Insanity


 * "Madness? This is Sparta!" - 300


 * "Mr. Rogers! Mr. Rogers!" - Len

Insanity is the state of being insane. Also known as madness. The Act Art of Being Mad. Off your rocker. Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Loony. Crackers. Bananas. A few bricks shy of a load. Out of one's ever-loving mind.

A frequently-cited statistic claims that ninety percent of all writers will go mad at some point in their lives.

Healthy Insanity
Many agents and much of fandom suffer from chronic insanity. Sometimes this madness is actually anger, but it's usually only insanity, here defined loosely as the ability to laugh in the face of danger, Sueage, squick, and really bad writing.

Many theorize that the PPC's version of insanity is not technically a mental illness so much as it is a re-writing of the agent's brain by the badfic he is exposed to. This explains why bleeprin increases an agent's resistance to insanity.

The Road to Flamethrower-crazy
In this job, a slight degree of insanity is preferred, since no sane person would ever a) take the job in the first place, or b) survive in it for any length of time without becoming insane. However, if an agent progresses to dangerous levels of insanity, then steps must be taken to ensure the safety of the canons and the PPC.

Insane agents can be dangerous to canon, especially when they have access to PPC technology. There is one recorded incident wherein an insane agent slaughtered ten thousand orcs at the Battle of Helm's Deep (most likely aided by her SEP field and the fact that an orc dying at Helm's Deep is not remarkable enough to count as drawing attention to oneself).

Some intermediate levels of insanity are frowned upon, especially if the afflicted agents become liable to damage canon characters, canon locations, or other agents. Incidences of glomping lust objects or torturing victims will also be met with corrective action. The PPC is highly concerned with maintaining healthy levels of insanity. One effort that may or may not be helping is the sanity field.

The average sanity expectancy of a PPC agent is estimated as one year. About 65% of PPC agents' careers end for this reason.

Insanity and the Real World
IMPORTANT: The insanity of the agents should not be confused with the insanity of PPC writers or with actual psychological problems. We all have our issues, but for the most part we pride ourselves on being fairly reasonable people who are easy to get along with and fun to be around (at least as long as you're not a whiny fanbrat.) If you do have actual mental problems, we sympathize, and we hope you're getting the help you need. The PPC does not make fun of real-life mental disorders, nor does the insanity of our characters, whether badfic-induced or otherwise, have anything to do with the mental health of their writers.

If you are wondering whether someone is talking about real life problems or the PPC's version, the real-life problems are usually referred to as a "mental illness" or a "psychological disorder." The PPC's useful level of mild craziness is referred to as simply "insanity."

Occasionally, PPC agents have Real World mental disorders or learning disabilities. These seem to be quite unrelated to the insanity caused by badfic exposure, and PPC agents such as Rose/Ross (who have DID and consequently share a body) and Kayleigh (who has ADHD) seem to have just as much resistance to insanity as anyone else.