Oct 2011 Archive, part c

This could be way better and waaay more hilarious.

Why was Nathan suspended from duty?
Otherwise, great job!

Nice! I don't know anything about Danny Phantom, but the mission was a good one - and I always like missions with Luxury. They're always so... interesting. Good job :)

...being all giddy over the new mission and promptly failing simple html again.

Website: http://rmforum.rm.funpic.de/ppc/
Mission: http://rmforum.rm.funpic.de/ppc/template.php?rc=Origins&title=A+Gay+Old+Time&src=nathan_prequel.ppc

This time I tested it.

I'm still working out my first mission... but I should probably join the Wiki... in fact, I will.

But my question is whether or not HTLM code is involved on the site since I'm not very good at it....

Yes, you are allowed to do so.

You add it to http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/Claimed_Badfic You write your name on it, the date on which you claimed it and make a note saying that you you are still awaiting permission, so people can see that you know the Rules.

And, I haven't actually looked at the fic, but the title alone made me wince. Is it a troll?

Hey fella I don't think that's gonna convert anyone, trust me a youth club works much better.

Who's up for some scrambled troll?

*sends Frenchmen after the spammer*

I am not christian! I have respect for most Christians, who are just normal people. Anyways, what is that? Two trolls in a short period? (Remember Mr. Anonymous?)
Use the shift key more.
Please, annoy people somewhere else.
You aten't going to convert anybody, you know.

I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor! The dark and fire will not avail you, flame of Udun. Go back to the shadow! YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS!

I know I shouldn't feed the troll, but here goes anyway:
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Look, mac, I don't know whether you are a person behind a computer or some automated bot. I'll assume, for now, that you are the former.

First off, you're singling out a single nation in your message. Isn't the "word of the LORD", as you put it, meant to be a global message?

Second, all I'm hearing here is "fire and brimstone" "preaching" (if such could be called). You do know we Christians generally fell out of that quite some time ago?

Third and finally, why specify specific sins in that little rant? I mean, aren't ALL sins a sin in the sight of the Lord?

If this is a bot, I laugh. If this is a troll, check your Bible once again and leave the Board out of this.

It's people like you that give Christianity a bad name.

Also, a point of advice: Threatening people with something they don't believe in, and you can't prove, isn't going to do anything more than make you look like an idiot and an asshole. (Or maybe a troll, either way it's not going to convert anyone.)

Well, that and maybe garner some entertaining responses from the local smart asses.

The corrupt and the wicked and do not falter.
Blessed are the peacekeepers, the champions of the just.
-Benedictions 4:10

... Oh, I'm sorry, I thought this had turned into a chanter's board. :S

When everyone's heart is filled with light, the inhabitants of all words will be reunited under the light of Kingdom Hearts! Have you defeated any Heartless lately? What are you doing to bring us all closer to once again living in the single World?

Well, that was certainly refreshing.

Anybody else up for some deep-fried troll tonight? I brought the vat of oil!

"Asteroid strike?" said Aziraphale. "Quite the fashion these days, I understand. Strike into the Indian Ocean, great big cloud of dust and vapor, goodbye all higher life forms."

"Wow," said Crowley, taking care to exceed the speed limit. Every little bit helped.

"Doesn't bear thinking about. does it," said Aziraphale gloomily.

"All the higher life forms scythed away, just like that."

"Terrible."

"Nothing but dust and fundamentalists."

- Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens

Hey, random capitalisation is fun!

*finds gigantic flyswatter and beats troll about the head*

Seen it all before. Besides, given that like Laburnum and Eileen, I'm not in America, your rant doesn't apply to me. Go back to your bridge and keep screaming your incoherent ridiculousness, nobody here's listening.

Nice try but no cigar. You're far too obvious to be a sincere poster.

(Trolls will be laughed at)
What'you bother me for?!

Yay, I'm English so I can murder people all I like!

While it is absolutely right to mock the troll, be careful that you are not mocking the people that the troll is pretending to represent.

We do not mock religions or the people who truly believe in them, though we may disagree with what they have to say.

Now go about your troll hunt. (Pro-tip: Why do they care about people who blaspheme or defect from America? Discuss.)

-Phobos

Hey there, troll.

I thought you lot were all supposed to vanish two days ago...

Since I'm not in America, I'll just ignore your advice, then. Probably would have done so, even if I were in America.

The Lord's grace and mercy, which includes burning everyone you don't like forever in the pit of HELL.

Or, as I put it to a new-met friend last night, "We're here to tell you the Good News! ...You're going to Hell."


You're a troll, so I won't bother picking your theological ideas trollishness apart. Go back to your bridge.

Do I see things, or this sounds like a very intolerant/fanatic Catholic Christian?

Don't get me wrong here, I'm catholic myself (Mostly. I don't quite approve that the Church thinks that homosexuality is a sin, even if I am straight myself), the thing that sounds bad is the fact that this bot, troll or whatever is using religion to annoy people.

Glad to see we have some--

Oh, wait, I would reserve that line for an actual newbie. You're not one of them, so yeah.

Also, if you're serious, I can tell you without a single shadow of a doubt that you're going to hell for being so shamelessly hateful.

Also, to your comment referring to "gays" going to hell, I present this: http://humon.deviantart.com/art/Sheep-262786780

And if you're trolling, well... Whatever.

...during the most recent torrent of bot-spam. Probably some kind of open proxy, which leads me to believe that this is nothing more than (a poor attempt at) trolling.

If the former, look up the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. If the latter, it's an low-down trick.

I'm tempted to claim it, but I already have a List. Put it on the Unclaimed Badfic page? (Unless you're claiming it, of course - sorry, can't tell exactly.)

I won't have a use to put him to for a very long time. I can think of exactly the role he'd play, but it's far off in the planned future.

If someone else wants to claim him, feel free to override me.

I like it.

I liked all the action stuff in the fic. It made the whole thing feel very real and very dangerous.
I also liked the description of the canon break.


Oh, and I found an error: "the lives of a majority of South Africa’s punctuation totally sucked" And may I say, what an adorable error that is. ^^

Hi, hello, and greetings! Have a Holy Hand Grenade-but don't use it near a rabbit!


And I wholeheartedly agree: Pinkie Pie is awesomesauce.

Here, have an egg whisk! It's shiny, gold-plated, and whisks not only eggs but spambots and those pesky author wraiths, too. Use it for good and not evil.

Welcome to the insanity! Enjoy the ride.

Also, Fluttershy is best pony.

Have your official two cents. Feel free to stick thee in the thread(s) of your choice.

Welcome to the madhouse that is the PPC! As a welcoming gift I traditionally offer a collection of things with points, they include, but are not limited to: Sharp stones, Arrows, Directions and Toothpicks.

Well met, rookie! Please enjoy this recipe for Parasprite En Croute as a welcoming present.

Also, I don't know if it's your spell-check or my screen that's malfuctioning, but I see 'Pinkie Pie' where Rarity's name should obviously be. :P

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

And sorry, dear, Ima have to disagree with you there. Everyone knows that finding a best pony is hard, and they know that it's a three-way tie between Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. ;)

Here, have some three-part Britten for the road:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgVpjv7ebeA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O06a7sspY3c&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d55wp3F_yQ8&feature=related

Hi! Welcome to the PPC.

Here are a few handy links that will answer most of your questions, if you have any: an FAQ about the Board, a general Newbie FAQ, and finally, a Guide to the PPC. If you have any that aren't addressed, my email's visible with clicking my name. ^_^

Don't forget to read TOS, and the spinoffs, too.

Also, while everyone here are fans of something or other, obsessive 24/7 fanboying and fangirling does get annoying. Please keep that down to a minimum, because it's not respectful when it's constantly done or when not everyone shares the same interests.

'Ere, 'ave this conical hat and a croissant!

The conical hat is made from tin foil and duct tape, so it'll keep out the conspiracy theorists and be pretty much indestructible!

The croissant has got chocolate in it!

Yay for new people! Have an Official Hipster Scarf as a welcome present (oh, sorry, you probably haven't heard of that ;) )

Welcome, and have a cookie.

Welcome to the madhouse!

Here, have a cupcake! Don't ask me about the use-by date, I found them in a box marked 'not to be opened until 1963', but they looked OK so I thought hey, why not share!

P.S. I think you'll find that Twilight Sparkle is best pony.

Welcome, new friend! Have a cutie mark!

Have a folding car. It becomes a rather-heavy-and-prone-to-unfolding-randomly case when not in use. Don't put it nar fragile things.

About MLP, here every fandom is respected. Even Twilight... I think. Well, a show about ponies and "friendship is magic" is sure better than one about a sparkly vampire.

Wait, friendship... Befriending... STARLIGHT BREAKER!

*blasts the whole board with a Wave Motion Gun level beam*

Why are you staring at me that way? Nanoha said that this is the way to make friends!

Have a cookie in the shape of a pony!

Hey, Welcome aboard. Here, enjoy a fresh pot of coffee.

"P.s. Pinkie Pie is best pony"

Silly newcomer, that's not how you spell Rainbow Dash.

Welcome to the herd PPC. Have a set of polyhedral random-number generators. Use them wisely.

p.s. Everyone knows that Derpy Hooves is the best pony

Hi, have some fudge!

Have no fears, new person! Most of us here at the PPC are bronies as well. Those of us that aren't will be eventually, because no one can resist the herd.

I gift you with a plushie Luna and a sock full of rocks. I'm sure you'll find some use for them.

P.s. Nu, Rainbow Dash is best pony.

I actually do know the canon, although it's been a while since I read the books. Used to have Silk as a lust object, beacuse he was cool and funny. So good job cleaning that one out.

Anohow, my agents would love some floor pillows and a lantern.

Is there anything Arthur and Lynn would like in return, that my agents maybe could pilfer for them?

But nice job, anyway. As for the loot... I think I'll just take a carpets and some pillows.

I don't know anything about Belgariad, but you had me cringing right along with the agents at the Sue's atrociousness. An excellent story; well done!

Like I said before, great mission. If you don't mind, I'll grab two of those divans, one for each of my agent pairs, and a carpet.

I had a lot of fun reading this mission! I didn't know the canon, but it was explained well enough where I didn't feel confused at all. Also, your agents have good interplay, which is the most important part of any RC IMO.

And yeah, crazy times are had with urple prose. Look out, guys, we've got a description Sue among us!

Crazy times were had with this Sue. Don't forget to add a page for her on the Wiki: we generally like to keep a record of the Mary Sues we've slain.

Hm... Loot, you say? Hm... I think I'll go ahead and take one of the divans that you have there. Eusabius seems like he could use it to ponder puzzlements while drinking tea. ;)

This was a lot of fun to read. I had never even heard of this canon, but your descriptions were detailed enough that I never felt confused by what was going on. You really got your love of the canon across to the reader. Excellent use of the Filing Lantern mid-mission, and I love the pole's arctic climate swooping in to erase wannabe!Arabia at the end (although I wish we could have seen more of that).

I noticed one typo, during the charge list:
"'You are charged with turning a servant Super-Deformed in a non-anime continua."
Continua should be continuum, since you're just talking about one here.

http://gamingkitty.livejournal.com/18211.html

If my brain wasn't pretty much immune to breaking by now... yeah.

So it was all a big ploy, Snowman was doomed all along, Lord English is on the loose and Rose and Dave ascended to god tier... Jade, on the other hand, took another step and ascended straight to dog tier. Also, she's now ridiculously overpowered.

I loved it. Andrew Hussie, you really outdid yourself with that flash.

Seriously, who else would put a fifteen minute flash in a webcomic? And make every single moment both important and entertaining? So much stuff in that thing. So much awesome stuff.

I love Jade's new look. Ruby slippers for a witch! She is the most adorable dog-eared god in human form I have ever seen!

Have you heard of Librivox? They have several thousand books, and are adding around 100 more per month. All the books are in the public domain. Some readers are better than others, and books that have a single reader are generally preferable (by me) compared to ones that have multiple readers.

Readers I have rather enjoyed are Kara Shallenberb and especially John Greenman, who reads Mark Twain works. My husband has been listening to his readings for about 15 hours per week for almost two years and has only recently ran out of recordings.

I had a couple of other links for audiobooks, but it looks like I lost them when my laptop died. I think I got them from people in the PPC, so maybe we'll both get some more good ones.

My library has a list of websites where you can download audiobooks or eBooks. Here's the page: http://www.dmpl.org/search/digitaldownloads/onlineresources.html

Good luck finding something!

...the Chicago Public Library. I think they have audio books online, but I am not sure about price or the thing about buying a card. Can't hurt to explore though, right?

Good to see you again, GG; a number of us were worried something had gone wrong. Glad to see you're alright, gotten a job and a place to live.

YOU!!!
*Glomps*
We missed you! Glad you're okay! Welcome back!

Good to have you back, dude. I know I missed you.

Since you found time to post here, I assume that you've got your life running again now. Which is yay.

*pelts you with atogs*

Nice to have you here again. :D

Middle Earth would be awesome!!oneoneone!!

Discworld is funny, but since the horrible quality of life is played for laughs, (at least in Ankh-Morpork) it would kinda suck to live there.

Well, to be honest, all of my knee-jerk responses would be horrible, seeing as fatality rates are high, and having a Xenomorph after me isn't something I want. (Yes, even if they gave me the cool armor and the gun with the awesome sound effect).

Probably... My Little Pony. It has to be the most safe place I can think of, that still has enough to do and doesn't seem like I would go crazy from it. The biggest plus, to me, is that is genuinely looks like an amazing place to live. Well, that and you get to go to one of Pinkie Pie's parties.

And, Discworld would be a second, for uh... other reasons. Needless to say, it would be fun there, but probably a lot more lethal. And no matter how fun it may be to visit Anhk-Morpork, it is STILL Ankh-Morpork, and thus bad things could easily happen.

Good medical, thousands of cultures, holo entertainment, Earth is occasionally attacked but never suffers too badly and most importantly it is a pretty damn optimistic universe.

I mean sure, the Doctor Who continuum would be cool if I got a TARDIS, but if we're talking injected into a continuum essentially as-is, MLP is the place to be.

Either that or Star Trek. Sure there's the occasional(?) Borg invasion, but look, pretty spaceships! :P

I'd say Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. High-tech Tecno-Magic, a good place to live. And usually the big battles have no civilian toll, which is good.

Another one I'd like is Ace Combat, but since every few years major countries are at war, I'd say it's better to stay away from there.

There are several fantasy fandoms I'd like to visit, but I'm not sure retiring to any of them is a good idea. I'm very nearsighted with a family history of other eye problems ranging from glaucoma to spontaneous retinal detachment. I need a good eye doctor available.

This unfortunately knocks Pern out of the running as well. Unless AIVAS trained a few Healers in eye surgery before he shut down -- I haven't kept up with her son's novels.

Star Trek would be a good option. There's no question about medical science being able to keep me seeing. The Federation is portrayed as having gone beyond money; most likely I could spend my remaining years doing historical research or something else fun instead of worrying about finances.

There's several planets in Doctor Who that would probably work out as well. I'd just have to see if they're scheduled for Dalek, Cyberman, or other nasty visitors.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic... don't laugh, it's a nice place to live... barring any catastrophes, mind you...

Like Wozz, I'm thinking Mass Effect. I'm also considering Kimi Ni Todoke (everyone's so damn *nice*), Dragonriders of Pern (Dragons! Fire! Flying!), Circle of Magic (at least in Winding Circle, everything was (usually) good), or possibly the Dresden Files (apart from the high chance of death).

I'm going to have to say My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Think about it. Stable economy and government, benevolent physical deities in charge who are completely willing to acknowledge and listen to the needs of the common people, environmentally sound technology and energy, minimal racism that is halted by reasoning and common sense, and magic. Despite this, it's still exciting, what with the dragons and manticores and infrequent attacks by power-hungry entities, conflicts that are all resolved by the power of friendship. Or one of the aforementioned benevolent physical deities. Plus it would be so awesome to be a talking pony.

I guess the one drawback would be the mandatory vegetarianism, but I'd say that's a fair trade of economic and political stability, world peace, and such.

Either the Mars of A Miracle of Science or the Mars of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy. The first is a utopian collective intelligence, the other is a more conventional utopia, but still fun.

I'd have to go with the Mass Effect continuum myself. Yeah, I may not know how it goes depending on how Shepard treated the galaxy, but think about it:

-the aliens are all really cool for the most part.
-they have a massive internet.
-there's probably an insane amount of culture going on there.
-I'd get to snark at a political scene that's worse than America currently is.
-depending on where I end up, I wouldn't have to deal with the Reaper genocide. ;)

Specifically, after the finale. While we don't get a particularly clear view of what happens after the show ends, it seems there's still some number of surviving Others on the Island, and people don't seem to be dying left and right anymore. It would be a nice, quiet place with few neighbors to retire to, and there's always a chance of immortality down the line. I just have to avoid that one polar bear.

As for the last one, if it's on the list of unclaimed badfics (now on the claimed list because you moved it there) it should not have already been sporked. Or if it has been, then that mission is seriously lost for good.

From what I can tell, the badfic is truly and honestly horrible and the author has shown no interest in listening to constructive criticism, so there's really no reason not to spork it.

So go for it! Try it out, see what works. Get stuck and get yourself unstuck. Get yourself muddy, is what I want to say. Good luck.

Here is the PPC Wiki's summery of the fic in question:

Last survivor of a Magical Sue Race, she vaporizes a Nazgul at Weathertop and joins the Fellowship. She also has Arwen look on Aragorn as a little brother who's an "absolute pain" (direct quote) in order to free Aragorn up.

This'll be my third year. I have only the vaguest mental outline for a plot, I don't know my characters well, and I'm still hazy on the workings of the brain-breaky time travel that will be central to the plot...

This is gonna be so much fun.

Here am I.

Working on the sequel to my winning novel from '09 (which is currently in the middle of a complete rewrite to hopefully make it worth reading - you never know!). My mental sketch consists of the opening scene and one aspect of the later plot - maybe two. Challenge is... fun?

hS

I am a compulsive NaNoer. And by compulsive, I mean that this year I only have an extremely lose premise and haven't done any kind of preparatory work, and my lack of ideas are keeping me awake at night, and still the idea to not participate has not seriously occurred to me.

My profile, if you want to follow my progress (or laugh at how hard I fail - hey, I'm not here to judge): http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/eileenalphabet

Good luck to all!

NaNoWriMo may have actually saved my life, due to a combination of catharsis and community. Those of you who are able should really try to make it to at least one event. If the NaNo people in your region are half as cool as the ones in mine you won't regret it.

Here's mine. So excited for it!

Here's my profile; the title I have for my story is just a placeholder at the moment. Feel free to add me to your friends list!

Yep, I'm taking part too. First Time. Your story sounds quite interesting Phobos! Good Luck Everyone!

And by posting this I hope that I will have enough motivation to finish this.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/neshomeh

NaNo has a way of bringing out my deepest insecurities. {= P

~Neshomeh

Hey, quick question-- can any of you who are participating in the idea linked below include that in your response, here? I was kind of hoping to get a headcount, and if I recall, there were quite a few people in the IRC who were in.

My profile for NaNo is here.

Luck be with you, fellow WriMos!

Here, have some craziness!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYA7X-ZPcyc

Happy Birthday have *searches* this packet of mints.

Here, have a triple-chocolate cupcake, won't you?

Happy birthday, dude. Hope it's a good one.

Have some birthday lies. Because everyone can give someone a cake.

Santa Claus is real.
Babies are brought by storks.
Err... the sky is green! Yeah!

Here's to four more good fifths of a century!

Nice to have you aboard!

Here, have a case of highly-caffeinated, potentially-radioactive energy drinks! Guaranteed to keep you awake, with only a 78% chance of glowing in the dark.

I lurk around the SCP myself occasionally! Infact my brother posted something there not too long ago!

In any case, welcome! Have some cookies!

Welcome to the Madhouse! (In addition to driving people insane HQ is, in fact, itself crazy.)
Here is a selection of things with points, it includes, but is not limited to: A mess of toothpicks, icepicks, lock-picks and guitar picks.

Hi, welcome to the Board! Please drop your sanity in the bin by the door, and enjoy your free crate of Bleepka.

You have no idea how awesome I feel, hearing that you came here because of my writing. I'm seriously thrilled!

And while I, at least, know quite a bit about the grim Tumblrs (and seriously dislike them, though that's personal taste), their writing style doesn't lend itself well to sporking--especially since they're at least partly visual.

Welcome to the Board! Here, have some chocolate, and enjoy your stay! So, what fandoms are you into, friend?

Glad to meet you. Have a bag of pebbles and a Random Shiny Object.

Welcome to the Board!

Welcome to the PPC! Always good to see another brony.

As for the grim MLP tumblr accounts, that's really a matter of opinion.

In my opinion, no. We go after badfic. More to the point, we go after badfic written by authors who clearly either didn't care or didn't do research or use logic or bother to check if they spelled "Hogwarts" correctly. Grimdark does not necessarily equal badfic, even for a show like My Little Pony. I've seen those tumblr accounts, and while they are extremely grimdark, they are not badfic. The art is very well done, and it's pretty clear to me that the authors/artists put time and effort into their creations.

(I'm one of the few who disputed the necessity of sporking Cupcakes; while the sporking was incredibly funny and entertaining and got us our first pony agent, I personally didn't consider its grimdark nature grounds for declaring it a badfic.)

Like I said, this is all a matter of opinion; this is mine, and everyone is free to dispute it or agree with it to their heart's content.

Welcome, new friend! Help yourself to the sack of venomous arthropods. Don't worry; they don't bite!

Thanks all! I thrive on insanity, thankfully. I hope I didn't catch you womderful people on the downslide. I seem to do that a lot.

*puts on hat and noms wonderful biscut* Not sure what else to say, so feel free toask questions!

'Ere, ave this conical hat and a tea biscuit!

The hat is duct tape and tin foil, so it's indestructible, and keeps the conspiracy theorists out!

The tea biscuit has got cheese in!

We love newbies! Pleasure to meet you! :D

And yeah, Joe's sporking of Cupcakes was a lot of fun.

Here, have a complete Shostakovich symphony for the road: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_EfFI46Q-E

Hi, have some fudge!

Here, have an egg whisk! It's shiny, gold-plated, and hey, it whisks eggs! It's particularly useful for getting rid of author wraiths and those pesky spambots. Use it for good and not (much) evil.

Welcome to the insanity! Enjoy your stay.

Nice to meet you! It's great to see another Black Lagoon fan,

You should fit right in, by the sounds of it.

Welcome, then.

Grim MLP tumblr authors? Huh? Well, maybe the bronies around here know.

Anyways, have a cookie.

Oh, and it's "writing". One t.

Another thing: What are your fandoms?

Our shiny wiki says, in the FAQ: For Other People, that a good OC exists to serve the story. A Mary Sue exists for the story to serve her.

My idea of a good OC is sort of a combination of what Tungsten_Monk and Phobos said. An OC should fill a gap in the world - a role that conceivably exists within the canon's guidelines, that hasn't been filled by a canon character. A continuum like Doctor Who, say, is very conducive to OC protagonists, because the Doctor is always hopping around the universe meeting new people; a continuum like, I don't know, Homestuck is very non-conducive to OCs, because there are a very specific number of people who are even capable of being alive during the story and we have been very well introduced to all of them. (Admittedly, I am a canon purist; if it contradicts canon at all, I'm generally predisposed to dislike it. I always prefer the "plausible deniability"-type stories - it could have happened in canon, we just didn't hear about it.)

On the other hand, even if the OC blends seamlessly in with the world, if s/he is flat, unconvincing, and canon-warping as a person, s/he's still not a good OC. Being a plausible, well-rounded, three-dimensional character, with actual depth, with a history, with hopes and fears and strengths and weaknesses and goals and her/his own and legitimate reason for existing, is the most important consideration when writing a character, whether in fanfiction or original fiction. Being beautiful and powerful can be part of that description, but there must be a believable reason for it.

TL;DR - Agreeing that the most important thing for a character of any stripe is depth. Fanfiction just has the extra challenge of having to fit in with an already-established world.

A Good OC explores the canon and its world.

Every character in canon shows us something about the world. They teach us new things. In a way, they are how we experience the story and the world it takes place in.

A good OC follows this lead. With that character, we can come along and explore the world. And their perspective and presence shows us something no other character could have shown us.

This is why bad OCs spend so much time making us look at them. They draw attention from the other characters and plot to basically shake their rumps in our faces. They don't take you by the hand and show you anything, much less anything meaningful.

This is why Agents as good OCs is crucial. We come along with them on the mission, they show us the story. If they spent all their time forcing us to stare at something rather than taking us on an adventure, then they'd be bad at their jobs.

I pretty much agree with everyone so far. All of these things are necessary in fanfic: sharing the spotlight with the canon characters, adding something, being a good character in general.

To me, it adds up to plausibility and impact. I have to believe that character could be there as they are and do what they do, and get away with it in a canonical context. If the people around the OC don't react in a way that makes sense for them, then I can't believe in the OC.

There's obviously some leeway here, since no one who isn't the author of a canon can write those characters in exactly the same way, and the presence of an OC in and of itself may give them cause to react differently (in an AU, say), but it all still has to make sense generally, if not in the specifics of word choice or writing style. The OC shouldn't by its presence alone contradict known canon—or if it does, the change(s) need to bloody well be explained, preferably as part of the story. "Snape has a daughter in this story, k?" is not an explanation, but "What would happen if Snape slept with someone after Lily died and had a child?" could make for an interesting story. It would probably have to be about Snape in order to work... once it's about the OC, the potential for problems increases. Not that it couldn't be from the OC's point of view, though. The POV character isn't necessarily the one the story is about.

... I am now rambling. Guess that's enough of that. TL;DR, anything can be done well, but an OC's existence has to be plausible and have an impact that makes sense.

~Neshomeh

Either a character that needs to be there to help to best tell a story revolving around the main characters, or who, when the central character, is not showcasing their own awesomeness but reacting to events in whatever time and place their story is set in a relatable, realistic way.

In other words, one who serves the plot well to tell an interesting story.

I think that the key to making a good OC is to make a good character. For a good character, you need to answer four questions (bonus points if you know where I stole these questions from.) They are:

Who are you? (Everything from name and age to sexual orientation, religion, and general outlook on life)

What do you want? (Do you want to avenge your father? Make some money? Live in peace? This should be easy. What do you want right now)

Why are you here? (How did you get where you are emotionally, physically, intellectually, spiritually, et ceterally?)

Where are you going? (Long term goals and dreams. As long term as the character is likely to think.)

These four questions do not guarantee a good character, but they do help you along the way. It is not a bad idea to answer these questions with every character you have. Specific detail isn't important; I don't need to know when you character lost their first tooth, unless it is important to the story. Also, everything you come up with for answers doesn't need to make it into the story, but it will fuel the story through your characters' choices.

Please note that the answers to these questions can and should change through the course of a story. What you want can change very quickly, the others take more time, usually.

I have have a post that I moved to my new blog that talks about the concept of the protagonist, which doesn't talk about this concept, but talks about things that are necessary, above and beyond the questions, to make a good lead character.

-Phobos, who is testing a lesson plan on the Board

To me, the ultimate consideration when writing an OC (in a fanfic, anyway) has been whether or not this character specifically adds--in a positive way--to the universe, rather than changing or removing something that has already been established about it.

That's a little obtuse, so let me give you an example. I'm currently writing GI Joe fanfiction (I know, I know--mock away), and one of my stories does indeed center on an original character. I wanted to use her to get a unique perspective on the rest of the Joe team. I could create a new special branch of GI Joe, headed by my character . . . Or I could fit her into a role that the canon universe implies but never defines, that of quartermaster and base cook. A role that already exists, but was never filled. No canon characters or circumstances need to be specifically altered for her to exist, she adds the perspective of the cook and perpetual onlooker, and everything works.

Your agents have a good dynamic about them. They have a few good bits of back and forth, which is something I always like with agents. I also enjoyed how you gave Nathan a distinctive voice. Too often I've had to reread bits of mission because the characters sound so alike I can't discern who's talking.

The one major thing that concerned me was the ending. I didn't really understand what happened. The whole thing seemed very jumpy, very rushed. Jumpiness is okay with heavy action scenes, but if you push it too far the entire thing becomes nigh unreadable.

Also, I don't know if it's just me, but the text for you story turns completely grey part way through. It's probably just an html error or something, but it does make it a little hard to read (particularly on a white background.)

I look forward to your next mission.

Aside from correcting some things, here's the Lost and Found page again.

Click me!

Feel free to adopt, but tell me about it.

Wow, that was a hideous fic. Now I'm squeeing over baby Harry, though.

*minor corrections* I thought Harry's middle name was James, not Sirius. Parselmouth has the E before the L. "Whipped" has an H. Wouldn't it be in *time* with the humming, not "tact"? Oh, and I think former Sues are supposed to use their Sue powers as little as possible (mostly Priyala I'm thinking of here).

You can take advice from others on whether it's a good idea (I'd say no, personally), but ultimately, if it can actually be done, it's permitted under CPI statute 144b(ii).4a.

hS

See, the major issue at play here is this: comics are commonly considered a visual medium, while fanfiction is a written medium. Trying to spork the one in the context of the other just doesn't work as well as you'd think it might unless you're really good at stuff. It's the same reason why printing music lyrics in a comic doesn't work: if you're in one medium, it's jarring for us when you suddenly switch out of that medium. So I think comics in general are something you should try to stay away from with a PPC mission.

Now, NSFW fanfics? To my understanding, that is fair game.

The problem is, how would you go about sporking something like that without posting pornographic pictures in your mission? I think it would be best to avoid that sort of thing. So, my vote is for not sporking something like that.

Also, people have tried to spork comics in the past, but it never really goes very well, from what I remember.

You have a few typos:

"“Yes, yes, but we can't charge her with breaking our canon.”"

and

"“Aren’t Isn't eighteen the legal age in most of the Real World?” Mittens asked. “Why can’t she decide for herself? And for that matter, why won’t her parents let her stay at home alone?”"

But I really enjoyed the mission, even though I don't know Labyrinth.

That was definitely a long, long, long, long, long, long mission. I started reading around 1 P.M. and just finished it after getting home from work, at 1:30 A.M.! That said, I think you managed to prevent it from growing boring. You kept the pacing moving forward, introducing each new section of problems in turn and letting your agents react, then moving on. Kudos on slogging through the whole thing!

One nitpick that I, as a volunteer zookeeper, must make: A couple of times, you refer to snake poison. Technically, when poison comes from an animal, it should be called venom. (Poison is more for man-made chemicals or stuff that comes out of plants, fungi, etc.)

Seriously, this thing is just... BAD. I had to skim over the paragraphs of description to get to the good stuff!

Well, at least ya got some good stuff out of it, like some new recruits, and some weapons (by the way, are the swords still up for grabs? And maybe the wand as well?)

Congratulations on toughing that one out!

Arthur Briggs would like the rapier/dagger set. Lynn Gillies would like one of the falchions -- I used one in my Society for Creative Anachronism days, and they're nice for us shorter people. And thanks!

I honestly can't believe how bad that fic was. My head started imploding about a quarter of the way through. Good job sporking it, though.

What exactly is Sue-length hair? Is it a particular length? A length that might be implausible in the circumstances, like a chemotherapy patient having waist-length hair a year later? A length that's treated unrealistically, like being floor-length and rarely needs brushing? A length that's just there for the pretty factor, a la "her sunshine-golden curls swayed past her hips"?

Being that I and a few of my OCs have hip- or thigh-length hair, I had to ask.

It was so loooooooooooooong. (Seriously.) But it was a relatively fun read, though I did find myself facepalming at a lot of the stupidity from the fic. I mean, you know it's bad when the plot can't keep itself straight. No wonder this girl eventually abandoned it is how I see it.

If I had to complain... I'd watch out for the SPaG here. I caught a Mini-Umbrigde at one point, so... It was good, but there was the odd missing word and misspelled thing.

Other than that, fun mission! :D

I think you have found and rescued an entirely newly created mini-Balrog. I'll be happy to take him into the Adoption Centre if nobody else wants him.

WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS KINDA-SPOILERS

First things first. There's a lot about this story that is very good. Wait, check that. There's a lot about this story that is hilariously awesome. Two moments in particular stand out in my mind: when Aster's rant about the fade is overheard by a nameless wizard, and the "Aster approves (+9)" bit. I actually laughed out loud at that second one. Certainly not the most accessible bits for a general audience, but sometimes you've got to do those fandom-specific shout-outs.

I also liked the interactions between Aster and Bendick. I'm not just talking about the shipping bits, either. What really struck me personally was Aster having to explain what the PPC was to Bendick. The dialogue was great and the characterization was golden. This little exchange near the end of the second day was perhaps my favorite part of the whole mission:

"And I think I now know what your PPC values in its agents.”

“Yeah?”

“Valor. Levity.” he paused. “Perhaps a bit of madness.”

That being said, there are two things that keep this mission from being really spectacular in my mind. First off is the post-ending sequence. You had this great dramatic battle with the Mary Sue at the end of the third day. A very gut-wrenching semi-bittersweet moment... and then the post-ending sequence wraps up the whole story with a big happy ribbon. Everything turned pretty much fine, which kinda bothered me. Not to a huge extent - I understand that killing off characters is to do, and goodness knows I've used plot armor on my own characters before - but having a neat little conclusion to a big awesome mission doesn't quite gel together in tone.

The BIG thing that bothered me about this story is that it feels like a pretty typical Mary Sue mission even though it was said early on that Aster was on an Intelligence mission. Apart from a couple of stand-out bits - the special snarky CAD and the restriction on portals in particular - there wasn't really any practical difference between the way this mission was handled and most other DMS stories. The formula remained pretty much the same: agents follow the Sue, they rescue bit characters, they collect charges, they complain, and then they terminate the Sue.

As soon as I read that Aster was on an Intelligence detail, I was really looking forward to some spy-type stuff. But as the story went on, I became increasingly disappointed. I think you could have done some really cool stuff with Intelligence work. Instead, you wrote a DMS story - a great story, sure enough, but it still felt like a bit of a letdown.

Hope I didn't come off as too harsh. It's a great read and I'm looking forward to what you tackle next.

This was a great mission, but I did find a typo:

Aster shrugged. “I dunno. I’m not from this world. I’m not even sure if I can to the Fade in my sleep.”

There should be a word between "can" and "to", but I don't know Dragon Age, so I'm not sure what goes in there.

Wow. This was awesome. And intense. And awesome.

I mean, I don't know anything about Dragon Age. Aside from the fact that The Fade is a thing... whatever it is.

And I totally approve of the formatting and the title cards. I almost forgot that there was a fourth title card left. It fit so darn well.

I like Dragon Age missions. There's something about Dragon Age badfic that makes me go "You have all these options and you still chose to mess with canon?! Rargh! Die!" so I'm happy to see missions taking care of them.

I found it interesting how Bendrick's reactions (shock, horror, loss) contrasted nicely with the Sue's complete lack of same.

And I am also aboard the Bendrick/Aster ship. ^^

I've never played Dragon Age and I wasn't going to read the mission because I don't know the canon, but you wrote it so well that I kept reading anyway. This was awesome, especially since I didn't need to know the canon to get why it was so bad.

And I ship Bendrick/Aster too.

...I'm totally shipping Bendrick/Aster now. ;)

That was a really fun mission. It was fun watching Bendrick getting used to all this stuff while Aster was freaking out about the Sue. I wonder how she got in Trouble... I guess it's something we'll find out in Mission 5?

Overall, fun mission. :D

This was a fun mission as always. It's always great when a Sue gets recruited to the PPC, I think. And all things considered this Sue didn't really seem that terrible.

Good mission!

I really like your new agents, not just Rococo and Sakimori, but Gloria too. Can't wait to see what you do with them next!

Great work. Always good to see a fic be not nearly as bad as it looks.... to begin with at least.

No concerns, issues, police reports, or complaints to be filed at the Guild of Beta Readers (once I find out what continua it is in) here.