Many irons in the fire

Permission request: Cartesian by zdimensia on 2014-06-06 19:49:00 UTC Reply

I decided that my writer-name should be Cartesian.

Here are the documents that I've created for my permission request. Let me know if they are unaccessible. https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5Km1DT-wiaHVWFYek5CcXFsdG8&usp=sharing

Sofar, I have a list of characters to work with, Kimberly and Hue's first meeting, some of my writing samples from a deliberate badfic, a huge list of potential badfic that I need to examine closer, and an outline for a not-the-first mission.

I'm missing the random prompt, and I might have to write or find one of my recent samples that is not from the deliberate badfic. I tried to write Larry meets Samantha, but green!Larry keeps turning into a Martin Freeman character.

As far as the first mission I write, here is my idea, but I'm willing to write it a just personal headcanon and have something else be the first thing that actually goes up for beta. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i4JGsONoYbNnIKDTxSM60mTXS0tnAXO4TKdXgMaaQ6k/edit?usp=sharing

Question about an idea by zdimensia on 2014-06-08 02:16:00 UTC Reply

Would Marquis de Sod put a problematic trainee with a non-agent employee that he wants dead?

Basically I'm thinking that Larry is begging to be an agent, Samantha bit someone who was overly cheerful. Two birds with one stone, except that they come back successful.

I would say no. by PoorCynic on 2014-06-10 01:40:00 UTC Reply

Flowers do not strike me as being so petty that they would rig an agent pair to fail just to kill one of them. They also don't strike me as the kind of creatures that would actively hold a grudge against a single agent beyond "you are bothering me, here's some missions that will in turn bother you." Killing agents over grudges would be a waste of resources. Partcularly problematic agents aren't killed, they have their memories wiped before getting shipped back to their home continuum.

Didn't think so. by zdimensia on 2014-06-10 23:29:00 UTC Reply

Technically he would be killing someone with no training investment, but it still sounds too cold-sapped.

I was having trouble with the control prompts to the point of using the Total Recall tech to Dollhouse their actual meeting.

I'm thinking that I could have one agent do a very boring monologue about his backstory, ending with the other asking, "was there anything about what you just said that I should have paid attention to?" I'll be lucky to type a good 300 words of that, much less care if anyone reads the whole thing.

Off-topic, but... by Desdendelle on 2014-06-07 10:47:00 UTC Reply

Say, how have you come across that name? I am curious.

Cartesian Coordinate system, like in games (nm) by zdimensia on 2014-06-08 00:28:00 UTC Reply

Ah. by Desdendelle on 2014-06-08 00:51:00 UTC Reply

So it does have to do with Descartes - he invented it - but nothing to do with philosophy.

Possibly has something to do with Rene Descartes :P (nm) by Rats on 2014-06-07 18:30:00 UTC Reply

-rubs his forehead- by Desdendelle on 2014-06-07 20:05:00 UTC Reply

I knew that. I was wondering if zdimensia is also interested in philosophy or just thought the name is cool and asked it in an admittedly indirect way.

What I'm looking for here... by Neshomeh on 2014-06-06 22:06:00 UTC Reply

Is five things:

* 2 agent bios (the characters you actually plan to use together)

* 2 writing samples, one from a control prompt and one from a random prompt, about those characters

* 1 badfic that you intend to spork.

I'm seeing a whole lotta character bios and a whole lotta badfic, but only one prompt. It kinda looks like you don't have your final thoughts together. Is that the case?

Also, does this mean you're changing your Board handle to Cartesian? Otherwise, what do you mean by your "writer-name"?

~Neshomeh

About the Permission stuff by Dark Brother 16 on 2014-06-07 03:28:00 UTC Reply

I have a question. I have been fixing up my own stuff, and I seem to remember that there is a word limit. Are we still doing that? And if so, what were those limits again?

Re: About the Permission stuff by the Irish Samurai on 2014-06-07 14:09:00 UTC Reply

The current guideline from the 36 Prompts document is 'For your Permission request, you’ll need to write two short stories. These should be about 400-800 words each. However, it is more important that you present a complete and well-rounded idea than that you slavishly adhere to word counts - a well-written 950 or 350-word piece is far more useful than a rambling and purposeless 600 words.'.

Many irons in the fire by zdimensia on 2014-06-06 23:06:00 UTC Reply

I am forming a huge idea conglomeration which will probably settle down once I start writing actual stories. I'll want a beta for everything if I do get in.

Kimberly and Hue are a team, I was really excited about them for a week or so, but I might not put them on any "real" missions where they aren't training Samantha. I think I'm just going to do non-mission stories and declare them free-to-use.

Samantha and Larry are a team, except that Larry gave me trouble when I was writing his first encounter with Samantha. I have an idea who he should be once they've gone through a few missions, but I don't know who he is before that. His optimism is a problem, and his partner is slow to trust.

I don't want the wiki to have Smoke Z Dimensia as my name in the PPC. I'm probably going to running missions in fics that were written by people who favorited me.

I think you should take some more time on this. by Neshomeh on 2014-06-07 17:01:00 UTC Reply

For one thing, having both prompts prepared when you ask for Permission is kind of important, since it shows, among other things, your ability to understand and follow directions. For another, I like to know what I'm giving people the okay to go ahead and do. These requirements are not being met. The one prompt you did write isn't about the main team you're going to be using. Additionally, you left a struck-through and rewritten line of dialogue in there, which tells me it's not even finished—or if it is, that's a pretty glaring editing oversight. You shouldn't need a beta to catch that. All of this is just screaming "not prepared" to me. Lots of ideas is good, but if you want to avoid being one of those people who gets Permission and never does anything with it, you'll have to actually settle on some.

Also, I'd like to point out that targeting people who like you is probably not a great idea. Why don't you try giving them concrit instead? If they like your work, they might actually listen to your advice.

In a nutshell: Permission Denied. Please try again when you have a complete, cohesive request for us.

~Neshomeh

Re: I think you should take some more time on this. by zdimensia on 2014-06-08 00:27:00 UTC Reply

I re-uploaded the prompt file even though I cannot see any strikethrough either today or yesterday. In fairness to you, I suppose that it is professional to send a standard rejection notice when a manuscript has been chewed on by the post office.

As far as targeting people who like me, it's more of a case of simply not checking or not letting it stop me. I'm also going to be targeting the most-favorited story I wrote, which means that I'm insulting their tastes anyway. There is one person I may refuse to touch, and it isn't because of affection.

I'll try again, just don't complain if my not-main team always has more stories than my main team.

Not a PG, but... by Pippa's Ghost on 2014-06-08 16:24:00 UTC Reply

Sorry to see you've been rejected.

If you don't mind me making a comment....

It looks like you're making one of the mistakes Dark Brother 16 did. You're trying to pitch a huge, complicated, epic, crossover story arc that just happens to feature a whole bunch of PPC agents. So the PGs are a bit overwhelmed with all the information you expect them to take in at once. And you're so busy planning the big sweep of the arc, it can look like you're neglecting all the little details.

Maybe it would help if you take a step back. Simplify things, at least at first. Start with just a couple of agents in your request, no more, showing you can write those agents well. And just add a quick mention that you've plans to introduce other agents or teams in the long term and that the PGs can ask you for more information if they need it.

(Remember, once you've been given Permission, you don't need extra Permission to introduce extra characters.)

That's what I did, and it worked for me. I got the permission, and no-one even bothered to contact me and ask what my long term plans are. (Admittedly they're not as big or ambitious as yours, but the PGs didn't know that...)

And where do you see your agents in five years time? (nm) by Huinesoron-behind-a-desk on 2014-06-08 19:23:00 UTC Reply

At my current rate... by Pippa's Ghost on 2014-06-08 20:30:00 UTC Reply

...I'll probably just be finishing writing their first mission in five years time! :)