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After you had read my posts . . .

Complete with Tragic and Noble Sacrifice at the end, if I remember right. *gags*

Have you attempted any of his other books? Like I said, I've been too leery of another disappointment.

~Neshomeh

But that IS what they are, so I don't know why you wouldn't call them that. I mean, I suppose you could say "Assassin Thorntree" or "Untangler Ilraen," but that gets a bit cumbersome and/or weird when it comes to other action departments. No one would ever say "Bad Slasher Trojanhorse" or "Floater July" or "Spy Architeuthis," for example.

I suppose the infrastructure departments make for some exceptions, but even then--in FicPsych, for example--it wouldn't be wrong to refer to one of their personnel as Agent Whoever even though they're normally called Nurse Whoever. All PPC employees are agents of the PPC, even if they aren't called that. So, where they ARE normally called Agent Whoever, I don't know why you wouldn't want to.

I'm not sure I understand the question, really. O.o

~Neshomeh

You didn't miss much. I, unfortunately, have an annoying lack of ability to stop partway through a book. If it wasn't published and accepted as canon, it is the kind of story that could be getting a visit from the DoMS. I'm not sure how far you read (or how much I remember), but the main character seemed like a borderline Sue, there was no lack of Cute Animal Friends, the initial stolen plot of a dragon's plague was, to my knowledge, not solved at the end of the book, the weyrwomen and weyrleaders' order of dominance has been switched from the original trilogy, and Todd has also stolen the idea of sending a group back in time to train before threadfall. I enjoy the series, especially the later books, but this is not a good addition to it.

Seems like he has the potential to be a great agent, and someone that would “work” with mine! Unfortunately, I know nothing about his canon and am afraid that I would just mangle his uncanonical personality. I was thinking that there might be a chance that I knew the canon, or that it was something that I could pick up relatively quickly, but I don't do well with television series (I know a few, but they are not something that I can watch for the sole purpose of learning the canon). Sorry!

Have a platter of chocolate-covered profiteroles, a pet mongoose (which can be collected from the PPC Mongoose Shelter in RC 2816), and a some Mandalorian crushgaunts.

Greetings, fellow LoTR and Star Wars fan. LoTR is fairly common round here, but Star Wars seems less so (or at least Boarders don't seem to talk about it quite as much).

Like the name, too.

Elcalion, welcoming.

Welcome, by the way. Have some chocolate-covered profiteroles and a pet mongoose.

I'm not a huge fan of NJO and what they did after NJO in Legacy of the Force annoyed me, but I rate the Zahn trilogy and (most) of the X-Wing series as my favourite Star Wars books by far. Not such a fan of Allston's novels apart from Starfighters of Adumar - generally prefer the Stackpole ones.

Elcalion, welcoming

Insert the usual disclaimers about betas being very good people here.

I know it's a tad early for this, but I already find myself thinking about it: Do agents have to be called by Agent ______? or is it just quasi-tradition?

As a Zeltron, Cavan has very strong natural empathic talents, which means he can influence a person's feelings. He also exudes pheremones which make him attractive to others, and when one combines both these abilities, turned up to full throttle, with the Force, it can create a pretty overpowering sensation of physical attraction towards the person. That's a lust whammy.

(Lucky for us all he behaves most of the time.)

So far I've read most of the original series, the constitution, the Guide to the PPC, and about how to get Official permission. That only leaves the FAQ for Newbies, the Mission Writing Guide, and the last few sections of the Original series.

*poke*

I don't know what you've already read, of course, but there are a few things you should definitely make time for. First, there is the Original PPC Series by Jay and Acacia. It is our canon and that which started it all.

Second, we require that everyone read and abide by the Board Constitution, because it's nicer that way.

After that, there are several helpful documents on the Wiki designed to help acquaint newcomers with us and our habits and behaviors and general weirdness. Sedri's Guide to the PPC is particularly informative, especially when combined with the FAQ for Newbies and the Mission Writing Guide. If you do want to write PPC missions, you should also see the article about how to get Official Permission.

And that's probably quite enough to start with. {= ) Welcome! Have a bumper-sticker! *sticks one on you* ^__^

~Neshomeh

Yes. I've read everything that was published before NJO, as well as NJO up through Balance Point.

Fair winds!

It is less that I am worried about them being weak (I have two pretty normal human Agents right now), than that I am considering recruiting a specific, non-human character from a badfic that I am working on, and the species is pretty powerful. They also have, um, unique dietary requirements. This particular character is written as being unusual enough from the species standard that I think he would be a good Agent-you know not plotting to take over the PPC or secretly eating other Agents--but I wasn't sure how the more powerful Agents were handled.

It seems from all the links I got that they are primarily assigned to fics that have very powerful Sues or particularly dangerous canons, so that their inherit power is barely enough to survive, just like a human in the less power based canons.

In fact, this character may be best used in a more powerful canon than what I typically read. Even without the typical bloodthirsty bad attitude and desire to take over everything, he will still have strength, speed, and stamina beyond that of a human, be able to regenerate nearly any injury, and be highly intelligent. Plus, of course, that special dietary requirement. *wicked grin* (I don't know how to make that smiley)

You know, I think that people don't need to worry esspecially about species: I mean, a unique, fallible human seems fine, right? All you need to do is design the agent, give the kid an interesting getup, background story, morals/way of thinking based on this, and some interesting strengths and weaknesses (the weaknesses are important, to make every mission interesting, and to prevent the unintentional spawning of Mary Sues/Gary Stus).

If you're worried that if the agent is a human, then the kid won't be able to have powers, just think: He/she could be a mutant/mutate as part of the Marvel-verse, and/or he/she could end up picking up some sweet toys and gadgets along the way.

Does that help at all? I'm sorry if this seemed too pedantic and rambly, but what I'm trying to say is: 'Why sweat the small stuff? An agent could be Mr Average-freaking-Joe but as long as he can get the job done, and get it done in an interesting, audience-grabbing way that makes people feel for him, then that's a job well done - just make sure he doesn't become a Sue/Stu for all of our sakes, or he'll be toast too.'

Does that mean you can have Death Note Shinigami, too? Although, now that I think about it, bringing in a an agent with the power to see the name of anyone that passes by, and who can kill people just by writing in their name into a notebook of death may not make for good reading - the Shinigami are and always have been over-powered. The only documented way to kill them is to make them fall on love with a human, so that if that human's life is threatened, the shinigami will write the name of the entity posing the threat, causing the loved human's life to be lengthened, thus killing the shinigami, whose only purpose is to shorten life, not lengthen it.

Yeah, so 'Any species can be an agent...except the Death Note Shinigami, who are killjoys'. Any thoughts on this, please?

I think I may have at least started that book. I don't think I finished it.

Welcome to the Board! Please deposit your sanity in the provided receptacle. *indicates bucket marked "Warg Fodder"* You shan't need it here. Also, here's a very small hat.

Welcome to the Board! Please deposit your sanity in the provided receptacle. *indicates bucket marked "Warg Fodder"* You shan't need it here. Also, here's a shrunken head. Don't ask.

I hadn't realized that you already made yourself known on the forum.

Do. Not. Feed. It. Sues. It's for mascot purposes only.