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You need to remember what Agents do and how to do it. Their job is to make the reader laugh, and the way to do it is to have them contrast just enough to where they bicker hilariously, but not so much that they wouldn't realistically work together.

Examples: Jock and the nerd, rookie and the veteran, by-the-book and devil-may-care operators. The crazy one and the "sane" one.

You need to keep in mind that these should be characters more than just one trait or they'll get tired quickly.

Let's follow an example, my own Agents (who have yet to appear in a Mission yet - but I'm drafting it now so that I can post it immediately once I get permission.)

Noman is the veteran, the jock, the by-the-book one, and whether he's insane or not is a gigantic mystery. He's far more clued into the weirdness of the PPC than his partner and can roll with it easily. He tends to deliver the punchlines of jokes. He introduces Winfrey to the world.

Winfrey is the nerd, the rookie, the devil-may-care unorthodox operator, and whether she's insane or not is utterly baffling. She relentlessly attempts to systemize and understand everything as a scientist. She usually serves as punchline fodder and the audience often experiences the world through her eyes.

Examples my style thus far are in the Hunger Games thread, where Winfrey relentlessly systemizes objects and bores everyone to tears around her (often getting interrupted for the sake of a gag), and Noman blames nebulous forces for things not going his way (oftentimes blaming it for the sake of comedy). Another example is in my Permission slip, where Noman introduces Winfrey to the PPC, and Winfrey's attempts at rationalizing it blow up in her face - sometimes literally.

Remember! They must not be too similar because if they are, their reactions to the badfic will be identical and you'll just repeat the punchline.

1. They work well together. Most comedy, thusly, comes from the badfic/reactions to the badfic.

2. Opposites (not necessarily exact opposites). This pair tends to more rely on the agents bickering with each other as well as badfic reactions.

An example of number 1 is Ix and their partner (who's name I do not trust myself to spell in this half-asleep state). An example of nunber 2 is Derik and Earwig.

Those are the two that most agents pairs fall into, to my knowledge, and tend to work the best. Number 2 is good if you can write arguements funnily, but if you can't, then number 1 is your best choice.

-kA, who is half-asleep and apologies in advance in case typos appear.

What do you think are some characteristics of a good Agent pair?

That was a good mission, and it makes sense how that sort of early intervention is a generally better style if it's available - and with this being the olden days, there was less fic going around so cleaning up borderline cases was something PPC agents could still do.

As to the second bit ... welp. That sure is a cliffhanger.

Overall, I have read and liked the thing.

I'm a bit disappointed that he didn't get more lines in it.

And as far as I can tell, the Constitution can be summed up as “be kind, write well”.

I totally agree with that.

Though I disagree somewhat with “Republicans always discriminate”, as it’s not accurate.

I expect you've read our Constitution? If not, please do. {= )

But yes, in general, we tend rather strongly liberal/progressive here. Largely because a great many of our members are part of groups that the liberal/progressive side (as a movement) tends to support and the conservative side (as a movement) tends to repress and harm. It's good to be aware of that.

~Neshomeh

Also, I realized I forgot to comment on the actual mission part. I was super confused what the badfic was actually trying to do there, before I realized the implication was that the Ellimist had moved the Animorphs into a "real world" where the books were published. I'm very amused that you had the Ellimist just kind of. Snap out of it and undo everything. Feels very in character! And like I said on the first A+O story, there's no reason a benevolent being like the Ellimist wouldn't play along with an innocuous badfic, at least for a little while.

—doctorlit has a key performance index, too! It's the amount of colors he and his clothing come home smeared with. If he's relatively clean, it probably wasn't a very productive day.

And Silm isn't translated in my country yet.

You should see some edits from me.

I'm just gonna assume based on this thread that I'm outnumbered politically here at the PPC. * shrugs * Which is fine, 'cause I'm here for the badfic sporking, not excessive political argumentation.

And doctorlit, you're right. Roran is great.

Forget this one; I thought this was replying to the GotG one below.

It feels weird that my parents, who raised me to be so dutiful and hard-working, and to put entertainment last, are now so focused on just enjoying entertainment, and wanting to ignore problems in the world. But I guess their version of "hard-working" is just "earn money for yourself," not "address social ills for the benefit of others." : (

—doctorlit, the only leftie in a family of sixteen

He reminds me of me, a no nonsense sort who sees a problem, and works at it until it's not a problem any more. The only way to go!

—doctorlit is only halfway through that series, but he's sure nothing will happen in the remaining two to make him change his mind, or cause this comment to age hilariously

That guy is in 99.9% of games with male characters these days, I swear. Nearly every game I've played has him somewhere in the cast. Not that I mind, his voice is hot.