I'll be plain here and say that I don't particuarly like it. That won't stop me from trying to help you but the idea is fairly overused IMO, as it seems to consist of "Take Harry out of England. Put him wherever author comes from. Show that Author's country is way better on the magical side than Britain is. Have Harry beat the **** out of Voldemort/Dumbledore/Britain in General because of the awesomeness of Author's country. Go home have tea and cake (or regional variants)." Like I said, this seems to be the general idea/basic plan that happens, most often done by Americans (no offence intended) who then display America as this great shining light that has no underage magic restrictions, isn't bound by the ICW, etc. etc. (FYI this isn't just my patriotism speaking, I've beaten the **** out of Magical Britain in one of my fics(as awful as it was)).

If you're going to do this sort of fic properly you need to make it work in several ways. One is the correct connection between the characters who takes Harry and leaves England and, well, Harry. I've seen this done with Sirius and Remus and work best although a well written OC/minor character/slightly major character if its a crossover can do well once again if they have the right reasons. Ignoring the latter (because from what you've said this is a straight HP story) you've gone for someone in between the two, who also manages to be a Fifth Marauder (something I'm never comfortable with unless it's Lily) and saves Sirius from Azkaban.

Personally I think you're reasons for Paul to leave Britain are sketchy (I'll come to Paul the name later), he's an upcoming Heir/Head of his house in all likelihood, and unless he's like Sirius (whereby he's the only 'good' guy in the family and that's highly unlikely due to the circles he seems to be in from his friendship with James) he'll probably have some support in his family, a family that would in all likelihood stay in Britain else the whole of House Greengrass would move, pretty much removing them from the story at this point.

Now for the name. In a world where most purebloods (James seems to be an exception or more likely a shortened form of something like Jameson) are named something along the lines of Lucius, Sirius, Regulus, Theodore, Rudolphus, Abraxius,Fabian etc. Paul seems way too much like a common name compared to them, hell even Snape has more of a pureblood name than Paul despite being a half-blood.

Anyway back to the plan. So we have a foreign soldier (effectively) who hasn't been seen or heard from in X years, who's family is the sort ho would support Voldemort (most likely) that contacts Dumbledore and tries to convince him that Sirius and Remus aren't traitors that's fairly sketchy by itself. Now in the grand scheme of things the night of October the 31st 1981 has a fairly uniform timeline after Voldemort dies. Sirius is the first on the scene, followed shortly after by Hagrid. The time it takes for information to travel (even by magic) wouldn't be fast enough for 'Paul' to contact Dumbledore, to get to Godric's Hollow to stop Sirius chasing Pettigrew. If you want to stop Sirius getting thrown in jail then your best bet would be to scrap what happened that night and have Dumbledore raise the points at Sirius' trial after he gets caught. However that raises the problem of Harry being at the Dursley's for X days, but if you then could throw in some sort of way for Sirius to claim Harry once he is found innocent in the trial and then for Harry to be collected from the Dursleys then all well and good.

Unfortunately for your plan this leaves 'Paul' and Sirius (and thereby Harry) in 2 different countries. How you connect them up I don't know, especially as you've also got to consider that by this point 'Paul' must have a wife with a daughter (Daphne) of one/two year(s) old (roughly) and dependent on where you put Astoria potentially another child on the way. The best way I can see of connecting the two would be to have Sirius move to a Black property in America (a leftover from before the revolution say or if you don't mind making America more like Britain, a place bought X generations back, although this would depend on America being a suitable place for pureblood families such as the Blacks moving to at least for holidays.) Then having the two meet up somehow (once again up to you really).

Finding Remus is a nice touch but I think logistically it'd be a nightmare, maybe not even worth the effort.

Growing up, would be interesting however I don't think all the pop culture should be integrated into it, some maybe but don't have them living as muggles or having technology work fine around them, I feel it's almost like trying to brag or bring your own upbringing into the story.

In answer to your last point, there is a very simple way of answering it. Have them as full time Hogwarts Students. How? Simple, there's a book at Hogwarts that records the name of every witch or wizard born in Britain so that they attend Hogwarts, having Harry and Daphne born in Britain means that they go to school in Britain, tying in nicely with the plots from the books themselves, and not forcing them to have one year to solve everything if they had just one transfer year. Another added bonus is that you can use Hogwarts and its students rather than having to make up your own school and characters for all the staff and students for said school, something that is not only challenging but can also make a fic bad if not done right.

I'd say as to where to go from there, maybe put Harry in a house other than Gryffindor, Slytherin would work as he wouldn't have the prejudice from the books or maybe Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. From there go on as you want but at least keep most events from canon in, although say you could avoid the Troll event at Halloween (after all even if it happens it's unlikely to have anything to do with Harry or Daphne.)

Hope I've been a help, and once again sorry if I've offended/insulted anyone or any of their works both in Fan and Original Fiction
Storme Hawk

P.S. Make sure to include at least one Python reference ;P

I'm also available to beta, as long as you don't mind that it may take me until later this week or possibly until next week--I kind of have a prior betaing job to complete first :)

If you don't mind that*, share away! dawnfire360@gmail.com

~DF

--
*that is, if you aren't set on getting your interlude out in the next few days

My e-mail address is samurai_ireland@hotmail.com

From the author note of (ironically) one of her RPF missions, "Downer:"

"Don’t you dare try to tell me you’re a fan. Yeah, you’ve read Journals. I can see that. But did you really understand it? [. . .] This is the kind of image that got Frances taken off Kurt and Courtney in the first place [. . .] It’s not even like he was someone in a book or a movie – Kurt Cobain was a real person, depressed, maybe, drugged, sometimes, but not deserving of this defamation of his character. And as for what you’ve done to Courtney . . . well, yeah, maybe Courtney wasn’t meek and mild, but she wasn’t like this. And you have to accept that they loved each other. Maybe it wasn’t some Elizabeth and Mr Darcy or Romeo and Juliet written-in-the-stars thing, but they chose each other and you have NO RIGHT to talk about their personal life like you know what was going on."

It's a bit of an extreme example, to be sure, but the main point is still there. Just as the PPC doesn't flame authors--because hurting the feelings of real people lies far outside the realm of literary critique--neither do we want to imply knowledge of others' private thoughts and personalities and present it as fact. That, too, could lead to hurt feelings and a misrepresentation being taken as true.

...that by "allow RPF" you mean "Why we don't spork bad RPFs."

It's a bit complicated, but I think the biggest factor is that the entire concept of the RPF is kinda weird to begin with. We base our humour on pointing out inconsistencies with a canon work and raging at the sight of mangled masterworks. We can't really reproduce that effect with fics that deal with real-life people. I mean, Real Life doesn't have canon, right? Furthermore, it feels really odd to write dialogue for someone who's... well, real and alive. It's almost like putting words in their mouth.

I found the description of the flavour of the Mary Sue tea particularly amusing, 'wild strawberry because what self-respecting Sue doesn't smell like strawberries for no apparent reason'.

The Bad Fanfiction blend sounds interesting too.

The person who made the tea blend has a tumblr. It's quite entertaining.

Whoever created this is a genius. The Mary Sue tea is brilliant, too.

~Autumn

*laughs*

Oh dear, why don't more people know about this!?

Theodore was awake before his alarm went off, and as such was able to swing himself out of bed and shut the clock up before it had finished its second beep.

He moved from his bed to the door in near total darkness, grabbed his dressing gown from the hook it was hanging on, and walked out into the main area of the RC. He advanced cautiously into the living room, groping along the wall for the lightswitch – while his bedroom floor was perfectly safe to navigate in darkness, the same could not necessarily be said of the shared areas.

The lights came on, revealing a typical RC. Like many others, it was furnished in a somewhat haphazard manner - although the typical look of an RC could be summarised as ‘whatever we found that we wanted’, leading to an inevitable clash of styles, in this case there seemed to be a deliberate theme of contrasting technology. An ornate grandfather clock kept time next to a top of the line 3D TV, and various other odds and ends were a mix of archaic and high-tech.

The floor was mercifully free from hindrances such as discarded clothing and takeaway wrappers – either his partner had returned unusually sober, or hadn’t made it back yet. Faint sounds of snoring as he passed the door to the other bedroom indicated the former.

He had a light breakfast of orange juice and toast, before dressing in sweatpants and a vest; ready for his morning run. He left his RC and went out into the DIA wing: Central was pretty quiet, but that was hardly surprising considering that his alarm was set to go off a couple of hours before the early shift began. Theodore nodded to the few night shifters still around, and headed out into the rest of HQ.

He paid no attention to where he was going, running with his head down – he hated having his morning run interrupted, and deliberately ignored his surroundings, in case he saw something that he’d have to take official notice of.

One he’d worked up a good sweat, not to mention a gnawing hunger, he quickly made his way back to his RC. DIA agents seemed to be less affected by HQ’s notoriously difficult to navigate corridors, probably thanks to Legal.

When he got back to his RC, he wasn’t exactly surprised to see that the door to his partner’s bedroom still hadn’t been opened, in fact, if volume of snores was anything to go by, he was sleeping even deeper than when Theo had left.

He stripped out of his sweat-stained clothes and showered, in water so hot he could only just stand it, steaming up the small bathroom till it seemed foggy. The mirror had steamed up, but a brief press of his finger against the touch sensitive panel in the corner of the glass and it instantly cleared. As far as Theo was concerned, some aspects of modern/future technology were nothing short of miraculous, but then there were other times when the old ways were best.

Grey eyes regarded him momentarily, before he looked away to gather his shaving tools. Modern shaving foam was paired with an antique cut-throat razor, and he began working with careful and deliberate motions, eyes closed, relying on the feel of the blade gliding over his skin.

When he was finished, his skin was completely smooth, and he regarded himself critically in the mirror before washing up. His hair, a similar colour to his eyes now that he’d turned forty, was getting a little long and unruly by his standards, and he made a mental note to get it cut sometime soon.

Refreshed and clean, he headed out into the kitchen again, and fixed himself a heavier second breakfast of cold meats, cheese and bread. The smell of brewing coffee, from hand-ground beans, pervaded through the RC.

While Theodore was finishing his second breakfast, a beeping from elsewhere in the rooms indicated his partner was getting up, although the number of slaps and thuds suggested that he was having difficulty finding the ‘snooze’ button, and would likely be late to start again.

With his breakfast finished, and the small amount of washing up it had generated done, Theodore poured himself a fresh cup of coffee and moved over to his writing desk. The desk was relatively clear: a notepad and old fashioned fountain pen were on the left, and a tablet computer was on the right. Between them was a framed ferrotype, showing an image of himself and beautiful young woman – his sister, long dead now, killed by the same Assassins that had recruited him. It served as a daily reminder of why he’d joined the DIA, and not the DMS or one of the other Action Departments.

He gave his sister a moment of silence, raising his coffee in salute to her – she’d always drunk more of the stuff than he did anyway, before turning to the business of the day. He made a note about visiting his barber on the pad, while waiting the few seconds for the tablet to power up, then began flicking through his e-mails.

A few were personal, but the majority were work related. A black market shipment of Bleeprin had turned out to be nothing more than sugar pills, resulting in several hyperactive agents spending the night in the DIA ‘cells’, actually repurposed RCs, until they were calm enough to be let out.

While he was reading and replying to those that needed it, every ten minutes or so his partner’s alarm went off, followed by the thuds of an at best half-awake person trying, and failing, to find the snooze button again. This continued until the grandfather clock chimed, at which point Theodore knew he had to get ready to leave.

He went back into his room and dressed in pinstripe trousers, a white shirt with black sleeve garters, and a black waistcoat – his usual attire when on duty.

There was still no sign that his partner would be up any time soon, so he grabbed his tablet and lever-action shotgun and headed out into DIA Central. The weapon may have seemed like overkill for a patrol officer, but like other aspects of Theodore’s life, his weapon of choice was a study in contrasts. The antique weapon was typically loaded with high-tech Tazer rounds, allowing him to take down a flamethrower crazy Agent relatively safely, both for him and them.

He made his way to his desk, hoping that it would be free – the DIA had to be ready to respond to events at any time, day or night, and so worked in shifts and hot-desked. Fortunately on this day his predecessor hadn’t overrun, and had even finished with enough time to tidy up and clear away properly.

Theodore slid into the still warm seat, secured his shotgun in a rack at the side, then clipped his tablet into the docking station. He unlocked his drawer, one of four identical ones that were part of the desk, and took out his stationery and the reports he was working on. The last thing that he took out was his nameplate, which he placed on the corner of the desk, angled so that anyone walking down the aisle could see his name: T. Shacklemore.



Author's Note:
I've had ideas for writing a DIA Agent for a while now, but didn't really do anything about it. This seemed like a perfect oppourtunity to take the idea further, and I have to say that I found it very useful for coming up with his character - I've got half-completed Interlude involving Theo actually interacting with some other agents, and notes for some more stuff that I can do with him. I don't think I'd normally have such detailed plans at this early stage.

So thanks, PoorCynic, for posting this workshop - I look forward to seeing what other topics you cover.

While on the subject of this workshop in particular, I would just add that most agents come in pairs - when developing ideas for agent characters, it's probably a good idea to think about them in terms of interactions with their partner, as well as purely as individuals (and yes, I realise that my piece featuring a single agent does somewhat undermine the point I'm trying to make). Think about where their attitudes/outlook might be similar, and where they'll be completely different - just a little bit of extra advice for anyone thinking about their first agent pair.

Wizards. Superhumans. The gifted. Whatever you'd like to call them. Crafting characters with special abilities is a task with a few special hurdles of its own. It's not that powers themselves make a character a Sue or Stu; even the most powerful heroes and villains can be balanced and well-crafted characters. It is, however, easier to create a Sue or Stu with powers if written poorly. As such, there are a couple things to keep in mind during the character creating process.

Knowing Their Limits

Whenever I make someone with special abilities, I make sure to give them clear(ish) limits on what they can do. It's too easy to allow the limits of someone's power to creep up over time as the threats escalate. The Dragonball series is a prime example of such a phenomenon taking place, as is Silver Age Superman.

There are two kinds of limits I use: physical and mental. Physical limits are just as they sound. The character in question can't use their power in certain ways, or if they do they run the risk of hurting or killing themselves. Mental limits are things that a character could do with their power but don't because it violates their personal code. The psychic who doesn't read other people's minds because it's an invasion of privacy. Mental limits are obviously easier to push past, but doing so might open up an entirely new can of worms. Maybe they become wracked with guilt. Maybe they start questioning the rest of their moral code and start on their way to the Dark Side (so to speak).

For example: I used both physical and mental limits when creating Gremlin. She has the ability to manipulate electricity and electrical fields, which by itself could have a pretty broad application (electromagnetism, weather manipulation, technopathy, and so on). I put a physical block on her by making her ability a subtle and unflashy one. She can't hurl lightning bolts or fly or anything like that. At most, she could manipulate existing electrical phenomena. I wrote an (as of yet unpublished) interlude where she 'pulled' the electrical arc out of a stungun and was able to shape it into a marble-sized bit of ball lightning. Even then, doing so caused electrical burns to her hand. That's pretty much as showy as she can get.

Her mental limit is a bit more interesting. I decided when refining Gremlin for the PPC that she could, with a great deal of focus and effort, manipulate the natural electricity in creatures she happened to be touching. That is, she COULD but WOULDN'T. Despite being a thief and something of rebel, Gremlin isn't a psychopath. Puppeting someone around by their own nervous system, tightening their muscles so hard that their tendons tear and their bones break, stopping their heart with a thought: those are the acts of a lunatic. It's invasive, brutal, and horrifying. The only way I could see Gremlin doing something like that was if her life (or someone she truly cared about) was in imminent mortal danger. Even then, she'd definitely not be okay afterward.

Limits don't just apply to things like superpowers. Certain types of magic might require personal risk or sacrifice, like blood magic or bartering with a demon. Maybe learning certain spells means you can't learn others, in the vein of classic D&D. Chi techniques might require mediation and adhering to strict personal vows like chastity or solitude.

Limits. Know 'em. Get 'em. Use 'em.

The Most Important Rule

Characterization always takes precedence over the power. ALWAYS. If you want to make a metahuman because you think that someone with a certain power would be cool or awesome, you're doing it wrong. Ask yourself if this character really needs a power or an ability.

A method I will sometimes use is I will craft a version of my intended powered character sans powers. The World Prime version of that individual, as it were. Then, knowing what I do about their character from that process, I add in a power. An origin story, as it were (if such a concept applies).

You shouldn't be afraid of creating characters with powers, nor should you automatically be suspicious of OCs with them. It might be easier to slip down the path into Sue or Stu-dom, but it's not a given. The most important thing to remember is to make them a real character, and not just a set of cool abilities.

PoorCynic

This is a really helpful, coherent guide on character-writing! Thank you for putting it together, these are really useful suggestions. I was going to start replying to the challenge, but I've got mostly NaNoWriMo characters bouncing around my head right now, and the remaining Starships & Sorcery ideas are unlikely to wind up as agents. I may put the whole thing down in Google Drive for reference in further writing, though, if you don't mind - it's an awesome reference for character-building in any 'verse.

“Pygmalion!”

The old man looked up from the battered hardback edition of Hermione Granger and the Inter-Species Treaty. “Androia,” he croaked, “I didn’t hear you knock.”

“Your hearing is getting as bad as your eyesight,” shouted Androiaavata, shoving the door shut with her heel while she still kept her eyes on the man. “Plug your device in! I yelled enough at you while we were partners, I don’t need to continue this!”

“It’s nice to have some quite while reading.” The ex-agent fumbled for the ear plugs of his hearing aid. “Now, what are you doing here?” he inquired. “When I retired, I didn’t expect to see you ever again.”

“I was busy with all this Hermione Granger badfic and a new partner who doesn’t have a clue. But didn’t you imagine that I am kind at heart? I cannot just abandon you, that’s not how you made me.”

The wheel-chair creaked as the old man, whose name was not Pygmalion, moved uncomfortably. “Lots of what I imagined never came true,” he muttered.

Androia stepped forward and cowered to meet his gaze at eye level. “This is because you allowed your dark side to take over your imagination. You tried to occupy me, and I couldn’t have this. But you also gave me the strength to fight back. And after all we’ve gone through together, you’re a kind of friend. I got a day off and came here to do you a favor.” For the first time, the old man smiled. Never before had she called him a friend. And he was not blind yet. Of course he had noticed that she was not wearing the black uniform. So this was not just a two minutes visit between assignments.

The young woman stretched, stepped aside and swirled around to make her long skirt fly. “How do I look? Good enough for taking you out?”

“Get yourself a mirror, there’s no sense in asking me. Since I created you, I would never admit that you are less than perfect – in any aspect. So what’s the plan?“

Androia’s face went blank for a moment, but then the ‘any aspect’ got to her, and she broke into a broad smile. “The movie comes out tonight,” she said, winking at the book in her friends lap. “We’ll go to the cinema.”

“That’s not a favor,” grumbled the old man. “You know that I never liked any of these movies.”

“I know that you want to see it anyway, so you can rant about what they got all wrong this time.” Androia grabbed the wheel-chair’s handlebar. “Let’s have some fun and spork the hell out of them!”

_________________________________________________________________________

Author’s notes:
Like Joanne K. Rowling, I wrote the epilogue in advance, so that I know where I want to take these two. Now I have to write them an origin story which is better than: In an AU, Bad!Hieronymus snatched Androiaavata out of the World of Warcraft realm where he had created her. She lived with him, because she had no other place to go, but it was not quite like he had imagined it. In an attempt to overcome his frustration, Bad!Hieronymus wrote fanfiction about how it should have been. Unfortunately he had told Androia that he intended to write them both into the PPC, so she looked it up and she wasn’t enthused. Then they both fell through a plothole and were in the PPC.

Since they still aren’t in the PPC and I don’t even have permission, I don’t know which date ‘ten years hence’ is based off. I assume this may happen in about 2030 HST.

I deliberately avoided to show where this happens, because I don’t know this either. Is there a retirement home for agents in New Caledonia?

I've never been good about using prompts—I like to RP to flesh out new characters when possible—but these are pretty good ones. Not only do you have to think about how the character would behave in the situations listed, you have to think of what the character would consider an important event, or a setback, or criticism, or worth doing as a favor or first thing in the morning. Even if I don't get around to writing anything down, I'll be thinking about these for a while. {= )

~Neshomeh

This will surely be of great use to me when I write a story next time.

~Autumn

It's taking awhile, though.

I'm going the extra mile and doing two. One for my (gender-bent) Time Lord Alter-ego who may end up as an Agent eventually and the other for my character who will be my first Agent once I have Permission.

I’m not sure whether I will find the time to take the challenge, but you should know that I copied your advice to my hard drive to make use of it when I do work on my future agents.

In which he discovers what walking though plotholes can lead to.

The (first) Librarian is, apparently, my Time Lord alter-ego; since I've decided to stop writing Anebrin as an Agent, I've been toying with the idea of having him succeed Anebrin as Agent!Des' partner, and this piece can be a part of his introduction. Maybe.

I don't know any of those fandoms, and the sheer chaos had me boggling a lot, but your wonderfully hilarious Agent interactions saved my brain. Poor Nume... he seems to exist to get dumped on, but it's so funny to watch. XD Ilraen is alternately cute and badass. And Jenni is just awesome.

In conclusion, congrats on getting through that. Have some celebratory internet-cake. :D

At the beginning of the mission, Nume says that 'the Japanese Mafia does not take girls'. This is incorrect - Yakuza can be women; an example is Goto Mayuki, the partner of Goto Kenji from the Kyokoto-kai Yakuza family of Tokyo, who sometimes, to quote Yaakov Raz's book My Brother the Yakuza, has to be stronger than a man.

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system :)

As I've said before, I think this is brilliant. I'm still slightly in awe of the fact that you managed to write such a cohesive mission from such an incoherent fic.

Ilraen's line about the 'angle wings' is one of my favourites, and I also (obviously) really like the 'KHAAAAAAAAAN!' scene. Jenni's description of the 'bath' was really well done, although I do have to agree with Nume a little bit - still some very nice wordsmithing though.

I think you did a good job of balancing the attention given to each of your agents throughout - they all had different strengths, and they had some great character interactions along the way.

Using logic to do the Duty, and (perhaps even more importantly) render the Sue helpless first, was fantastic.

I really enjoyed reading this.

but there's a letter missing. After the world collapses, you have: "The did get to witness Inuyasha being reunited with Kagome...." I believe that the first word is supposed to be "they"?

Man, you have just done an overall excellent job with this mission. It has so many parts, and the badfic itself threw you so many problems, but you've worked everything together so seamlessly!

First of all, six animes. If I weren't such a completionist PPC worshipper, I wouldn't even have read this mission, because I hate anime and know nothing about these ones. But I didn't have any trouble in this mission keeping track of all the different ones because of how well-informed your agents kept me through the their dialogue. Even better, these explanations felt like dialogue, and not like narrative info-dumping. (Lucy/Elfen Lied is the one aspect of the crossover that I didn't learn about as much. A bit more info on her would have been nice, unless Nume's vagueness was to avoid spoilers?)

Supernumerary+Ilraen+Jenni makes an utterly excellent team of agents, banter-wise. The back-and-forth between Nume and Jenni, with Ilraen refereeing, made the mission seem to go fast, despite its length. You might want to consider having Jenni tag along more often. >_> It's also good to see that Ilraen is taking more responsibility for what goes on, not only within the mission, but in generally taking care of his partner as well. (Although I shudder to imagine what the results of that last paragraph will be.) Speaking of shuddering, I'm also very glad that you used Jenni's own confrontation with way-too-gross-for-her to give her a better respect for when Nume's squick buttons get pushed too far.

You also handled well the badfic's switching back and forth between hilariously stupid plots and dialogue and horrifyingly offensive events and behaviors. The agents' reactions to both stayed realistic, and avoided trivializing the bad stuff while still having fun with the dumb stuff.

Two little errors!

"Jenni glared daggers at Nume, who only glared back Ilraen kept a firm pressure on her shoulders, keeping her pinned to the table." (missing period)

"In frustration, Nume threw his notepad to the floor a satisfying slap." (missing . . . something)

Also, this might seem like a piddling little thing to complain about, but I'm disappointed that you didn't do something with "Les Tacos," the Mexican restaurant that's apparently also partly French? I laughed harder at that incorrect-language pronoun than anything else! Just. . .

Les Tacos! XD Frog leg taco, anyone? Or perhaps escargot with chili in a croissant burrito?

That was awesome. Granted, I only knew one of the continua involved (Hetalia), but I don't think I need more. It seemed to me that the mission was more about the agents, as all good missions are. I like how even someone like Jenni has a point when she can get squicked, and where that point is, and I like Ilraen being mature because we/I have a tendency to coddle him but we/I need to remember that he is an adult. (I don't know whether other people know him as adorable naive blue centaur alien.) And Nume is always awesome - I'm not so much of a fangirl anymore, but he's still one of my favorite agents. I love his interactions with Jenni.

Considering all the other amazing things, I'm rather ashamed to admit that my favorite part was the Khan joke.

Oh, and speaking of Star Trek, two things:

1. You said something a while back about being disappointed with Into Darkness, and the more I think about it the more I don't like reboot. So even though I seemed rather gushy then, I've come to see its flaws. Now I regard it as a guilty pleasure.

2. I seem to recall you saying something about particularly liking DS9. I'm on season 3, and it is just so awesome. It's rare that I can't decide on a favorite character, but in this case everyone is just too interesting and neurotic. Actually, I lied, I think my favorite character is Garak, but I can't decide of the main cast. So you were right, it is great. :)

So yeah, great mission, and it's awesome to have you back!

Seriously, do you remember when writing a mission didn't inevitably lead to staring at a 26-page document and exclaiming, "But I'm only halfway through!"? I'd better get back to that one, actually...

This was a departure from the missions I usually read, simply because I don't know any of the canons in the slightest. But despite that, you peppered it with enough stuff that I had a good time. I liked the agents' interaction - the scenes around the first blood explosion and the baths stood out on that score - and the way you managed to get Nume to give most of the charge list without it being a charge list yet. Yes, someone noticed you doing that. ;)

hS

Ooh, I love this mission. It's brilliant!

~Autumn

Those descriptions make for hilarious results!
Also, that's an interesting way to kill the Sues.

I really did enjoy it (despite the huge amounts of blood, ugh), especially the "KORRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" exchange, which caught me by surprise and was so hilarious I promptly reread it several times. Honestly, awesome mission, and Ilraen is quickly becoming even more of a favorite of mine than he already was. Well done!

Also, here, have several bars of high-grade Swiss Bleepolate to deal with having read the actual fic in order to do the mission...

~DF

Loved the mission! Don't think I ever laughed so hard in recent memory but then again I didn't really need the bleepka since I'm a masochist anyway. One of the reasons I got into the PPC. Still great job and write more!

The mission is of course long, but it kept its pace thanks to the factor of sheer "What the f*** am I looking at" that pervaded the mission. So overall, great times were had for everyone. Well, except Jenny, but you know how it is.

Now, I think I should probably get around to posting some of my own PPC writing in the very near future...

Very, very long, too. I am officially never reading that bleepfic without lots of backup.

(That slinky video was awesome.)

-Aila

I'll come back with actual feedback later, I just wanted to get that out of my system. :P

Dune Sand Worm versus Mass Effect Thresher Maw.

There's only one way to find out...

FIGHT!!!!!

(Yeah, so I've apparently watched too much Harry Hill's TV Burp, but hey.)

I'd have to say the Rancor has the edge. It has claws and is bigger. The cave troll is comparatively small and can't pierce the Rancor's hide with his blunt nails. The cave troll is built to fight smaller creatures than itself.

How mean do you want me to be?
No, just kidding.
*coughs*

Now, to get serious here...
As a fellow "steampunk" (most of the time) writer, I applaud you for your effort to write. However, I did find some errors/points that should be edited.
1. The idea in general is very interesting - however, your summary is a little too cheerful for the idea in my opinion. It should reflect the idea, main points, and feel of the piece of writing.
2. The first paragraph is a mix of run-on sentences and confusing sentences. For example, in the first paragraph, you wrote "Two men were patrolling on the beat...saw an interestingly bad stream...interestingly white cloud...heard the maker...went into action." (I didn't write the whole sentence down, my apologies.) "Interestingly bad stream" does not make sense to the reader. What stream? Why is it bad?
Also, the whole sentence is what I dub a "info dump". Too much information will confuse a reader, and (in worst cases) get them to stop reading altogether. Since the first sentence is the most important, I would advise you to find a way to make it more cohesive and not give too much information at once. (I would split it into two sentences.)
3. Many of your sentences are info dumps. Edit them. I won't get into much detail here, because I want you to fix them.
4. Many of your sentences are also run-on sentences. (Usually, info dumps and run-on sentences go hand in hand.) If you fix your info dump problem, I think the run-on sentences will go away. Remember, periods (.) are your new best friend.

*Looks at writing done*
Geez! I wrote a lot! Sorry for bothering you with this long post.
~Green Armada

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9644715/1/Spartan-s-Sin-Atonement

Starring: the son of John-117! His name's Drake, but everyone calls him "Reaper" because whenever he goes on a mission, EVERYONE ELSE DIES :O and also he's also Spartan-555 and the "only known Spartan V in existence". Yeah. Also, SPaG errors all over the place.

Is there any specific protocol that needs to be followed before a badfic goes up on the wiki page, or should I go ahead and add those two MLP:FiM "troll"fics?

I'm reporting two badfics.
They're from the Creepypasta Wiki instead of the Circle or Pit, but they're badfics.
(surprised they haven't been sporked yet, but they're not on the wiki)
http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Sweet_Apple_Massacre
Sweet Apple Massacre, this one seems like a Character Replacement of Big Mac. Warning: NSFW and gory.
http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/The_Cymbal_Dragon
The Cymbal Dragon, do we have some sort of inanimate-object-brought-to-life Sue here?!

...so nonplussed right now you have no idea.

Recently, thanks in part to PoorCynic's awesome writing workshop, I've been developing a new agent. She may soon make an appearance in a short mission, along with some older agents of mine, although that's still in the works. However, she likes Shakespeare and Gilbert & Sullivan...so I thought I'd go looking for badfics, since watching agents go crazy is kind of fun. Also, I wanted to see if there was anything out there.

Of course, the moment I started on the Shakespeare category of the Pit--and believe me, this is the first time I've ever felt like using that term--I spotted a fic called "ShakespearexLoki". It's rated T, and has the following summary:

What happens when Shakespeare and Loki are in the same room? ;) WARNING: for mature audiences only. May contain beastiality and sad ending may trigger self harm It is by Raveen.

I figured this would be odd, if not badficcy, and, well...I clicked.

And read.

And stared.

Long story short, it's a very odd trollfic. I don't think I ever want to understand this kind of troll; my brain would melt and then implode. The trollfic is all of two paragraphs, features Shakespeare the...monkey, I believe, and Loki, who, well...um.

Here, have a quote.

All of a sudden Loki bellowed, "I AM THE LOKI- full time grim reaper at hell, part time model, Brazilian Master Chef AND leader of the Rolftang Mafia!" I will bring down your kingdom with my dark sinister magic with a mixture of gum disease. If you do not kneel I will kill Shakespeare!" Loki abruptly stopped and glared at Shakespeare who squeaked, "What did I do?"

And another quote:

Shakespeare didn't kneel because he had swag.

I just. I can't.

Basically, Shakespeare's bride dresses up as Loki and kills Shakespeare. And I wish the plot made as much sense as that, because it really, really doesn't.

...any takers?

*stumbles off in a daze*

~DF

http://www.quotev.com/story/3651489/Never-alone/

You know the drill. I post it, I claim it.

Woohoo.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9305619/1/The-Trouble-with-Time-Travel

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9768966/1/DOCTOR-WHO-AND-THE-VAMPIRESSS

http://www.quotev.com/story/3896790/Why-10th-Doctor-Love-Story/

Doctor Who badfic. The title says it all.

But I have to give it to the author that they did their research.

Not claiming.

Bleeprin! Get your Bleeprin here! We stock all types of bleeprin, in all sizes up to the barrel!

I think I need some, after reading a page of all of these badfics...

http://www.quotev.com/story/3507319/Prove-Me-Wrong-Lord-Of-The-Rings/

"Ooh look, I'm a prissy Mary Sue! I'm the daughter of Sauron! I'm a ranger! I'm so kewl!"

*claimed*

http://www.quotev.com/story/3817079/By-Mere-Magic-Legolas/

This Sue is a worldjumper, she can move between continuum. Anyone ready for an intercontinuum chase? So claimed.

http://www.quotev.com/story/3817079/By-Mere-Magic-Legolas/

This Sue is a worldjumper, she can move between continuums. Anyone ready for an intercontinuum chase? So claimed.

...and this was what I found: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9386635/2/The-Destruction-of-Shadows

A Sue who rips off Eru's and Fëanor's name and descriptions of the El-twins and Boromir from the book without crediting Tolkien. And it doesn't help that *some* reviewers are defending the Suethor, thinking that fanfic writers can do anything in fanfiction.

~Autumn

*puts on goggles* Oh horror of horrors...are you claiming this fic too? If you are, please bash Emerald on the head for me. Thank you.

~Autumn

I pretty much stopped reading when I saw, in the link, the title. It yelled - more like screamed in my face - Mary-Sue.
"The Last Witch of Middle-Earth" ? Really?

While I am happy to see such enthusiasm, please remember to use the same thread for badfic reports until it falls off the front page. There's a badfic report thread started by you just three days ago and it's still in the first page; a bit bellow that there's AdmiralSakai's, and a bit bellow that there's another one by you.

http://www.quotev.com/story/2944608/The-queen-Legolas-love-story/

It's the circle, of course there's another mission boucing somewhere around in its depths.

Meanwhile in the Pit...
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9749841/3/The-Silver-Fox-and-the-Wood-Elf
I'm keeping an eye on this one, at the moment it's fairly short (3.5k) and whilst it hasn't mucked up the canon too much yet (besides the two titular characters) it doesn't look to be going in the right direction (although of course I may be wrong)
I should also really look outside of Harry Potter when I go in the pit. Oh well...

Oh and don't rush people about Permission, a) just because you're available now doesn't mean everyone else is and b) these things just take time.

Do you have to log in to read the fanfics hosted there, or do I just fail at navigating the site?

As the title states in any given RP setting Mary/Gary Sues are going to techincly be canon. I speak from experince as I have been a roleplayer online for over a decade and started out on AOL with Red Dragon Inn a PPC style multiverse set in a dungeons and dragons style world. The biggest sue races at the time were Sayjins (This was the late 90s and DBZ was still cool) and Vampires. MMO canon also seems to fall under the same vein I saw some canon-sueness in Star Trek Online most notably in the Story-Mode for the fedration and the Romulans mostly in the sense of "Your the only captian in starfleet who can save the federation..despite having no command training and starting out as an Ensign who only got command of your ship because you were lucky enough to be a one man away team when the enitre senior staff of your ship was killed by the Borg. At least the Romulans and Klingon Empire did it a bit better Romulans you are an officer who is at least in charge of a colony secuirty team and KDF your a badass who passed the needed rituals to command.



That being said, Roleplaying can be a bit of a grey area so don't really rely on "Being a mary sue" as your main charge.

That was an interesting little story. I like how you start it out with Killroy seeming to be just as horrified as the reader, but then showing more and more that Killroy himself is no stranger to murder and dead bodies, forcing the reader to grow away from him as the comic unfolds. Adding the wife character later and showing her lack of surprise adds to the unsettling feeling I got looking at these characters' lives from outside.

I also like how the story is both in prose and traditional comic form. It gives it a bit of a storybook feel, which contrasts sharply with the subject matter.

Wow.
That was brilliant. It really was. I liked your style, and I was interested in it the whole time.
Keep up the great work!

I like the mood you set up, and the pairing of the panels and narration. It's all very interesting.

-Aila

Compelling, and pretty well done. Thanks for sharing :)

~DF

I've read up to 15/16 and am already intruiged. I love your style. I've never seen it before.

Great job!
I'll finish reading later.

There is one tense shift:
The turian caught the RA, nodding as he walked to the portal. “Thanks,” he says.

HG

There's a slight shift to first-person in the DIC interlude: “I have a PS3 in one of my bags,” I comment. “You want to play Persona 3 FES with me?”

...I really loved this. It was really warm, tender and sweet (especially the Cindy-Ilraen moment!), it was quite touching really. I hope you write more of these interludes in the future!

~Autumn

Hieronymus Graubart already pointed out a lot of the mechanical stuff I noticed in the RC 1810 interlude, so I'll just add a reminder to watch out for redundancies and overuse of adverbs and other modifiers in your writing. Hopefully you know the kinds of things I'm talking about by now, so I won't get into it. {= )

In response to the piece itself, I have to say my overall impression is that of awkwardness. This is not a bad thing! I like that you take the time to deal with how out of place Zerenze feels in the whole situation: alien body, alien world, alien language, alien courtship... I'd complain if it wasn't awkward for him. Also, I can totally relate to having no idea what the hell you're doing, but wanting to see it through anyway just in case it turns out to be awesome (which, as my shiny wedding ring attests, it did!).

I would like to know even more of his thoughts and feelings in all this, though. Seeing as it is so bizarre, not just for him personally but for Sangheili as a race, what is it about Eusabius that makes him worth it for Zerenze to stick his neck out so far, and what is it about Zerenze that allows him to? Are Sangheili capable of physical intimacy in the way we understand it, but just generally choose not to engage in it? Is Zerenze somehow different from other members of his species if he's capable of this kind of relationship? If so, why? How? I know I'm speaking from deep ignorance since I'm not familiar with the canon, Zerenze's origins, or how this relationship got started, but it's an important set of questions. I don't want to declare this is happening just because the plot says so, since I haven't done my homework, but when you point out that it's not typical and proceed to do it anyway, one must wonder.

I'd also like to know more about the Sangheili side of things, just out of regular curiosity. If they're not big on physical intimacy, how do they go about having relations? Maybe this could be grounds for another interlude, where Zerenze gets to take Eusabius out on an Elite-style date. Turnabout is fair play, right? {= D

A question: does Maria la O routinely let gay couples meet at her place, like a clandestine service she provides, or is it just because she's friends with Eusabius? Maybe I missed the explanation of this in the Spanish... I'm afraid mine's not great, though some of it did come back to me trying to read the Spanish dialogue here. I guess it just felt a little odd to me personally, especially since she hung around for a while to play records and hand out cigars. If I were trying to have a safe, private tryst with a new lover, I'd be really weirded out by even a really good friend hanging around watching us have cute bonding moments on her balcony. Like, thanks, really appreciate the safe space, but go away now? O.o;

A point that could be clarified: I think I recall you saying somewhere (maybe the mission I looked at?) that Zerenze and Eusabius don't actually have any kind of intercourse at this time, but between the way Eusabius talks up his big plans and the fact that we jump to them mostly naked in bed together, it's not at all clear. You miiight wanna do something about that, because based on their date, I do think that would be moving way too fast for poor Z. ^^;

Oh, I enjoyed getting some of Eusabius' backstory in this. It's not a lot of information, but it's just enough to imagine the broad strokes of what his life was like for a while, and I admire his coping skills. He seems like the kind of person who always manages to land on his feet and seems to sail along like nothing can touch him, even if you know he has to be tied up in knots on the inside. He's a pretty cool guy.

---

For the other one, I can't believe I missed this, but it appears that Annie is wearing nothing but a bathrobe during the whole visit. ^^; I mean, theoretically we can assume she changes in the scene break between when she invites Xanthus to stay and the post-dinner bit, but it strikes me that she might want to do that before she starts making dinner.

Otherwise, I think the whole "Relocation" interlude works really well, even if they don't actually relocate physically. There's nice symmetry with the agents furiously packing and then furiously-in-a-totally-different-sense unpacking (darn Flowers!), and the two parts tie into each other well, what with Cindy and Anneli talking about Ilraen getting Xanthus thinking about visiting Annie. It's a solid little piece, and I'm happy to have been a part of it. {= )

~Neshomeh

I didn’t expect that I would enjoy slash, but this was lovely. Aila said it already better than I can do.

On the other hand: ouch!

Eusabius and Zerenze walked the streets of Havana, with Zerenze watching all the activity surrounding them. It was of course rather late at night, with Zerenze following Eusabius.
Both subordinate clauses starting with “with Zerenze” looks odd. Are you sure this is what you wanted to do?

Also, there are some temporary tense shifts:

“So…” Zerenze says. “This is a busy place.”

“You shall see, my dear Zerenze,” Eusabius replied. “For now, I believe we are getting close.” He nods.

Zerenze pointed at Maria. “You mean she knows,” he says. “About… well… you.”

Eusabius nods. “Just do not tell that to José or Ernesto,” says Eusabius.

“Z, in all honesty?” asks Eusabius.

“Hm… you know what this calls for,” says Maria.

Eusabius looked up at him. “I take it you have never danced to music before,” he says.

“I don’t know,” Florestan says.

“Aliens?” Florestan asks.

He shrugs.

“Yes,” says Eusabius.

And a case for the Repetitive Department of Repetition:
And immediately, one of the men seated at the table immediately stood up.
But with the third immediately I wonder whether this is intentional. Is there a joke I don’t get?

“Is that so?”I ask. Are you secretly Eusabius?

Eusabius then placed his head in this palm. There’s a “t” too much?

“Stranger for me,” I comment. So now you are secretly Zerenze?

“Of course,” Eusabius said as lightly tapped Zerenze’s bottom, smirking playfully. There’s a “he” missing?

“I have a PS3 in one of my bags,” I comment. Wave Crest? I’m beginning to see a system here. Now I wait for you secretly being Florestan.

I have to take a break before I dare to read the other interlude.

HG

The tender moments were wonderfully done, and the emotions were all so very real. It was touching and sweet, both of them, but it kept the humour that is so very PPC. Watching
Zerenze trying to figure out 1940's Havana and interacting with Eusabius is utterly adorable, and I definitely ship them. The Ilraen-Cindy conversation was also very sweet, as well as Xanthus going to check on Annie. I have to admit I don't know much about your agents' backstory, but I really didn't need to, which is a good thing.

Great interludes!

-Aila

The view source tutorial can be found here for copying things without needing a browser add-on.

Password is circleoflemmings.

javascript:%20(function()%20{$('.nocopy').removeClass('nocopy').parent().css({'-moz-user-select':'auto','-webkit-user-select':'auto','user-select':'auto'})})()

how do you get this code to work? I've tried and can't get it working. Another user and I are doing a collab write on ff-net under one account and not being able to copy really makes me mad:

We were only copying and pasting pieces from the story we're working on before this crap was put in.

Thanks! This is really helpful.

This seems much easier. Thanks.

-Phobos

I use quite a few add-ons that require highlighting (Dictionary.com, gTranslate), so this is a godsend!

The Circle uses a different method althogether, so EllipsisFlood's script unfortunately doesn't work for it.

There's a way around it if you are using Firefox, however. It's a plug-in called RightToClick. Once activated, it manages to bypass any kind of copy or right-click block.

Oddly enough, regular copypaste still doesn't work for the circle, but click-and-drag near the first letter of the paragraph after activating the plug-in will result into taking the entire paragraph, thus enabling the possibility of dropping it into your document.

It was probably done as another layer of protection, since text is treated as several single elements instead of... well, text and so it can't be highlighted. Lemming programming at its finest?

I am sorry to say that, for now, I think the answer has to be no. There are a few reasons for this.

1) Preparedness - You only have one character, and there is no indication that you have another agent in mind or another PPCer to write with at the moment. Your original link didn't work. You also forgot the badfic link. All of those are small, by themselves, but together they point to a lack of preparation.

2) Writing sample - There are a couple of problems that I would like to point out. The first being word choice. You have a tendency to use the same words over and over again. 'Whilst' and 'hidden' are the two that stand out in my mind. Why is nothing ever obscured or out of sight? Always hidden. It leads one to consider what they might be hiding.

Another problem is the pacing. The story is, at once, moving too fast and too slowly. I attribute this to what is sometimes known as the "info dump". I understand the need to get information out to the audience. However, you need to balance that against the need to keep the audience engaged. I found it difficult to read on through the background information to get to the too-fast plot.

On a more structural note, you need to work on your punctuation. There are a lot of commas missing from that story.

3) The badfic - It isn't really that bad. The spelling, punctuation, and grammar are pretty good. The story is not a new idea, but it does have some twists that could make it interesting. The characters are, more or less, in character. It does suffer from terrible pacing and awkward dialogue, but really it's just boring. I didn't see anything in the first two chapters that struck me as being mission-worthy.

Part of writing for the PPC is knowing what makes a fic bad. To quote the FAQ: For Other People, "The stories we make fun of are not the stories that are mostly canonical, but have one or two flaws, or the stories that perhaps might be disrespectful towards the original work. We deal with the most awful, Sueish, worst-written, canon-warping fanfiction there is." Unless there is something that I haven't seen yet (and let me know if there is), then I have to call this one mediocre at worst.


So, all of that tells me that you are not yet ready to write in the PPC. The key word there being "yet". Work on your writing. Come up with a partner for your agent or find another PPCer to write with. Find a fic that is worse than mediocre. When you've done all of that, come back and try it again.

-Phobos

Sitting at my computer thinking there was something I'd forgotten in my Permission request and, well here it is...

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9462324/1/Inside-the-story

Sorry about that

Storme Hawk

First of all, your GDoc's private. To change that, click the blue share button at the upper left corner of the screen.
Second, agents usually go in pairs. Are you planning on having Apollo be a solo agent, or do you simply not have an idea for a second agent yet?

...is good. I think this agent is good.

Good work.

...that some of us can't access your piece of writing? (i.e. me)

Welcome to the Board! I noticed we've been talking a bit and I haven't welcomed you yet, so...welcome! Here, have two bars of the finest Swiss Bleepolate, as well as this bag of Gummyblee Pokemon as a Welcome Gift!

I'm sure everyone's already asked you plenty of questions, so I'll just leave it at it's been fun talking to you about the Troll Division and so on, and I hope we'll continue to talk in the future.

Welcome again,

~DF

Welcome, fellow Pokemon fan! Did you get X or Y yet? How many badges did you get? What did you think of the game? Cool graphics, right?

*ahem*

Sorry, inner fanboy came out. Let me try again.

*deep breath*

Welcome to the PPC. I hope you like it here. As for your newbie gift, have a Starter Pokemon of your choice from Generations 1-5, bred by yours truly.

How are you? Please accept my gift of a potato cannon. And a basket of potatoes and an Official University of Doctor Who sweatshirt.

What are your fandoms?

How're you doing today? What are your favorite canons? Do you like Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra? How about Manga? How about cookies? Would you like a fluffy velociraptor?

Sorry, but the seeming shyness was too much for me. Cue hyperactive-friendly response.

Mwahaha.

Good to meet you! I'm a bit of a Pokemon fan myself (the games, mainly, are a guilty pleasure :P ).

Have a bag of pebbles and a Random Shiny Object.

Hello and welcome to the board as a fellow pokefan I will offer you a gift of a starter pokemon of your choice. One Water, Fire or Grass type starter from any gen and remember gotta catch em all.

Hello there. Come in and enjoy the banter, the fun and the urple coloured pencil that I'm giving you, this once, for free.

Storme Hawk

Greetings and welcome to our humble abode!

As a host, I give to you a lined Infinite Notebook with urple covers and wilver binding. It comes with a warning: 'AVERT THY EYES'

-Aila

Welcome a-Board! Now, now, like what the others say, don't be shy! Tell us a little more about yourself! What are your fandoms? What good fics/books have you read recently? So on...

Here, have a bottle of Bleepesteem, to boost your self-esteem. Have a nice time here!

~Autumn

Welcome to the PPC, where all newbies are welcome and loved! Kindly take your shoes off, come on in, and join the fun!

As a welcome gift, have some music by the one and only Henri Dutilleux: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyYJOi3X898

I'm 99Hedgehog, but people 'round here call me 99. Tell us about yourself and don't forget the wiki and the original series!

Enough about that. Have a radioactive cupcake planet!

Hey, ThePoketrix!
I'm Green Armada, as you may have not seen yet.
You didn't write much, I see. (No need to be shy!)
Here at the board, we introduce ourselves in posts like this. Basic stuff such as likes, dislikes, writing style, fandoms, why you came here, hobbies, etc. (You should do that. We'll get to know you better.)
Anyway, since you seem like a pretty nice person, I'll give you a can of bottomless Urple Cookies (any flavor). They're really good, once you get past the color.

...(and hoping this hasn't been brought up already):

The trailers are showing the non-palace-y quality of Mirkwood, as well as its giant spiders. D'you think we'll get fewer Queen of Mirkwood Sues, or just ones that can't be defeated by spiders/are menaced by spiders and saved by Legolas/Thranduil/Thorin/insert character here?

(Speaking of Legolas...it's always both interesting and often a little heartbreaking to see a character as they were before you met them for the first time, especially if they have a different attitude. Legolas' 'Do not think I will not kill you, dwarf' line, coupled with the sneering facial expression...kind of hurts (in a good way), because a) yay irony! and b) ouch. You haven't changed your tune yet and aaaah you're actually younger here and I know what you'll become, but...yeah. Anyway, I think the line was done well. And Thranduil's design is very good, I think, although perhaps not exactly like the books? Pretty cool-looking, though. And the way they've done Smaug's voice is great, although I'm not so sure about the dragon's design yet...I guess we'll find out! and get Dragon-Slayer!Sues into the bargain who make him look easy to defeat argh. Oh well, we can always take them to meet Glaurung! :D)

Anyway, that's my two cents. And even with the promised fangirl/fanfic explosion, I think it'll be good to see Legolas again--and to meet Tauriel. (Also, maybe we'll get a bit of a character arc for Legolas? Could be interesting...)

In other news: I'm excited for this :D

~DF

When the first movies came out, it was elf fever. Everyone after Legolas.

Something new this time 'round?

Pete created "Hot Dwarves". Be prepared for this new wave. I have my boogie board.

~AW~

Heck; I'll even bet that there was fanfic involving Legolas long before Peter Jackson's film version of the trilogy even so much as made the big screen.

You seem to forget that causing Fanfic Explosions is what Peter Jackson does best- right after enraging die-hard Tolkien fans.

But yes- the combination of pre-movie hype and cute looking guys will be too much for the fangirls, and the adrenaline pumping action will be too much for the fanboys. Smaug especially will draw ever increasing amounts of glory hogging Stus and kind and caring Sues.

We'd better batten down the hatches.

I think so.
Especially since they used so much advertising to promote Thranduil, Bard, Tauriel, and Legolas. (I think that most of the fanfic will be written about Legolas, though.)

Brace yourselves.

Sues are coming.

In all seriousness, the situation will be the same as when the LoTR movies came out. The PPC is going to have to redirect Suefic to the Department of Dead Author Electricity Generation.

Truly. We are gonna be that swamped.

(A Song of Ice and Fire ftw)

You know, I've been wondering...

I've heard the setting of a story often referred to as a "character" in reviews, sometimes as a "main character".

If we extend the definition of "character" to include the setting, doesn't our definition of "Mary-Sue" stretch with it- meaning that settings as Mary-Sues are possible?

And if they are...

What would they be like?
What would a charge list for a Suetting (Sue+setting) be?
And who would deal with it- DOGA, DMS, a third department?

Also, I have way too many questions that the Wiki doesn't cover, don't I?

I can only find the one, you see, but of course, there's no mission in it, just the set-up. And while it's a very good set-up, I'd really like to see a mission.

The other thing is that I vaguely remember having read a Troll Division mission, but I have no idea who did it or how to find it or if I'm even actually remembering it and not just inventing things. So if anyone knows of a trollfic mission, please let me know where to find it...

~DF

You know, most departments also have nicknames for agents, like "Unentanglers" or "Assassins".
The DAVD also doesn't have one.

If it doesn't matter to the rest of you, I propose "Sadies"- short for 'Sadists', and because a good way to survive watching Disturbing Acts of Violence may be to develop a strong sadistic streak. (If not, I will blame the PPC's not adhering to reality for it working)

At this point, there have basically been two people who write with DAVD - the original creator (who Miss Cam's site tells me was 'Katherine the Great'), and me (because I used them extensively in The Reorganisation, Crashing Down, and a handful of stories since - actually, maybe only one, but I have another half-written). Oh, beg pardon, there's also one mission featuring Ginmar, who I don't know who was written by.

And... well, Katherine and Ginmar wrote before 'everyone has flash patches' was a thing, and I've never found a reason to create one. We don't really have a system for making new patches for departments which lack them, so I'm going to suggest the honour goes to the first person to write a mission and want to make a patch. If you get that far, that could be you.

That said, DAVD is an... interesting department. They have their own Intelligence and Medical divisions (I know Fizz R the Bizarre showed up in a recent mission, I think Neshomeh's), and are basically their own little world. They have a nice cast of Flowers, although their human staff are mostly unnamed (Ginmar might still be around, and Rile X is still alive - though the rest of the DAVD(i) lot are dead or retired, as are almost all named DAVD(a) characters). So it could be a challenging department to work with.

That also means it could be very rewarding. What sort of direction are you thinking of taking them? Are you planning a set of DAVD(i) characters to back up the action team - or, indeed, are you thinking of following Dour K's footsteps and writing an Intel agent?

hS

It seems to be pretty popular, and has it's own TV Tropes page etc. But just in case you haven't come across it before, Oh God Not Again! is one of my favourites.

Like you I've read tons of Potterverse fanfics, mainly from the pit, so I may have a few you may like.
The one problem is is that most the good ones I've got are M rated.
If you're in the mood for cliche parodies try these two

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9732468/1/Ron-the-Death-Eater
and
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5390452/1/Harry-Potters-Anonymous

Storme Hawk

I can understand one trailer that's just trying to be mysterious and raise excitement for the special, but this makes two in a row that have revealed basically nothing at all, only basics like the title, date, and just now, the addition of a standard "this is a big deal" narration. If you add the Comic-Con trailer, which hasn't been leaked in full (to my knowledge, at least), but reportedly didn't contain information above the "There will be Daleks in it" and "that other-Doctor you saw in The Name of the Doctor is going to be in it too, because why wouldn't he be" caliber, it makes me think that the Doctor Who production team isn't just keeping this under wraps for the sake of dramatic mystery.
Are they afraid saying anything at all about it is going to be disappointing? Because they've been stirring up so much hype for the special, and yet revealing essentially nothing on any front above rumors and Moffat-misdirections, it makes me think that they're less than confident with the final product, which in turn makes me less confident that they did a good job with it.
I hope I'm just jumping to conclusions. I hope it's awesome. It deserves to be awesome.

(And quite an interesting day at school. Half my school is obsessed, and I live on the west coast of the US! I can't even imagine what it would be like in Britain.)

-Aila

I am so looking forward to that :)