Apr 2012 Archive, part a

...but I'm not sure how much use I'll be. I've only got back into the habit of proof-reading since I started working on my own permission piece.

Still, if you want to send anything through to samurai_ireland@hotmail.com then I'll take a look at it. If you do send anything, drop me a reply here; my spam filters seem to be particularly overactive at the moment, and I wouldn't want to miss it.

I'd say it's probably still worth trying to get at least one other person that's been around here for a bit longer, just in case.

What fandom?

Eee! You're a fellow Brony and you've named yourself after a good rifle! I can just tell we're going to be good friends! Have some Bleep-products! Don't drink Sea Turtle's hydrophobic water!

How did you get into programming?

I'm trying to learn with one website & one book. I don't know anyone who knows much about computers.

Just curious.

Have a Holy Hand Grenade! (Don't use near rabbits - seriously, this is a biggie.)

Greeings and welcome! Have this near ancient pong machine! It doesn't work, but it does make an interesting conversation piece.

Thanks everyone! Love all the gifts! Agreed, Fluttershy is the best pony. She's so graceful... *Sighs*

Have a cookie.

Have this funny-looking plant I found in Everfree Forest! I'm fairly certain it's not carnivorous...

Have a glass of butterbeer. Good for what ails ya.

Hi, have some fudge!

Oh, and Fluttershy is best pony.

Greetings, new friend! Have an unwritten novel!

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

Hello and welcome, other newbie~ *new myself*
Here, have an oversized sheep plushie, courtesy of the Welsh government~

Ah, I remember seeing you in the chat. So, have an awesome-laced cookie.

Nice to have a fellow programmer here. For that, have a *pointer. I have no idea where it points, you should try that yourself. *hides*

Welcome to the Board! Have some of my hydrophobic water! Secretly used to power the Saturn V engines!

The mini-henchmen are just too cute!

I liked the agent reactions to the badfic and each other. They seem to be coming together as a team nicely.

Saline is kind of scary. I liked the way Drakken reacted after riding with her. That was a funny line.

Now I've lost the quote, and with the poor Internet connection I've got going right now, I can't go look it back up, but there is word with a -inging typo in it, in the last quarter of the story, in one of the agents' lines.

Kim Possible is one of my favorite cartoons (even the main character isn't one of my favorite characters) and all I can say to you is this: Yay and thank you!

Honestly who is that happy to be evil.

I really enjoyed reading your mission. But where did Saline get the Boomstick and what happened when Priyala was left alone with Shego?

...*shivers* Oh lovely, Kim Possible!Sues, there goes another year or so of my childhood...

I've got one for you!

1) Shipping and Handling

Summary:
When Ditzy Doo loses her job at Cloudsdale Mail and Freight, she gets a job at another shipping company... only to find out their definition of shipping has nothing to do with delivering packages! Desperate for income to support herself and Dinky, will Ditzy be able to make it as a pony matchmaker?

Bees?

Welcome, and 'ave a conical hat and a butter tart!

The conical hat is made of tin foil and duct tape, and is therefore indestructible and capable of keeping the conspiracy theorists out!

The butter tart is fresh out of the oven.

Have a Stig keychain. I like Top Gear too. What was your favorite challenge? I liked the space shuttle one.

Have a lolcat. Guaranteed to turn all your speech into incomprehensible gibberish, or your money back.

*sniff sniff*

Hm...

Smells like... April Fools'?

~Neshomeh, who doesn't normally go around smelling people and will probably be embarrassed if she's wrong. But not too much.

First off, this is a community brought together with a central interest of reading and writing. You will endear yourself by using proper spelling and punctuation. Also, please try a little bit harder to find better literary/media influences than game tie-in novels and Memebase. I <i>so</i> want to believe you have more than that.<br><br>    I believe someone has already said about how you're not an agent, and I'm probably not qualified to go into this in length anyway, so I'll just say you are not roleplaying an agent, your agents will be characters in missions if- IF- you get permission. Which won't be for at least a month. Sit back, enjoy, maybe read some other work.<br><br>    Finally, random outbursts are not humorous. They never will be. So don't do that.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6267854/1/Mess_Efekt_Atak_of_bGeths_b

if minis are lacking go here

Hi and welcome~
Have this sheep plushie as a welcome gift~
I hope you have fun here, and will leave you with this piece of advice: Don't set things on fire.

P.S. My inner Grammar Nazi is making me point out the misspelling of 'continuum'.

Greetings, new friend! Help yourself to the bag of venomous invertebrates. Don't worry; they don't bite!

Welcome to the PPC!


If this is for writing PPC stuff: Permission not granted to do anything but chat on the board and in the chatroom.

We take it rather seriously who writes PPC things because we pride ourselves on good writing and being a community.

Read and investigate our wiki, and again, feel free to take part in the community here.

Vietnamese Crystal is hilarious, the absolute epitome of bad translations. They Google Translat'd the hell out of that dialogue before Google Translate was even invented. 'All your base are belong to us' has nothing on 'bag ...'!

The Piano Guys are epic!

Let me add another webcomic: The Order of the Stick! This webcomic is hilarious with an excellent plot!
Link: http://www.giantitp.com/Comics.html

Note: The forum is remodeled for a April Fool's Joke, so there may be My Little Pony things all over it.

PIANO GUYS I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. My reaction when Steve walked out to the plane with a cello was "Oh, no he didn't. No, he didn't. OH MY GOSH HE DID LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL *cracks up*"

And I literally squealed when Cello Wars came up in my subscription box. I was so excited it was ridiculous.

I definitely agree with you on 2 of those things; the Piano Guys (Cello Wars is my personal favourite), and Girl Genius (for all of it, but especially the Mad Science and the Airships... oh, and the Jagers, and... y'know what? let's just go with 'all of it').

Now I'll have to check out the rest and see how good they are. I have high hopes, for you clearly have excellent taste.

UNFORGOTTEN REALMS!!!

If I may plug something:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SMAseries

Why I like it: It's very funny. Um...that's about it.

expertmechanic [at] yahoo [dot] ca with the obvious substitutions and I'll respond. Do you prefer working in Word or Google docs?

Do you need us to give our emails or anything?

I don't necessarily have permission, but I'm a good beta and very familiar with the portal verse.

Anywho, welcome to the Board and try not to kill anything important. Or anyone important.

Have some chocolate.

What are your fandoms, BTW?

Hi, have some fudge!

Have an awesome-laced cookie.

As for how the PPC works, I can just recommend the wiki which, as far as I see, has already been linked. Don't mind the sunflower on the main page, he just does that from time to time. :)

Now excuse me, I'm going to arm myself with get a pair of hedge clippers.

Welcome a-board! Feel free to leave your sanity at the door. Here, have a propellor cap, it actually flies! On another note, what are your fandoms?

Welcome to the Board! Have some chocolate, won't you?

Welcome to the board~ Have an oversized sheep plushie and a scone~

Welcome! Have a bag for everything you get. You'll need it.

I'm Araeph, and I manage the Department of Technical Errors. My fandoms are Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings, and my agents are Mara and Isaiah. Here, have a red pen! *tosses*

If you have any questions about how things work around here, I'd be happy to help. If no one has given you our Board FAQ yet, allow me to be the first. And if you need someone to show you around, well...let's say I've been here a while.

Ta!

Please, take some complimentary Whangdoodle. (complete with slippers!)

Well then, welcome to the Board! Have some of my hydrophobic water! Guaranteed non-toxic (but not non-radioactive. Handle with care)!

Greetings, new friend! Grab a prize out of the bag of venomous arthropods. Don't worry; they don't bite!

So, what fandoms do you find yourself exploring lately?

Like Guvnor said, I'm the other author of the "Magic World" parody. Just to check, the link you're referring to, was that in a review of the story on ff.net, by a guy calling himself Sonic Rhymeboom? If so, this is hilarious because that guy is a troll who we suspect is trying to get people to come yell at us, so the sheer irony of you getting curious and wanting to join up instead is simply delicious. ^^

In any case, how the site works is pretty simple. This is your basic threaded message board, nothing fancy, where we hang out and talk about stuff and post links when we publish new PPC stories. The PPC was started lo these many moons ago by Jay and Acacia, who wrote the first PPC series, which you can (and should!) read here.

It's since expanded enormously, though Jay and Acacia aren't around anymore. You can find lots of information on our wiki, which has a link up at the top of the Board.

... It looks like the Sunflower Official has taken over the wiki's front page, but don't mind about that. It's all very meta. Somebody with admin will put it back to normal soon, probably, and you can still find all the most important stuff in the drop-down links right of the sunflower logo at the top of the wiki.

Let us know if you have any questions. ^^

~Neshomeh

Welcome to the PPC, man! We love newbies, and we can tell you that you are definitely doing it right.

Here, have some Ligeti for the road: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPgwF3G5i4k

I don't normally greet newbie types (because I'm very laz- busy), but I was one of the two people who wrote that mission. (The other was Neshomeh.)

I've never had anyone introduced to the PPC through my stuff before, so that's kind of cool! Just do the stuff July suggested in her post, and you'll fit right in.

Welcome to the PPC. And yes, you're doing this right.

Check out the wiki here: http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/PPC_Wiki It's got a whole page explaining who the PPC is and what they do. :)

Welcome to the board! You've already made the first step, which was reading a mission and then posting here. The next step is to just hang around and read spin offs and the original series.

Just by posting on the board you're a PPCer.

If you want to write your own spin off, you just need to do the above, and after you feel you have a good idea of what to do and how, and have hung around long enough to feel you're comfortable, you can ask for permission. You just need your own writing sample and agent profiles to do that.

Check out our wiki and just relax and have fun, and again, welcome!

Well, this is an interesting development.

The author contacted me via PM, and let me know the following:

-She acknowledges that the story is bad
-She has since stopped writing it
-She did use a translator for it
-She was 9 years old at the time of writing it*
-She has since taken much more English, and is writing better stories recently, which she hopes can now stay up
-She is now of an appropriate age to be on fanfiction.net

Well, that explains it. I'm going to ask her to take this particular story off, as it is not appropriate for fic written by a grade-schooler to be published on fanfiction.net. This will probably affect the idea of a dramatic reading, but I'm at least glad that she was receptive to feedback and is now improving her writing. (Her two recent stories are much better in quality, so even if they're still badfic, I'm willing to go easy on her because she's demonstrated a willingness and ability to improve her writing.)

* = which just proves that she didn't know enough English to read fanfiction.net's TOS. Note to authors: don't post fic to a place if you can't even read the rules! But I digress.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7606959/1/Skyelock_Holmes_and_the_Case_of_the_Blue_Diamond

...I think this is the most unpleasant crossover I have ever had the misfortune to read... at least, that doesn't include a Mary Sue or uncanonical relationships.

o.e

It is possibly to divine roughly what's happening. Some of the syntax is bass-ackwards from standard English ("then jumped on a coach Jack"), but if you turn it around it works.

That doesn't explain "gently," though, or why the Black Pearl is in a bottle on a shelf. O.o

You might revive AW's Fangirl Fanfiction Translator™, perhaps?

~Neshomeh

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7434545/1/A_Sad_Sad_Day_of_Endless_Eternal_Angst

So angsty. So much potential. Somebody read it?

... how the heck did 'galumphed' make it in there? That's a Jabberwocky word, no translator should just throw it in there.

(Which makes me wonder: when they translated Looking Glass into other languages, what did they do with Jabberwocky?)

The question for you is, are you going to try and recreate the story as the author intended it and kill it that way, or (possibly more interesting, but very surreal) rewrite it as literally as possible? Which would lead to something like:

This is definitely translated from Dutch. There are a few mispelled words left untranslated.

As for the story...
I can understand the majority of it. Though the constant (mis)use of the word "gently" as a verb makes me think it was mistranslated.

I can translate it for you. Not from dutch I mean. I speak google translate. As far as what your agents will do however, I have no idea.

Though from what language, I couldn't even begin to tell you, though judging from the fact that the author is from the Netherlands, I'd say it's most likely Dutch.

As for suggestions, I have two: One, you could have a DoSAT gadget to help try to untangle this mess, or two, just try to battle through it the best you can.

1. To be honest? It is up to you. If you feel that the remaining stuff is minor enough (a few bullet casings, handgun, etc, etc,) then you can have it fixed with the canon when the main offenders are removed. As for the scenario you proposed, you can absolutely use it! Having to sweep a forest completely for bullet casings would be funny for a punishment. Granted, no one wants to read the entire excruciating process, but a small scene with the agent bemoaning the fact that he/she has to (and possibly more) would definently be welcome!
   
   Being creative in how you handle missions is always a good idea!
   
   2. I have only briefly glanced at Trigun, but if the agents were to use the sniper rifle, and the canon (or the canon itself) could identify it as a sniper rifle, or gun, then you should be fine.
   
   Star Wars, for another example, has guns. Slugthrowers, and based on the wiki page, they have around the same variety we do. The only thing is they are less favored compared to blasters and other energy weapons. So, while using a gun would not violate any rules, it would be out of the norm.
   
   To be completely safe, do a bit of canon research and see if said weapon (be it gun, sword, or some other strange implement) have some basis in the canon, and wouldn't raise too many eyebrows.
   
   3. Yes, and yes. Betas are your best friend, and they are there to help you. It IS best to always go over your work first, as a habit. Picking off the easier mistakes makes their job all the easier! While not a requirement, they do give you an extra net for your work.
   
   As for your permission piece, using a Beta is allowed. It is ALWAYS a good idea to listen to your Beta's thoughts, and while the final say is always up to you, they are there only to help you.
   
   4. Claiming a fic is perfectly fine, as long as you leave a note mentioning that you still need permission. As for the OC... he COULD be a Stu. They don't really have to be the best at anything, it is more about being believable. Is his strength in magic (or that type) something that baffles others?
   
   I hope this helped. if not, feel free to leave a reply and I'll be sure to try and help some more! I can also be found in the IRC (link at the top) around 7PM or later most nights.
   
   Here is a link to the Beta Readers Directory, in case you need it. http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/PPC_Beta_Reader_Directory

I'm not the best person to answer, being new myself, but having read far too much of the PPC Wiki, I can say a bit.

For 3... It's probably best to get a beta. But proofreading it yourself beforehand is also a good idea, because they might miss something.

Now, for 4...
I'm not completely sure, but with the description thing, I remember reading... somewhere about a character who wasn't described, and because of that, had white hair and eyes, I believe.
I think that may have been an agent, but I really can't remember who.
I'm pretty definite that would class as a charge. I think you might be able to spork that fic anyway, just based on the terrible spelling and grammar. I can see quite a bit of humour potential.

Hope I was a bit helpful, even though I explained barely anything.

I'll try to answer to the best of my ability, but a more experienced boarder should make sure that these are correct.

1. My assumption is that canon snaps back into place once the main offenders have been taken care of. For example: In one of PC's missions, a character is in a high school setting when they aren't a high schooler. Once the Sue was killed, the character's clothing switched back to the way it should be.
For non canonical locations, I believe DOGA takes care of that. I doubt the agents would be expected to clean up every bullet in a forest, but the gun would remain and have to be taken out.

2. I believe that it would be okay. If a character from that canon looked at a sniper rifle, would they know that it's a gun?
Agents that go to the Harry Potter continuum CAN bring guns, because muggles use them, and muggles are part of the canon. I assume the rule is that if it's plausible for a weapon to exist naturally in the canon, then it's okay.

3. Beta's are allowed, but don't forget to go over it yourself. That's what I did. *blushes*

5. Wait no, 4. You ARE allowed to claim a fic even without permission. Just be sure to put it on the list and have a note that says something like "Pending permission" next to your name.
For the second part of your question, a Stu is a Stu is a Stu. They don't have to be the BEST at everything for them to be a Stu, that's just a common trait.
As for the wiki, I know what that's like. Every time I edit something I'm always scared i'm going to break the page. To edit a page, hit edit. You probably already knew that though. Then, just follow the examples of the things already on the page.

Thank you for asking so nicely, and for looking for the answers before you ask. Hopefully this will clear some of your questions up. If it didn't, feel free to ask more!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMqz_vc22_g
It's a Game of Ponies.

This continuum is quarantined, so we can't do missions in it even when the badfic does roll in.

I don't know a thing about the Nanoha Universe, so that may or may not be an issue, but if you still need a Beta, I could do it.

Overall, I think this is a pretty decent piece. You do a good job setting the mood through description and word choice without delving too much into purple prose.

One of my problems with the story is almost all of it is told to the audience rather than shown. I personally would have preferred to actually see Lothar's final fight and recruitment first-hand, rather than through a narrative flashback. The story just feels a bit dry as it stands.

The other big issue I had was with the ultimate act of recruitment. As far as I understand, PPC agents don't just swing through continuums looking for ordinary people to recruit. Most agents that I've seen were either rescued from badfic or fell through naturally-occuring plot holes. I'm sure there are a few exceptions scattered throughout PPC history, but this instance just seemed a bit odd to me. What made Lothar so exceptional as to warrant rescue?

A bit more explanation would have been appreciated, too. Helghast go through massive amounts of propaganda indoctrination, if the games are any judge. How was Lothar able to shake off his programming so easily?

Other than that, I just had some little nitpicks. You mix up your tenses in a few spots ("have" and "had" seemed to be the most common in this regard.) There's also a few redundant moments here and there ("Like his brethren, he was armed and clad in the same fashion of his kin," for example.) Finally, the developer of Killzone is Guerrilla Games, not Gurrilla.

I look forward to seeing your next installments.

http://poni.0au.de/story/12047/1/The-Marvelous-Adventures-of-Pinkie-Pie%3A-Crasherdude-Awesome-VS-Mooncloud-Shadowdancer/Pinkie-vs-Crasherdude-vs-Mooncloud

It's just a normal day in Ponyville when Pinkie's Pinkie sense alerts her to an impending Mary Sue fanfiction. Things take a horrifying turn for the worst when Ponyville is invaded by not only not only one of the obnoxious characters but two! Now the very fabric of reality is in danger as the two OC ponies fight for dominance and only Pinkie can save the ... integrity of the fourth wall. We're doomed.


This. Is. Awesome.

...here's an absolutely hilarious parody of Mary Sues I found over in the Hunger Games continuum:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7756373/1/

It's called "Mary Sue Always Wins! Especially In HUNGER GAMES!", and I swear I have never laughed harder at fanfiction. I think the best thing about it is that it knows its main character is a Mary Sue, and it just runs with it. And the crazy thing? It's literally spot-on with how it portrays Mary Sues.

MLP/FALLOUT. MLP/STARGATE. MLP/DRESDEN FILES.

Yet, I can honestly say that THIS is the crackiest thing I have ever seen - thank you, San, for alowing us to enjoy it.

It's actually not that terrible, I don't think. I could see all the characters acting like this, and Celestia's motivation behind... well, that actually makes a certain amount of sense when you think about it. That, and Alice looks relatively IC.

Though, it looks like they were going to continue it, which would've been a good judge for how well the crossover would've worked.

I mean, I am familiar with American McGee's Alice, and it really makes me wonder how this crossover could work. On the one hand, you have MLP, which is a rather bright and cheery continuum.

And on the other hand, American McGee's Alice is... it's actually very grim-dark. Just the art design alone is pretty doggone crazy, but the stuff you see in the game itself gets incredibly creepy. Granted, I have seen grim-dark continua get crossed with MLP before in a context that actually manages to incorporate the tones of both continua without it feeling like there's a jarring tone change, but it's really hard to do right, and I don't know if this fic could manage it.

But it managed that far, so... yeah.

... is pretty cool, actually! I enjoyed it. Makes me wonder, did the Infernal Train turn up because Alice was there? It is her mind, it makes sense she'd take her insanity with her. Was it the Red Queen's plan all along? Sinister! I'd read more of this if it existed. ^_^

~Neshomeh, who hasn't actually played AMG's Alice, just knows enough to get on with.

I mean, those two don't even go TOGETHER!

OK, I know nothing about MLP or Alice, but even I can sense the wrongness of this!

I'm familiar enough with Alice's Adventures and Looking Glass to know that anything even loosely based off that world will be quite random, but this... it goes so far beyond random I don't even have a word for it.

...What.

Makes.

No.

Sense.

My.

BRAIN.

Also, you can find a list of all the minis here, for future reference: http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/Mini

ShatteredSanity made one. With MLP fic, too.

We get a whole lot of blasphemy around here. This is nothing new. Just take a breath, calm down, and stop shouting. This presentation is more likely to annoy someone than it is to get them to spork this.

It seems to have touched a nerve for you, but approaching things rationally and calmly is more likely to get results.

-Phobos, your friendly neighborhood something-or-other.

...this will work out. My recent stupidity will has not impacted my commitment to this particular thing. I sent out my postcard already.

Please try to mail your post card before next Sunday (not tomorrow!). I won't be bugging any of you about it until then.

Note to Miah: I don't have an email for you, so I can't give you an address yet. I'll either see you in the IRC, or you can post an email address here.

Get me your addresses! I will distribute them once I have all of them, or Sunday, which ever comes first. Start looking for post cards, and get ready to mail them!

So here's the official update on things. We now have 12 people officially participating. I will keep 'registration' open until tomorrow evening, at which point I will have the final list of people participating.

Since no-one objected, and two people supported the idea, I think we're going with sending me all of your addresses. After that, I will give one address to each person, and they will send their post card to that address. If you are participating, please email me your address no later than Sunday night. My email, once again, is guvnorofspace AT SYMBOL HERE gmail DOT PERIOD THING com.

Ideally, I'd like everyone to have their post card into the mail within a week of getting the address of the person they are sending it to. This is because procrastination is bad! Please let me know when you mail your post cards.

As to the question of how to address them: If you are not comfortable giving your real name, that is probably okay. Real names are of course ideal, but just a first name and a last initial should work. 'Current Resident' I know will work, but that means its legally addressed to anyone living at home with you, so I would discourage that.

Any comments? Questions? Objections? If so, comment!

I'm in! I'll have to scout around for something interesting, but the idea sounds pretty awesome. Which method was decided, are we emailing you our addresses?

Now we just need a secure way to send the adresses. Other than that, I'm down for it!

So long as there's a secure way for our addresses to be shared.

Including myself, and not including Desdenelle (since he has not committed yet) we have eight people who have agreed to this. So I think I'll give it a couple more days and then declare this (first round?) done.

I think I want to work address collection like this: You all email me your addresses. Why? It's simple. I can then distribute them when I have all of them.

The other option is to email the person I tell you is sending you a post card your address. However, that involves multiple people posting their email addresses and is slightly more complicated. The other downside is that I kind of want it to be a surprise who you get a postcard from, and having to give someone (other than me) your address ruins that surprise. Still, it is perfectly doable, and I might be the only one who cares about surprise. So now I ask: What do you guys think?

Email address: guvnorofspace AT SYMBOL gmail PERIOD OR DOT com

But I might not post my home address.

It sounds fun, my only problem is that I kind of live in nowheresville. I do live somewhat near to New York City though, so maybe I could get one from there.

That sounds like fun. Count me in!

I like this idea

I collect post cards, so this is very cool. I'm in!

Definitely count me in.

I kind of live in the middle of nowhere, but I could take the bus to the largest big city.

Also, if you get a P.O. box, you don't have to trust strangers with your address, just saying.

Suppose I participate, and I get to send a postcard to you. Does it mean that I go to the closest souvenier shop, buy a postcard of the Temple Mount / Mt. Carmel / the Dead Sea / whatever and mail it to you?

WARNING: CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS. AVERT YOUR EYES, UNREAD MASSES.

I really like this story. I say 'story' as opposed to 'mission,' as the actual mission itself felt a little rushed. This feels most obvious to me when the action jumps ahead about seventeen chapters with only a quick aside and a recap from the agents to fill in the audience. I'm not saying that we should have been walked through the entirety of the fic, but it doesn't quite hold together as well as it could have. It might have been better just to forget about the one-line reference to the pyrokinetic battle and instead just cut directly to the shell-shocked agents trying to wrap their heads around they have witnessed over the past seventeen chapters.

Besides that minor point, though, the rest of this story was nigh-on golden for me. The characterization was great, and I appreciated how you were able to bring in background information in a fairly natural way. There were no obviously shoehorned-in details to distract from the character interactions.

I think you did a pretty good job with all the postmodern fourth-wall-breaking stuff, especially once you got into that bit at the end. Metafictional elements can be a tricky thing to handle, but I thought everything you did was executed in a well-constructed manner.

Finally, there were a lot of little details I thought were fantastic. Deuce referring to his author as "Mom," the literal plot bunny - just awesome.

Well done! I can't wait to see what story you finish up next.

I WILL DO MY BEST TO ANSWER.

1. Re: Elefunkies - I decided to combine the Party symbols of Democrat Donkey and Republican Elephant for the Elefunkies. I didn't want to use mini-humans ('cause I find that frankly gimmicky) and mini-inanimate objects have always struck me as odd. I figured that the parties themselves were as close to monsters as anything in the show!
1a. I have the second part of that mission written up as well and just need to revise it before it can be posted. owo

2. No OFU, but I'd gladly assist with one. I wanted to run one but my plate's full up enough as is!

3. Re: Non-OFUM students writing fanfic, not sure what you mean...and personally I wouldn't reference OFUs that are as-yet nonexistent because I wouldn't want to step on any potential toes. But that is just me.

4. Oh my God, it's been insane but I am working on it. It's been going through a lot of revision. Mini-Jackals are up for adoption if y'all want one. No I have not seen this dA but I am intrigued now. And an IR degree basically makes you good for employment at an NGO, IGO, or government agency. My personal focus is International Security (which I can most likely trace back to Josh's obsession with the smallpox data in The Crackpots and These Women) and nonproliferation. I also feel that Star Trek could have been handled better on TWW...we Trekkers are maligned enough without outside help, lol. But it kicks ass that our president is a Trek fan and blerg blerg my tumblr isn't interesting also it is full of slash blerg

blerg

lady...

space.

Would it be reasonable for the aforementioned long conversations between 2-3 people to be taken to e-mail or IM or something when they start to make long blank white spaces on the Board? Or, at least wrap the conversation back to a new line from the original post to limit the horizontal stretching and resulting blank whiteness?

If nothing else, is there maybe a setting that would limit the stretching?

~Neshomeh

Communities change over time. Sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse. There are reasons that the Board doesn't have those large longspanning conversations anymore.

The board isn't equipped for this sort of numbers. Look through the last few pages. At any given point, an extremely large portion of the threads are newbies posting a thread to say hi. Or posting another new badfic thread. There isn't much room for actual discussion or conversation or games in all that with how we are currently organized.

The PPC is unique. Or at least, it was. We can't have those sort of conversations due to how many newbies are around that have no idea what's going on or what it'd be about. We can't get them involved before another pack shows up! There's no time or space for a round of Fill the Plotholes, or a seasonally appropriate fight with water or snow or mud.

Beyond that, most of them aren't used to operating with something that allows for multi-linear multi-person conversations. How are we supposed to have any long conversations about anything when there's so many new people around? We don't know them. They don't know most PPC stuff. Fandoms in common are becoming increasingly rarer.

A nice long discussion about LotR? Barely any LotR fans around anymore. The first part of the Hobbit is going to likely be in theaters by the end of this year. There's been a vast flow of articles, trailers, and shots from the filming. None of this has been on the board.

A long conversation about the PPC? How are they supposed to take part? So many of them are so green they are still asking stuff that would be answered if read the original series, or even the newbie stuff on the wiki.

I would love to see actual discussion on the board, but there's so much that we can't really do anymore because there's not the necessary base of knowledge.

It also prevents those long fun things, too.

Snowball fight? Well, that's not going to last very long. It'll drop off the front page within a couple days because of newbies wandering in.

Shipfic fest? The last one didn't last very long either, between the aforementioned newbie thread swarm that seems to be a constant these days, and the newbies being reluctant to take part.

Traditions can only be maintained when there is a sizeable enough group to continue it and that know about it. You can't argue about things no longer happening when people barely know each other or know about things that are in theory held in common.

The PPC's current system is obsolete. We cannot have this many people and have it be rules and order minimal and be on a single board like this, but still expect everything to go on perfectly fine, because things are not actually going on perfectly fine as it is.

I just spent the last few hours looking through the last several pages of the board. The criticisms you had about the board as it is now are very minute. They don't address the real problem. If we don't make some changes, rehaul where we have the PPC set up and how the writer side of it is handled, this will be a shell of a fictional organization without a good community of writers and readers behind it.

Things need to change. Whether it needs to be with actual rules and order, or a new board, or even both, I don't know, but looking back and thinking to Ye Golden Days- any of ours- and complaining how it should return to that will not fix the problems.

July, now with 100% less bee guns, but still grumpy because this distracted her from finishing the survey up for this year, and now she is going to have to add even more questions to it and remove the starfish.

I'm somewhat amused that I'm one of the few people making the long conversations, haha~
I knew I rambled, but... XD

It seems slightly... depressing, I guess, to see that the board is slow compared to what it apparently used to be like.
I hope the board picks up again, despite having never known what it was like back when it was really busy.
...I might try and recruit people to the cause, maybe. I know I'm not the only person I know IRL who hates badfics.

I don't mean to hog the entire board! :c I need to stop being so Newbie Ranger Excitement Pink-y and talk a lot less.

...It does seem like this board is slowly dying. :c

Okay. Before I being in earnest, let me apologize in advance if any part of the following post seems overly confrontational or aggressive. My intention isn't to pick a fight; I just want to air my reaction to some of the things in your post.

Regarding posts: I believe that there are still circumstances that require the guidelines regarding new threads. The Board may not move as fast as it did in the past, but you have to realize that many people are not checking the Board every day, or possibly even every few days. If someone in their well-intentioned naiveté puts up a great deal of new threads, those PPCers who swing by on an irregular basis might miss something. New missions or announcements can get knocked down the page by repetitive or redundant threads - out of sight, out of mind.

I'd also like to think that we're not "telling people off." We're not insulting or haranguing people who create a lot of new threads; we're just giving them a little nudge, is all.

Finally, what really got me steamed was the little comment about you "still having some hope for the PPC despite the fact that [your] wife says it's useless." This addition is uncalled for, unnecessary, and a little insulting. Framing it as being someone else's opinion doesn't help. By saying that you still "have hope," you portray the PPC as something in decline, a group that has fallen out of a Golden Age. The statement suggests that those in the PPC now don't compare to those writers who have already come and gone. Criticize if you must, but don't wound us with backhanded praise.

PC

I hope you're right about the board reviving; I love PPC fiction as a rule, even if some of the fics reviewed make me want to gouge out my eyes with a rusty spork.

Oh, man, that was such a great cartoon. It's been years since I read it, but I think it'll be nice to refresh my memory on that.

(On a side note, we do actually have some Calvin and Hobbes stuff that goes around HQ. You know the cardboard box that's supposed to replicate things? Well, in the PPC, it actually DOES replicate things!)

I don't know if I'll have time to beta-read it, but send it my way and I'll take a look at it.

Many of us put our unfinished (ie unbeta'd) missions up on Google Docs, because it's free and you can control exactly who can see and edit and make comments. All it takes is signing up for an account, and has all the tools you need for beta reading.

Also, a it is sometimes beneficial to have a beta who specifically doesn't know the continuum, so they can point out the in-jokes that you understand but that other people might not so that you can clarify them, which is especially helpful if you work in a small continuum (like, say, I'm currently working on a mission in the Brother Cadfael continuum, which at last count only one other person in the PPC knew about).

/my two cents.

I haven't an actual clue, but I'm assuming it's a complaint from someone who had their fic PPC'd.
I think, anyway.

Nice to see you again! {= D

Regarding that post, there's been a troll going around posting reviews on stories that have been PPC'd, telling how we're all evil and stuff and linking back to us. Maybe this person was tipped off by the troll, though if so, they're the very first one to react like this.

We actually had someone else turn up wanting to join the Board as a result recently, so yeah. *g*

I think I'll reply. *puts on Customer Support Hat and rolls up sleeves*

So hey, do you think you'll be hanging around awhile?

~Neshomeh

Video games do not use the mind? Lies! Many video games use your mind. All the Ace Attorney games, Professor Layton, and many other games force you to think! Portal has been used to teach physics! You lie, sir, you lie!

Joel Stein? YOU FAIL! While he is an intelligent dude, he is just a big ol' idjit about this particular subject.

I will continue to cheerfully read everything from Dr. Seuss to The Hunger Games to Great Expectations - all in the same day, if I feel like it! I will also continue enjoying Pixar movies!

I don't really care for the belief that kids books/shows should be for kids only, especially the well-written ones...

If I may nudge into your post a bit, I just found another article about being told what not to read:

http://saundramitchell.com/blog/2011/08/20/the-problem-is-not-the-books

It's good to see that he bothered to do some research before forming this opinion, oh wait, no, he didn't 'I have no idea what “The Hunger Games” is like... I don’t know because it’s a book for kids.'

I wonder how he knows it's a book for kids if he's never read it? Personally I think it does have the depth of characterisation that he so blithely assumes it couldn't possess; Peeta's line of 'wanting to die while I'm still me, and not be changed by them' (I forget the exact quote, and can't find my copy of the book) is proof enough of that.

That article is the most infuriating thing I've read in quite some time.

I love how much of a child Stein comes off as in this article. Have you ever met a kid who determinedly only did thing that were considered 'adult' without any true understanding of the word? The article reminds me of this more than anything.
Also, I love that he seems to imply that all 'adult' literature contains heavy and great ideals just by virtue of their target age range. Sturgeon's law applies across the board, and there is just as much schlock for adults as there is for kids.
Besides, 'children's' books come with an awesome community.
I will never give up young adult literature. And I will be less ignorant that Mr. Stein for it.

. . . that reading is some chore we must commit to in order to remain distinguished and refined. Ha.

Ha ha.

Reading is for entertainment. Yes, it (hopefully) makes us think, see from other perspectives, learn new things, but we don;t read because it's our job. We don't read out of some obligation to be (or feel, or appear) intellectual.

We read because it is fun!

The Brony knows this feel. As much as I've grown to detest Narnia over the years, I love C.S. Lewis for that one quote, because he's damn right! I may be an Atheist, but God bless him.

You know, it's funny. These people call us childish, and yet- wait a second!- they're the ones making judgments about us based on our passtimes. To me, maturity isn't a matter of your interests. It's a matter of discretion, responsibility, and behavior. A mature person, for instance, may watch MLP. So can an immature person. The mature person understands why clopfiction is good sporking material and bad dinner conversation, whereas the immature person does not. It's all about being able to behave appropriately for the role you're in and the setting. For instance, being a mature person, I do not bring up fart jokes when I am speaking to a classroom full of students, when I'm their instructor, but I do bring them up while I'm on break with them, enjoying some bonding time and a slice of pizza, when I'm their friend.

Like I said, it's all about whether or not the actions/conversation/whatever is appropriate for the role you're fulfilling and the setting you're in.

Makes me think of this quote:
“Critics who treat ‘adult’ as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

― C.S. Lewis

"I appreciate that adults occasionally watch Pixar movies or play video games. That’s fine. Those media don’t require much of your brains."

Yeah, why don't you try playing Professor Layton or deciphering the plot of Chrono Cross or making it through Mother 3 without crying and then say video games don't require much of your brain.

Oh, and apparently, "Books are one of our few chances to learn." I think the phrase "our few chances to learn" pretty much explains this whole article.

*Naked Gun epic facepalm*

There are enough people who say that adults should only watch live action because animation is for children. But YA novels being for children, that's a new thing.

But yeah, all the things have been said and I agree that this is just stupid.

You can claim it even before you get permission (right now, in fact). Just put "Pending Permission" after your name on the claimed page. No problem. Lots of people do it, so they don't miss out on one they really want to spork.

And I'm not just talking about getting Permission. I'm talking about the sporkability of your target. I haven't read it, but it seems to be of legendary badness. Or nigh-legendary, whatever.

Thing is, bad doesn't necessarily mean sporkable. Many badfics are just spiraling into the realm of What-is-this-I-don't-even. Or they're boring in a way you can't riff on.

So, take this as a general advice, in case you get Permission: Look at your fic. Now look at me. Can you make it funny? If yes, go on with it. If no, leave it be, as enraging as it is to you.

Options I would have picked were they available:

Single! Hurrah!

(Do you use betas?) Yes, I usually have another person read over my fics before publishing. [but usually just one, though the person varies]

Wow, I'm an idiot.

And holy cow, I just saw that in last year's responses, someone else said they liked Dragaera! :D

I realized after I had finished it that I read one of the 'why' questions as a 'what' question, so, uh, yeah. It'll be obvious which one when you look at the results.

I answered primarily on a 'right now or in recent memory' basis. For instance, I used to read at least three books a week, sometimes more than one in a day, and for all I know I could decide to pick up that habit again tomorrow. Or perhaps I'll decide to finish one of my fanfics and get it beta'd. Who knows?

I also stopped being serious when I got to 'Favorite Pairing' and 'Lust Object', in case it wasn't clear.

How come no questions about non-action-type departments and stories?

~Neshomeh

...Why is there no 'do you go to college' option? Or does that already count under 'Vocational/Technical School'?

Do NOT put your fandoms in a 'one per line' list!

Use commas, for the love of things!


-July, who cannot read the spreadsheet results now on the computer she mainly uses

I came, I saw, I pwned.

But what if I can't remember when I first joined up?

And in genres that I write, cam I include the stuff I want to write?

How many books do you read can be fictoin or non-fiction. Since I'm a history major, the number of books I read is significantly higher than the amount of original fiction I read. (Although there is some crossover.)

There's just no time to list every single 'verse.

To quote Eleanor Lamb from "Bioshock 2": "Done and dusted, [father]."

It would be handy if there were more "Don't know" options. I have absolutely no idea how many pieces of original fiction I write per year. I had to do a guesstimate.

Also, according to the Previous Results page, nobody had tried to get Permission and been denied, but eight people had been denied for Other reasons.

Where was the starfish? I liked the starfish.

You've got a bug in there somewhere - it asked me why I hadn't read TOS, and when I tried to 'Back' out, kept giving me error messages.

hS

I'm assuming that you want your agents to remark on the actual, grammatical way the characters would say that. But, being as the main characters are from Alera, then they might have slightly different grammar.

...but if you're looking for the nominative of the other two, that's libertas et ultio. If you're looking for the ablative, however, you're right.

I can only boast a few years of high school latin, but that looks pretty correct to me.

Though, I must say that pornography linked without warning is usually unappreciated.