Talk:Department of Floaters

The timeline... oh, the timeline.
So I think I've messed this up. Here's the evidence: Huinesoron (talk) 06:13, May 29, 2014 (UTC)
 * The Department of Floaters was created around 2003 in the Real World. It may have been created by oracle, as Ginger's author.
 * Virtually all Floaters agents date from after that time. The exceptions are NytBloomer, who uses it as a term for the DMO, and April Halloway, who claims to have transferred out of Floaters in 1999.
 * In "Ephemerals", I created the Great Consolidation. In 2003, multiple minor departments were collected into the Floaters, under the Floating Hyacinth.
 * "Ephemerals" also established that the department was named after the nickname 'floaters' used of the Department of Multiple Offenses.
 * It may seem a bit strange that in 2006, a three-year-old department was the largest in HQ, but that's pretty much how it went in the Real World.
 * And now, the problem... according to "Minor Gods", the Floating Hyacinth was head of the Department of Operations until it left to found the Floaters. That would be 2003 - except that the Wisteria was already head of Operations in 1999, when he was placed on the Board of Department Heads.
 * So. Was the Department of Floaters actually around in 1996, when April joined? If so, it was a small department, and was simply chosen to be the keystone of the Great Consolidation. That contradicts the idea that it was named for the DMO's nickname, though.
 * Alternately, was the Floating Hyacinth the head of the DMO? "Minor Gods" specifies 'the Floaters', not 'the Department of Floaters', so that would be a valid reading. It would explain NytBloomer's confusion over her flashpatch (she was thinking of the Department Head, instead).
 * This would also explain some of the quirks of Nenya and Rosie's spinoff. The Sunflower Official assigns them to the DMO, which suggests it was at that time without a department head. Could it be that the Floating Hyacinth had already been spun off to sort out the details of the Great Consolidation? Then, when the DMO became a division, the Cattail was made its head - or was already acting as 'deputy head' beforehand.
 * This is not the most elegant solution - but it has a certain charming complexity. Of course, now we're going to find (or make!) another reference which tangles it even more...