorize well. It is not eidetic, but rather a study and recall habit. This means that she has to notice something and consciously decide to remember it, and she might forget something if it has been a while since she last thought of it. She cannot decide to forget something on command.
She could have been smart, but she is under-educated and never bothered to learn some of the more useful knowledge. There is also a difference between memorizing something and comprehending it. One of the talents she developed was to draw recognizably from memory.
Sometimes she gets OCD-like tendencies, but it never gets bad enough to become a properly diagnosable issue. Usually it doesn’t disturb her when something is out of place, she just notices it and manages to stop thinking about it. Sometimes she will be unable to sleep if she has left something unfinished or starts worrying about the mini-squids escaping.
Because she was trapped in a video game, she has a slight anxiety when something reminds her of that. Not really a weakness because the anxiety is easily manageable. She is also afraid of the Elder God, but that is a sensible extension of being afraid of dying. -
I don’t know whether the Permission Givers can access this – by
on 2014-07-09 10:52:00 UTC
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I can’t. The problem may be that I may need a Google account, but I’m not sure about this.
HG -
That's probably it. by
on 2014-07-09 20:27:00 UTC
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I can access it without any problems.
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Yeah, I'm just waiting for the second prompt to be posted. by
on 2014-07-09 23:00:00 UTC
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'Cause, y'know, writing-wise, we specifically ask for character bios, a response to one of four control prompts, and a response to one of the random prompts from the table.
... Didn't I have this same problem the last time? {= /
~Neshomeh -
Re: Yeah, I'm just waiting for the second prompt to be posted. by
on 2014-07-09 23:44:00 UTC
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Actually, the second prompt is Samantha's recruitment. I forgot about that this morning since I couldn't see it. It's marked alpha and doesn't look like a file.
Larry's is a boring tale that I would struggle to make 100 words, that Samantha wouldn't care about, and it might involve annoying the Marquis de Sod unceasingly for an entire year if I spice it up.
I'm thinking Samantha wouldn't tell him because I'm having trouble getting her to talk about her vampirism to him. Seriously, last time I tried, I kept freezing because she kept wanting to gut him. -
In that case, I'm waiting for the first one. by
on 2014-07-10 15:08:00 UTC
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Because "character bios, one control prompt, and one piece of fanfic" is not the same as "character bios, one control prompt, and one random prompt from the table." So far, you've provided the former; I'm looking for the latter.
~Neshomeh -
Should've said you couldn't access my drive. by
on 2014-07-10 15:25:00 UTC
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Prompt 62: The agents receive a parcel.
In RC 387, Samantha and Larry were having an argument about the ending of “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.”
“It only looks like it broke the rules because Rufus did not completely explain the finer points of how time travel functions,” Samantha said. “Imagine that you are providing a time machine to two idiots who cannot pass a history exam without help. It is completely plausible that he only gave them the instructions they needed to accomplish the task.”
While Larry was thinking, a knock sounded at the RC door. Thanks to a faulty latch, it decided to swing open on its own. Samantha leaped to her feet to confront their visitor.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, it just came open,” the young boy said.
“It does tend to,” Samantha said as she relaxed slightly. “Who are you, and why have you come?”
“Simon, from the Postal Department. I have a package for Agent Lawrence Fisher.”
“That’s me.”
Since Samantha was the one standing, she took the package from Simon and closed the door. She handed the package to Larry, who shrugged as he opened the box. Inside was a box set of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. A note typed on the packing slip read “Please add this canon to your knowledge.”
“But it’s a magical girl anime,” he complained as he read the back of the box. “How about you take it?”
“Japanese cartoons tend to be weird,” she answered. “It was addressed to you.”
“Watch it with me.” Larry put the disc into the dvd slot on the console.
Samantha quickly lost interest due to the surrealism, but Larry was hooked by the third episode. Then she became mildly interested by overhearing the end of episode six. By episode eight, both were practically drooling with the desire to see the next plot twist.
Ten minutes into episode ten, the video stuttered, and the console started playing the mission tone. Larry punched the “accept” button and shouted, “That is the worst timing ever!” He read a line of the brief and said, “It’s one of yours.”
Samantha grimaced as she convinced herself that they could finish watching the anime when they got back. She quickly read over the mission and asked, “Are you willing to try again at pretending to be a vampire?” -
I can access it just fine, actually. by
on 2014-07-10 17:26:00 UTC
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I just wasn't about to go through all twenty files in there and guess which were the ones I was supposed to look at this time. The onus is on the Permission Requester to make sure their request is complete and presented cohesively. I would have said so, but then you started posting stuff on the Board, so I was hoping I wouldn't have to.
Now that all four things are here, I'll actually read them and get back to you.
~Neshomeh -
You resemble someone who strives to be difficult on purpose. (nm by
on 2014-07-11 00:14:00 UTC
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That was uncalled for. by
on 2014-07-11 01:05:00 UTC
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And incredibly rude to throw at Neshomeh, who, after all, is doing this out of her own spare time, voluntarily. Especially since she has a very valid point there; the PGs have lives, and finite amounts of time in which to live them. Expecting us to go through every single file out of twenty or so, rather than simply labeling them in the header, is very disrespectful.
-
Re: That was uncalled for. by
on 2014-07-11 01:14:00 UTC
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Someone else managed to find the relevant information and comment on it. Maybe I should have labeled my files.
I am more concerned that Neshoma was the one to review my application last time and none of the other permission givers chimed in. Now she is first permission giver again and everyone else is probably just going to fall in behind her again. -
Re: That was uncalled for. by
on 2014-07-11 01:22:00 UTC
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That's probably something that should've been brought up in private. And it absolutely does not excuse your being rude to her. However, let me debunk something for you. The first permission giver with the time and inclination is the one to reply, and if they are even slightly unsure of their decision, they/we seek a second opinion, either on the Board or off. Nobody "falls in behind" an opinion they don't agree with, and I do somewhat resent that implication. In case it's unclear, we tend to be pretty open about our opinions hereabouts.
All that said - Nesh, would you prefer to pass this one along? I had a sketched opinion based on the three stories I did read, but I never finished goin through the whole folder. -
Yeah, I won't be making a decision at this point. by
on 2014-07-11 14:20:00 UTC
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Someone else should absolutely take over. This will be my last post in this thread.
However, for the record, I'd like to suggest that anyone has the right to ask (politely) for a second opinion if they think the first PG to give a ruling on their request might be biased in some way. We are not a hive mind, and we can (and often do!) have different opinions about things. Just ask an oldbie how often they've seen me and hS get into a bickering match about something. *g*
~Neshomeh -
Re: That was uncalled for. by
on 2014-07-11 01:46:00 UTC
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I apologize or assuming that things I wasn't aware of weren't happening, and simply judging on things that I could see.
I apologize for assuming that one person, one human person with passions similar to mine, was the judge of my works.
I am guilty of comparing the entirety of the ppc permission panel to what I've seen, and letting it remind me of something else.
I also apologize for getting offended when black people sneered at me. Just because I didn't know about my racism doesn't mean I could feel uppity when they reacted to that invisible R over my head. -
Might I invoke Article 5? by
on 2014-07-11 06:50:00 UTC
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This is quickly degrading into scathing sarcasm, and I fear name-calling is not far off. I'm not pointing any fingers, but I am suggesting that this line of discussion be dropped at once.
Thank you. -
Um, no. by
on 2014-07-11 03:06:00 UTC
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I don't know if you're being sarcastic - your post doesn't make much sense in any other context - but you'll note that what I actually said was that you were rude to Neshomeh. You have - potentially sarcastically - apologized for a number of assumptions which aren't that big a deal, but what I'm concerned about here is not your assumptions but your increasingly rude and dismissive behavior.
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Did I miss something, with that last one? (nm) by
on 2014-07-11 02:32:00 UTC
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Re: Did I miss something, with that last one? by
on 2014-07-11 02:46:00 UTC
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I dunno, I'm busy getting pissed off at the loop I got caught in.
That was a good video, how about another drink?
You're walking around on a swollen ankle, how about you pick at that rancid-smelling pasta instead?
Nah, how about another video?
I should have a talk with my husband about whether or not he wants me to keep existing. -
Spouting angry non-sequiturs won't help your case... (nm) by
on 2014-07-11 03:57:00 UTC
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