Sep 2010 Archive, part c

I do like it. It's not my genre, but I can't deny it's well-written. You seem to have the hang of something I've never been able to do--the ability to actually tell a story briefly, with all of the words having a purpose, instead of rambling on uselessly. Lucky you! :P Yeah, you deserved the A. I wonder that sometimes because profs will just go, "Oh, it's all spelling/grammar corrected; give it an A," but this one deserved it.

I'm stunned. Simply stunned. Your short story roped me in and held me fast from the very first sentence, and that's a rare thing for a story to do.

Somehow, you manage to give density and raw emotion to a character with only a few lines, instead of burying your readers under tons of irrelevant exposition. You don't tell, you show. And above all, you really made me care about Jason and Emma and Tyler, and feel thoroughly sad about what had happened. You really made me hate Amy. Your characters are people, not just cardboard cut-outs.

All this, to me, is the mark of true literary talent. I loved it. Bravo.

I agree with Nesh about the ending not being vague at all.

Also, I also wish people would learn these lessons. They never seem to, though. Alas.

Now for some talk about the actual work. I like the format that you chose. The differences in tone from the guys to the diary, and even through the diary, were distinct, which is nice. All in all, I think it deserved that A and I would love to see this expanded into a longer piece.

Well done.

-Phobos

The end isn't vague--not if you're paying attention, anyway. Just takes a little story math to put it together, which ought to be allowed.

We weren't allowed to use that sort of thing as a plot device in the first writing class I was in, because the professor thought it was too easy, too cliched... but I don't think there's any other way you could have done it here. It needs that finality to drive home the point. And I think the way you chose for it to happen is good, especially with all the publicity about it. Makes it very plausible.

Now, I'm sure I'm being vague, but that's because I don't want to spoil it for anyone else who might read. Which you should. It's short, and it's good, and I think we've all experienced some degree of feeling shut out when our friends have new relationships (or doing the shutting out, even). It's pretty natural to have a period where there just isn't room for anyone but that new person--but it goes away in time, one way or the other, and it helps if you at least TRY to remember your other friends in the meantime.

~Neshomeh

A) this is not too much
B) Welcome
C) I'm the Perpetual Newbie, Official Foot-In-Mouth, and All-Around Lurker.
D) Don't worry about the odd gifts, you can just keep them in my-
E) Handy-dandy fairy box! From Ella Enchanted. Not the movie, the book. Most definitely not the movie.
F) Good solid reviews is *literally* what makes the ppc work. *See 'concrit' in the ppc wiki*, so good for you.
G) You will most certainly have fun here.
H) You may not be able to fit the tall ship anywhere legal, but everyone has one so don't worry about it
I) It says on the top of the Board this is also a place for nattering on, so don't be shy
J) But don't post more than 2 threads in one day because it pushes old ones off
K) Do you read Terry Pratchett books? It might be wise of you to do so since there are so many inside jokes on those ones. Also Lord of the Rings
L) Are you going to write any agents?
M) You don't have to.
N) Don't mind me; I just like the letters
O) Your post was *obviously* not too long as you can see by my demonstration... natter natter nattering on
P) I will refrain from using the entire alphabet, because if I continued I would have to use something weird like double letters or the military alphabet, and I can't even go past the letter L in the military alphabet

Nice choice of fandoms. In honor of the occasion, have a sonic screwdriver and a bag of jelly babies. Please use responsibly!

Have a lightsaber from a fellow Star Wars lover. (Color options: blue, green, or red. No stupid expanded universe colors.)

Here is an assortment of pointy objects. They include, but are not limited to: Lectures, Japanese chopsticks and wizzard hats.

Welcome! Have some House Roac hot chocolate, always delicious. If you want whipped cream, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Good to meet you :) It doesn't look like anyone's given you The Links yet, so...

Here they are!

The Links are a collection of articles and other useful URLs that we politely ask every newbie to read, as they really do contain Useful Information. In relative order of sensible-reading-ness, they are:

* The Original PPC Series, which we assume you've already read.
* The List of Killed Badfic, which will direct you to a large number of non-Original PPC Missions.

The Board:
* The Board Constitution
* The FAQ: For the Board

The Wiki:
* We have our very own PPC Wiki
* The very-important-to-read-before-requesting-Permission Permission article
* Our Guide To The PPC
* The Mission Writing Guide
* The Slash-Sporking Guide
* The FAQ: For Newbies.
When you are ready to edit the wiki, make sure to read Neshomeh's excellent editing tutorial.

And finally, but very usefully,
* The List of Everything PPC

Have a good time here! Just try not to get lost and wander off into places that you shouldn't be at, though. I don't think that will be a good result...

Welcome to the Board! Here, have some chocolate, and enjoy your stay here!

Welcome to the PPC! Would love to see your fics when they're completed. Here, have some trail mix and an "upgraded" elephant gun (useful for dealing with pesky dinosaur Sues, as well as general mayhem.)

Have a ridiculously huge rubber band!

You can use it to construct a fun swing for a Sue, then catapult her into a pointy piece of scenery!

Fair winds!

Now you can throw BBQ parties!

Have a gun. Not for shooting yourself in the foot, it's for killing Sues with.

AAH! NEW GUY!
Have a pet cat. You may name him whatever you wish. So long as it's not 'Lucky'. Cats called Lucky have a tendency to get run over.

Welcome, new friend!

Have a Needler and a Proofing Pencil--it stops writing if you spell something wrong! They're good for staying in the habit of proper spelling.

Please accept this hand-crafted thingamabob as a welcoming gift.

Hello. Have a seventeen foot long, multicolored, wool, knit scarf (curly wig not included), and a bag of jelly babies.

Please use them IRresponsibly.

Yay for more Stargate fans!

Welcome to the Board! Please deposit your sanity in the provided receptacle. *indicates bucket marked "Warg Fodder"* You shan't need it here.

Have a panda that eats, shoots and leaves!

Do not feed it Sues.

Welcome to the PPC! *hands over bag of pebbles and a Random Shiny Object* Hope you have fun here; we like leaving good reviews, helping people and having fun too! :D

You here a sound. It was faint at first, just at the edge of one's hearing, but as the wind kicked up, the sound came in clearer, louder. A screeching, grinding wail, rhythmically pulsing like the beat of a human heart. A light appeared, shimmering in time, and with every pulse grew brighter. Then, with a clunk and a whir, a large blur police box solidified, the wail petering off into a gentle sub-sonic hum. The Door on the side of the police box opens and a tall thin man pops out.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor." To the uneducated observer, this tall thin man looked like some kind of crazed old-fashioned professor, with his tweed jacket and suspenders and bow-tie, but he was too young to be a professor, his hair hair coiffed in some kind of ridiculous pompadour. But his eyes, his eyes gave away what he really was. They were eyes that had seen empires rise, galaxies come into being, stars being born, and all of them return to dust. Eyes that had seen everything. Eyes that right now were looking rather confused.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry madam," He said after looking around. "I seem to have wandered into here by mistake. I'll be going now." And with those words the man popped back into his box and, in a inverted but similar method to its arrival, the police box vanishes. As the last waves of sound fade an average sized, average blond man in a black duster comes charging around a corner with a black backpack in hand.

"Think fast." He says, tossing you the bag as he runs by. "It's a bag of holding. Have fun and try not to maim anyone." Just as he finishes he goes around another corner.

Welcome to the Board, and by extension, the PPC. It's always good to see a new name, and I hope you'll be sticking around for a while. After all, we can always use new recruits in the fight against that which threatens to destabilize all of the continua out there.

Here's your official Newbie hat (available in eye-searing urple or retch-worthy blello; your choice), as well as a Frying Pan of DOOM^TM. Enjoy your stay!

Good to have you... wow, so many recruits! :D
I'm Aeidhryn, the Perpetual Newbie.
Miah? Awesome. LotR is going to be very useful when you come across the inside jokes.
Word of advice? Don't post new threads more than twice a day. Most people confine it to once a week.
And... *where is my newbie gift package?* One minute... *I think I'm running out...*
Here ya go. One package of plastique, one lighter, and some Skör bars. And because I just finished reading the Fifth Elephant, also a wolfhound.
His name is Cedric. Don't feed him (or any other pet you acquire) eat Sues. They'll make him violently sick.

Raw meat works just fine.

Have a sonic screwdriver and a bag of jelly babies. Please use responsibly!

Have a giant flashlight to blind Sues with, or... whatever. I don't know where I came up with this one from.

Welcome! Have an assotment of pointy objects including, but not limited to: toothpicks, allegorical stories and swords.

Have some House Roac hot chocolate. It's delicious, even without whipped cream. I hope you enjoy your stay.

Welcome, and twice welcome! It's good to have you!

I hope that you have a nice visit here! (I've also never expected anybody's relatives to come here...but don't worry. It's all cool).

Welcome to the PPC Posting Board! Here, have some chocolate, won't you?

Welcome to the PPC, it's great to have you on board. Here, have a cup of tea and a leatherbound edition of the LoTR trilogy (large and heavy. Great for exorcisms.)

Have some slightly unorthodox cookies!

Fair winds!

Now you can throw BBQs!

Have a gun. Useful to kill Sues with, and also does a loud bang that is useful for exorcization. But you can have a silencer, too.

Have a pet cat. You may name her whatever you wish. Be careful, she bites!

Welcome, new friend! It's good to meet some of Miah's family.

Have a Bomb Glove and a Metal Gear! The Metal Gear is only a model...but the Bomb Glove is fully functional! On that note, please be very, very careful while using the Bomb Glove.

Please accept this Morph-o-Ray as a welcoming gift. Remember to point it away from your face at all times.

Tave two tribbles, feed them and you'll have loads.

*Hides from punctuation shower.

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Hello. Have a seventeen foot long, multicolored, wool knit scarf (curly wig not included), and a bag of jelly babies.

Please use them IRresponsibly!

:D

Welcome to the Board! Please deposit your sanity in the provided receptacle. *indicates bucket marked "Warg Fodder"* You shan't need it here.

Have a panda that eats, shoots and leaves!

Hail and well met, elen sila lumenn' omentielvo, et cetera. Glad you're here! Have a bag of pebbles and a Random Shiny Objects, and may they come in handy!

Welcome, o Kin-of-Miah. Have a Newbie hat (In your choice of urple or blello) and your official Frying Pan of DOOM^TM.

You here a sound. It was faint at first, just at the edge of one's hearing, but as the wind kicked up, the sound came in clearer, louder. A screeching, grinding wail, rhythmically pulsing like the beat of a human heart. A light appeared, shimmering in time, and with every pulse grew brighter. Then, with a clunk and a whir, a large blur police box solidified, the wail petering off into a gentle sub-sonic hum. The Door on the side of the police box opens and a tall thin man pops out.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor." To the uneducated observer, this tall thin man looked like some kind of crazed old-fashioned professor, with his tweed jacket and suspenders and bow-tie, but he was too young to be a professor, his hair hair coiffed in some kind of ridiculous pompadour. But his eyes, his eyes gave away what he really was. They were eyes that had seen empires rise, galaxies come into being, stars being born, and all of them return to dust. Eyes that had seen everything. Eyes that right now were looking rather confused.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry madam," He said after looking around. "I seem to have wandered into here by mistake. I'll be going now." And with those words the man popped back into his box and, in a inverted but similar method to its arrival, the police box vanishes. As the last waves of sound fade an average sized, average blond man in a black duster walks around a corner and slows to a stop next to you.

"Rammu." He says, looking you over. "You must be new. Please allow me to bless you." Bowing his head he speaks in a strange and alien language. "Syo ouin pmyta cdyo crynb. Syo ouin yes cdyo dnia. Syo ouin creamt cdyo cdnuhk. Yht syo ouin vuac cdyo tayt. Huf ku vundr, yht vekrd!" As he finishes he traces an odd symbol over his heart and walks off. "Have fun now." He calls over his shoulder.

Do not feed it Sues.

Please remember that it is not necessary to tell us (via a new thread) that you are back, or gone again.

People are in and out of the board all the time for short spells. And each new thread pushes an older thread of the first page and a very old one into oblivion. We frown on that, so unless it's the first time you're here or perhaps the last time, it's not necessary to mention presence or absence.

:D :D :D
Don't worry about the emoticons. :D
I'm Aeidhryn :D
The perpetual newbie :D
and I have a present... wait.... uh.... yes, I do.

One lighter, several Skör bars, and, because I finished reading the Fifth Elephant, a wolfhound, Jara. Her brother is Cedric, which I gave to whatsthename. Don't feed her 'Sue.

You here a sound. It was faint at first, just at the edge of one's hearing, but as the wind kicked up, the sound came in clearer, louder. A screeching, grinding wail, rhythmically pulsing like the beat of a human heart. A light appeared, shimmering in time, and with every pulse grew brighter. Then, with a clunk and a whir, a large blur police box solidified, the wail petering off into a gentle sub-sonic hum. The Door on the side of the police box opens and a tall thin man pops out.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor." To the uneducated observer, this tall thin man looked like some kind of crazed old-fashioned professor, with his tweed jacket and suspenders and bow-tie, but he was too young to be a professor, his hair hair coiffed in some kind of ridiculous pompadour. But his eyes, his eyes gave away what he really was. They were eyes that had seen empires rise, galaxies come into being, stars being born, and all of them return to dust. Eyes that had seen everything. Eyes that right now were looking rather confused.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry sir," He said after looking around. "I seem to have wandered into here by mistake. I'll be going now." And with those words the man popped back into his box and, in a inverted but similar method to its arrival, the police box vanishes. As the last waves of sound fade an average sized, average blond man in a black duster walks around a corner and slows to a stop next to you.

"Rammu." He says, looking you over. "You must be new. Please allow me to give you a gift." He hands you a book titled 'How to Make Your Own Keyblade by Tetsuya Nomura' and walks off. "Have fun now." He calls over his shoulder.

Welcome to the Board! Please deposit your sanity in the provided receptacle. *indicates bucket marked "Warg Fodder"* You shan't need it here.

Have a gun. Sometimes you just want to shoot that damned (and often suvian) OC.

Have a panda that eats, shoots and leaves!

(Also, yay for another Sailor Moon fan.)

Welcome to the Board! Here, have some chocolate, and enjoy your stay!

Fair winds!

Now you can throw BBQs.

Have a pet cat. You may name him whatever you wish. If you name him after a Pokemon, you get bonus points.

I hereby present you with your very own demonic canary! Every full moon, it turns into... a werecrow that eats Sues' eyeballs!

Birdseed will do the rest of the time.

Do not feed it Sues.

Though I don't use the latter half of my name often, it was too fun not to.

And, three cheers for someone /else/ who knows KHR!. Sweet Mew, those are hard to come by. How current are you?

Anyway, here is a brain-sized flame-retardant leash-and-harness set, for when you don't want your mind a-wanderin', and welcome to the Board!

Have an assortment of pointy objects including, but not limited to, pencils, fingers and a selection of Chick Tracts.

Welcome from a fellow Pokemon and LoTR fan! *hands you a Murkrow's Pokeball* Enjoy the bird, he's a cheeky little git but that should be expected.

I personally favor Charizard, particularly the shiny variant... no I'm not a pyro, why do you ask? >_>

Welcome, new friend!

Have a dusk stone on a key chain! You can either use it to evolve a Murkrow, or turn it into a keyblade!

It's really nice to meet you! Just be careful around these parts, though. You might never know when something might jump out and attempt to ambush you.

Hello! Have a seventeen foot long, multicolored, wool, knit scarf (curly wig not included), and a bag of jelly babies.

Please use them IRresponsibly!

Glad to have you, and so long as you remember to use emoticons judiciously nobody's gonna bite your head off... I think. Here, have a sonic screwdriver and a bag of jelly babies, please use responsibly!

Nice to meet you. Don't worry, a lot of people use emoticons around here - just so long as they're understandable, it's just fine :)

Also, as I seem to be the Official Link-Giver lately... here are The Links; they are a collection of articles and other useful URLs that we politely ask every newbie to read, as they really do contain Useful Information. In relative order of sensible-reading-ness, they are:

* The Original PPC Series, which we assume you've already read.
* The List of Killed Badfic, which will direct you to a large number of non-Original PPC Missions.

The Board:
* The Board Constitution
* The FAQ: For the Board

The Wiki:
* We have our very own PPC Wiki
* The very-important-to-read-before-requesting-Permission Permission article
* Our Guide To The PPC
* The Mission Writing Guide
* The Slash-Sporking Guide
* The FAQ: For Newbies.
When you are ready to edit the wiki, make sure to read Neshomeh's excellent editing tutorial.

And finally, but very usefully,
* The List of Everything PPC

Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo, et cetera. *Vulcan salute* Welcome to the Board~! I here by present you with a bag of pebbles and a Random Shiny Object. May they serve you well in your defence of Canon.

I'm putting out there in advance that there will be a new recruit up for adoption.

His name, right now, is David. He is seventeen, but looks younger. He had very little physical description, so that is pretty open.

Lots of continua have ways to bring a baby to term without a woman involved. I'm thinking specifically here of Brave New World's assembly line method, the Vorkosigan Saga's uterine replicators, or the Matrix's method of growing people. Most sci-fi continua have similar arrangements but those three are the ones I can think of that are the best described.

I wonder if HQ has a crew that can go into badfic and retrieve useful technology before the regular agents kill it?

* Intervene in the story before the pregnancy is mentioned and just ignore it. (I've stepped into several fics right before events or procedures took place I did not want to deal with (too much research required, for instance), and once plainly ignored a Sue was pregnant at all. As far as the mission was concerned, that never happened.)

* Argue that when the canon resets itself it also resets Sam's womb status.

I would think about it, but since my only currently available female character a) hasn't really been introduced yet and b) is a Tok'ra, I'm not sure how it'd work out.

I've meant to ask you about a few things. Would you mind if I tossed an e-mail over at some point? I'm a bit flooded with stuff at the moment but I just thought I'd make sure you had no problems with it.

Good luck wherever you go, and here's a hope that maybe you'll come back someday...

Best wishes to you on your efforts.

I had the same problem but nice to have you back.

I noticed Acacia's sandal in FicPsych. All hail the TOS!

First up, I'd just like to say that I love interludes. They give so much more texture to the PPC, as though it were a World One organization.

Believe it or not, but I already had this sneaking suspicion that the Marquis and the Kudzu had something going on. 'She' certainly doesn't try to hide it, what with the perfume and all. This could be useful for blackmailing the Marquis. *evil giggle*

'Ware the evil broom-closet. That Sunflower's Witness gives me the creeps, too.

As for the SO, how is it possible to both be and not be in blatant denial? Guess all the years of leading an insane asylum are really starting to 'get to him', if you catch my drift.

Oh, and Durotar and Kur'nak are so cute together. I hope to see more of them.

Such an adorable pair. ^_^ And very funny, too. Though the interlude's left me with a number of mental images I could probably have done without.

Still, very well done. I love seeing pieces like this, and writing them every so often as well. it's fun to see Agents not off wrestling badfic.

The Sunflower's magazine might make it difficult for me to garden for people without cracking a smile.

It's always interesting to see what the non-Action agents get up to; I know I've been writing my fair share of such stories in any case, and it's fun to see non-mission pieces. Nice work overall, though now I'm wishing I'd thought to do something for Postal. :P

A nice little violence-free peek into the daily lives of the PPC :) Kur'nak sounds -adorable-. Love the appearance of Lux.

As VM said, slice-of-life bits are fun. And it is thoroughly enjoyable to see HQ through the eyes of those who aren't field agents.

The bit with Ilraen made me lol. Just so you know. :)

Day In The Life interludes are cool things, 's always fun to see what's between the cracks of HQ. Good story!

Download this: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5471685/NameGen.jar, and then double-click to run it. Choose your list of favorite names with the "Choose Source" button, and then "Generate!" generates the names. "Lookahead" is Prospero's similarity parameter, under a shiny new name.

(Requires Java, which can be downloaded here)

I am more than happy to help. :) My email's in the beta directory; rather not post it here at the moment, given the spambot problems we're having.

I already asked vixenmage but she seems to have gone missing.

This is my summary of my Agents: http://jakraziel.livejournal.com/695.html

This is my Intro to them: http://jakraziel.livejournal.com/852.html

my email is jf554@york.ac.uk

Hey Pretzel, I wouldn't mind looking at the characterization of SG-1 if that's okay

as well as general plot flow and whatnot. Like Miah, I don't have encyclopedic knowledge of LOTR, especially outside of the trilogy, but I'd be more than willing to help with what I do know.

check for basic storyline and content, though not at all for SPAG, and I'm no good for verifying details of anything ultra specific to LotR (especially anything outside the trilogy).

Reported as spam when I deleted the post from the PPC comm. Hopefully LJ abuse will do something with it.

Congrats, and have a Random Artefact of Rassilon. It reminds me of socks somewhat, but I cannot be sure.

Fair winds!

Bonnes fêtes (the wedding and the birthday both) !

(Coincidentally?), my birthday is on Sunday. Woo early-October birthdays! Best time of the year for them, in my opinion.

*gives you a sack of pebbles, your very own customised sling to throw them with, and a basket of delicious home-grown Bleeprin-berries*

It's been a long time since I gave this.

And enjoy the wedding too :)

And congrats to your cousin!

depending on where you live, you reached drinking age at a very good time.

Anyway, congrats.