Like... the flash patch has a safety pin on the back so you can just pin it to whatever you're wearing that day?

But ofc, Liu Siyuan's got embroidered flash patches, so he probably had to stitch his onto everything he wears.

...Obviously the answer is that by the laws of quantum physics as interpreted by someone who doesn't understand them, entities must be perceived to exist. Because the stories of the PPC were erased, there was no longer any way to observe it and therefore it briefly ceased to exist until it was observable again.

This is an entirely real and accurate explanation with no problems whatsoever.

My work really sucks out my ability to English sometimes. (No, really, I've been watching Gravity Falls in Japanese.)

From what I've read so far, I'm really enjoying Moira's time in the RC and a good look at life in HQ from an agent's spouse/family. It's not something I've read very much about but I do commiserate with the frequent eating of ramen, haha. I'll ask on Discord about some timeline-related stuff when I finish reading.

Happy (belated) Re-Boardiversary! Have some more lemming repellent.

In addition to the visual aesthetic thing, I think it goes along with the idea that being an agent was originally more of a job than one's whole life, and it grew into the latter as time went by. See the uniform fade away as the RC expands and gains extra rooms!

I want to say I still envision my agents as having a particular article of clothing or piece of gear with their flash patch on it, but as I'm thinking about it, I don't think I've ever said so except for Ilraen's bag and maybe Derik's flight jacket? And Nume explicitly wears pinstripes and ties, and I guess Gall wears her Viking gear except I think I put her in more modern clothes in one interlude?

Now I'm confused in myself, because I still firmly believe there must be a flash patch somewhere, but I don't believe agents have a label sewn onto every shirt they own like boarding school kids. {X D Maybe everyone has a flash patch armband or something nowadays?

~Neshomeh

I mean, I came to it pretty dang late (years late), but I do remember it being kinda funny. Very much a fic of its type.

I took only the relevant parts. The gag just beforehand with the terrible receptionist wasn't included, and it's a pretty long scene anyway.

For clarification, for updating prompts, and also... it would be nice if it could just directly be hosted on the Wiki to avoid future repeats of this issue. Instead of a table, maybe we could run a random prompt generator script instead? It takes a bit of the guesswork out of rolling dice and people can just click a button to get a different prompt.

Would you mind if I took a look at that scene/character at some point? FicPsych is very near and dear to my heart, and I am protective of it. ^_^; You can PM me on Discord if you like: Neshomeh#0990

~Neshomeh

Dear Archivist Sarkan,

It has come to our attention that you have made an unauthorised use of the name "New Multiverse Monitor" in conjunction with a publication not authored by the editorial team of the New Multiverse Monitor. We, the editorial team at RC 2536, are the current authors of the publication "New Multiverse Monitor" and thus the correct holders of the publication name.

In addition, you have made several libelous claims regarding our status and readership, most notably that "nobody paid for this publication" and that it was "lost to the ether". Both statements are erroneous, as we have been continuously publishing since 2011 HST.

We request that you cease and desist all operations pertaining to the unauthorised usage of our name and the printing of false claims regarding our publication. Failure to correct may result in your publication being held liable for any damages we have suffered as a result of your libel and infringement.

It is in our best interest -- and yours -- that this issue be settled amicably to avoid further legal remedies as provided by the bylaws of PPC City New Caledonia.

Sincerely,
Nita Incog, EIC New Multiverse Monitor

((No, she didn't read about the subsequent name change. Yes, you're free to run a third MM in concurrence with mine and hS's MMs. For reference, I did the 2013 incarnation, and Nita and Anon were spotted interviewing the Ellimist last year, so they're still around! ~Lily))

I completely forgot about this, but here it is on Archive.today. I blame the heat today for making me stupid.

Now, we could use this link on the wiki, or perhaps copy it to a new live doc... but OTOH, I stand by what I said about it being time for something new, whether that takes the form of a rewrite to clear up any bits that might be unclear, new random prompt options, or something else entirely. Opinions?

~Neshomeh

I thought it was all black, all the time. Every character I've introduced either in my introduction or the draft for my intermission followed the rule of all or mostly black, barring one (who is from FicPsych and ergo wears plaid except for a black undershirt, because that's what a stereotypical psychologist wears.)

I just thought it was ALL black all the time, probably misreading either advice or the wiki. That would put a huge damper on character design.

Thanks for the tip.

https://ppc.fandom.com/wiki/PPC_Uniform

It's not the best article, since this is one of those things that is (was?) common knowledge generally absorbed by reading stories or just hanging around long enough to pick up on it. Still, the basics haven't changed from what it says, as far as I know.

~Neshomeh

how dare u steel are idea!!!111 teh editurs of teh Le Petit Sue r teh multiverzes premier magazine de la mode et la mode de vie Suvienne!!!!

((I once had a sample cover page of this hypothetical Mary Sue magazine floating around somewhere in the depths of my Tumblr. Someday I'll unearth it!

Yes the usage of the incorrect French adjective and article was intentional. ~Lily))

but I think in recent years agents just wear whatever when they're not on a mission, in whatever colours they want (provided it's not a Sue colour... probably). For example, I used to draw Agent Eledhwen specifically in the jeans and black t-shirt combo, but now she's gone back to wearing hanfu more Elvish clothing.

Some of the whole "everyone must wear black, preferably pants" was done for a visual contrast with the Sues being hunted, who often wear impractical outfits for travelling and fighting. So as long as Winfrey and Noman are dressed in a way that makes sense for their characters and what they need to do, you don't need to stick to any sort of uniform.

(Edited to add: you do need a flash patch, though! Because that may or may not be the source of a Somebody Else's Problem field that lets agents hide in plain sight in a Word World.)

I was planning to do a learning canon languages thing with my agent Rebecca Buch.

Like Sierpinksi said, the doc was unfortunately lost recently. For my two cents, it's time for something new anyway, but that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, the idea is basically to write your agents in two long-ish scenes or short-ish stories, one featuring a situation that pretty much every agent experiences at some point, and one featuring something more random:

• Prompt 1 should be, if I remember correctly, your agents meeting for the first time, moving into their RC, getting recruited/finding HQ, reacting to their first [BEEP!], or something along those lines. We want to see a familiar concept done in your style to see how you'll make it interesting.
• Prompt 2 can essentially be anything. We came up with a prompt list for people who struggle to think of something on their own, and it's also informative to see how you interpret a prompt you didn't choose that might be a bit strange or difficult to work with—you'll have to exercise your brain like that to write good missions! If you want a prompt, maybe try searching the Board for "writing prompts" and see what you can find? But if you don't need one, that's fine, too! The idea is to expand on what the first prompt showed us of your characters and your voice as a writer, so we get a nice, solid picture.

Between the two, we want to see good mechanics, good taste, creativity, familiarity with the PPC setting, a sense of humor, and characters we want to read more about. How we get there isn't necessarily that big a deal.

~Neshomeh

I remember being told somewhere that PPC Agents have to wear black all the time. Is this correct or did I misread? It's been a few months, I think it was on my first Permission request.

We didn't censor that.

We blame the Flowers.

The Gossip Monitor

There's a link in the Permission section on the wiki, but it's one of those things that got eaten by Google.

I don't know when I might get around to it (many things on the backburner already), but I have a plan, which is to shamelessly snurch Agent Taboo of the MPreg Division and have her tap Agent Ilraen as a canon expert. Ilraen will have watched Farscape offscreen by now and he won't be so traumatized by the fic as to be totally useless, unlike certain Supernumeraries I could name. I think I can vibe with that pairing.

The fic is confusing enough that it could legitimately make a WhatThe mission, though, and Scapegrace is actually one of the few other Boarders I know of familiar with the canon, so I wouldn't rule that out if Scape were interested—but one of the things on my backburner is actually a stalled co-write with her, so, uh, yeah. ^_^; (To be clear, I'm not blaming her; we both have other stuff going on; it's okay; we'll get around to it when we get around to it.)

Either way, don't expect anything any time soon, but I do want to make this a thing. There's a character I want to recruit and a dumb Babylon 5 joke I want to make, and that's plenty of reason for me!

~Neshomeh

(Side note: pretty sure my boat’s not waterproof.)

While, I'm no longer on Discord, when I was looking at the previous Permission Request Sierpinski put in I did ask a couple of friends who are on the Discord what Sier's activity was like. Mostly just to check they were active there and I made the decision based on how they'd replied and what I'd seen on the Board. I will admit I perhaps hadn't taken into account what type of activity there was, and it's something I'll keep in mind for the future (sorry), but from what I'd seen and heard there was enough activity for me to tick that bit off so I hadn't been too worried on that part.

Despite having been around for ages and seen plenty of Permission requests come and go, I've still got new things to remember/learn I guess.

Nova

Getting more information is a good thing (in my opinion), I'm not actually on the Discord anymore so having someone who is confirming Sierpinksi's activity on there is helpful. Thanks for doing it.

Nova