Subject: When it comes down to it,
Author:
Posted on: 2014-03-18 16:53:00 UTC
the point of our Creativity Shield explanation is to respect the authors' wishes and not include elements of those stories in our missions. There may not be an obvious in-universe explanation for why the PPC doesn't do that sort of crossover, but in the real world, we can't write missions like that simply because we are not allowed.
What happens, setting-wise, when a quarantined continuum is crossed over with a non-quarantined one? Like say A Song of Ice and Fire/Tolkienverse, respectively. Is that a fic that's impossible for the PPC to go into? Do the quarantined canon's elements just kind of stop existing/instantly assimilate? Just something I found myself pondering.
Quarantined means you can't get in or out, period. You can look at the continuum--but try to portal there, and it will fail, probably in an amusing and embarrassing fashion, if the Ironic Overpower has anything to say about it.
Crossover between a quarantined and non-quarantined continuum means that the quarantined characters are replacements, automatically, because the badfic writer can't get to the originals. (And I'm assuming badfic here, because anyone who writes fanfic and posts it against the express wishes of the author of the original story is just being bratty.)
Consider the author of the non-quarantined continuum, though. Most authors respect an author's authority over their work, and that respect is infused into the continua they create. When a badfic tries to invade, bringing with it cheap copies of characters from a quarantined continuum, most non-quarantined continua will reject the attempt to cross over, and the badfic author is forced to create replacements for both continua.
When a continuum is opened to fanfic and the PPC gets at it for the first time, then, it's likely to be untouched. But that doesn't mean there's not some clean-up left to do.
The intentions of the author govern a story. When there's a crossover between a quarantined and non-quarantined continuum, there are three authors involved--the author who imposed the quarantine, the author of the other continuum, and the author of the fic. When the quarantine is lifted, a fic that once existed as a replacement copy that couldn't touch the originals may, obeying the badfic author's desires, drift toward one or both continua.
Now that the original authors' wishes no longer completely close the continuum, such floating badfic may--if they are bad enough--attempt to latch on to one or both continua, resulting in a random mix of OOC, replacement characters, and even replacement objects and locations. The PPC may have to step in to clear these badfics out.
It would be a lot like any other mission. Replacements which are close enough to in-character might just merge with their originals, without too much damage. But there's an increased chance of getting "clones" of canon characters, locations, objects, and other bits of canon that didn't quite mesh properly when the badfic latched on to its new host continuum. The more OOC they are from their originals, the more likely that the new continuum can't match the replacements to who they were supposed to be.
the point of our Creativity Shield explanation is to respect the authors' wishes and not include elements of those stories in our missions. There may not be an obvious in-universe explanation for why the PPC doesn't do that sort of crossover, but in the real world, we can't write missions like that simply because we are not allowed.
Obviously, we can just say "we're not allowed to write fic of Fandom X so it's a moot point" and throw our hands up, but it's a little like saying "discussing the events of Film Y is pointless because they were fictional". Plus, the main part of the question wasn't about quarantined continua themselves, but what happens when quarantined elements are in an otherwise non-quarantined fic - not to mention things like hS said, like an unquarantined fandom such as Pern which was still quarantined when the mission was written.
The mission was written after Anne said it was okay. The badfic was written under quarantine.
hS
The Wiki claims the crossover'd elements count as original fiction, but I don't like that; it leaves open the chance for PPC writers to argue that, since it's not really a crossover any more, they can mission it and kill all the quarantined canon characters as OCs who don't fit the setting.
I'm also not sure it stands up to precedent, specifically the Anne McCaffrey precedent. Brown DragonRider of Pern was PPC'd as Pern fanfic after the quarantine was lifted - but it was written beforehand. So did lifting the quarantine suddenly turn OCs into canon characters?
It looks like the 'author generates a Creativity Shield' explanation is generally accepted (sigh... I remember when Fanfic Land actually impacted the real PPC... those were the days. Given that it's canonically known to have happened, I guess we set a CS up in around '06. Wonder where we got it?). So what would a fanfic become when it hit a creativity shield?
Well, we claim that 'The PPC itself is a semi-quarantined continuum, with prospective authors requiring Permission and no unauthorized spinoffs allowed.' So what status does an unauthorised PPC story have? We certainly wouldn't claim it was 'just' plagiarised original fiction - we'd claim it was, well, unauthorised PPC fiction. It doesn't impact the real PPC because its effect bounces off the shield. There's never been any hint that you can actually go into those stories (unlike actually plagiarised change-all-the-names stories).
So my guess is, attempts to breach quarantine actually fail to resolve. If you point a portal at one, it simply fails. There's no destination: fanfiction relies on pulling the canons (or the essence of the canons, or something from the canons) across to reify its world; with a creativity shield in place, it has nothing to draw on, and is just words on a page.
So what happens if you have a story that will 'load' half its canons, but not the others? Sounds like a recipe for a total system crash to me. One minute an agent is listening to Legolas expound on the beauty of trees, the next minute they're shunted out of existence as the story becomes straight text for a quarantined character's lines. And scenes where they interact would be even worse. I'm pretty sure it would be unwritable, at any rate, even if it weren't forbidden.
hS
-ght. But those concerns are exactly why I posted this thread, so we're kind of in the same boat on this. I'll have to think on this one a bit...
that since quarantined continuum fanfiction basically produces a plagiarized copy of said continuum, what the agents would need to do would be kill all the characters from the quarantined continuum. They aren't actually those characters- just doppelgängers. And those doppelgängers would be contaminating the non-quarantined continuum.
At least, that's what I think. Does that make sense?
... but not with the outcome. The PPC does not make a habit of killing characters unless they have actively done something to deserve it, so I don't think the Agents would need to kill anyone, just because they are from a quarantined continuum. After killing Sues and Stus and the worst bit characters, they could offer recruitment to the rest.
Or maybe they could be neuralized and dropped off in Generic Fantasy Land or there's some other solution.
If the replacements are three-dimensional characters, they don't have to be killed because they don't pose a threat anywhere they go. PPC assassins probably don't find it too satisfying to kill something that isn't Sueish.
Major characters who are replacements, but not glittery enough to pose a problem, can be recruited or relocated.
Generics and bits fade into the background once the major characters are gone.
And this may be a non-issue anyway in most cases, because a crossover with a quarantined continuum is usually rejected by the other continuum as well, leaving it to float harmlessly in its own original, plagiarized, world. Only once the continuum is opened and the crossover starts to try to latch onto one or the other continuum, would agents need to worry about it.
According to the wiki, due to A Song of Ice and Fire being quarantined, it's impossible for PPC agents to go into the series. Therefore, the same holds true for any other quarantined canon, even if it's been crossed over with something else.
So, the short answer is no.