I have been in the same boat time and time again. I click one link, then another, then boom! Two hours of potential writing time gone. Here are a few practices I've taken on in an effort to curb that. Give 'em a try.

Scheduling
Organize your time. "I'm going to write from this time to this time, have an hour or so to unwind and grab a bite to eat, then resume writing at this time before calling it a day at this time." Writing it down helps.

If you need to do research for a specific subject you might be covering, set aside an hour or so before hand. If you're in the middle of writing when you discover you need to look up a subject, write down what you want to look for on a piece of scratch paper. Then, set it aside until after you've finished your allotted writing time.

Disconnect
From the internet, I mean. If you're hooked into a modem or a router, unhook yourself. If you're on a wireless connection, turn it off. If you can't go cold turkey, I think there might be parental control softwares you can use to limit your internet usage to a certain amount of hours per day. But don't quote me on that one.

Don't push yourself
If you really don't feel like writing, then you shouldn't force yourself. You'll only end up with a lackluster product. Just try to relax, finish what you're doing, and set up a time to get some proper writing done in the future.

I would also suggest taking a look at Scrivener. It's a writing program specifically designed for writing projects of all stripes - short stories, novels, scripts, research papers, work reports, and so on. The aspect of it most relevant to what I've been talking about is its full-screen editing mode. It's just like it sounds: the project fills up the screen and can only be dismissed through the escape key. You can't just click out of it.

One caveat: Scrivener was originally created for Mac computers. They have a PC version, but I've never used it so I don't know how it compares.

Food for thought, anyway!

Phobos is absolutely right. Paper and pen are invaluable. If you're having trouble focusing on the task at hand, cut yourself off from the source of the distraction. Ninety percent of my writing is done in a plain old composition book, usually while watching TV or relaxing after work; it keeps me from spending too much time in the depths of Cracked or sporking sites.

On the other hand, that's not to say that you can't enjoy the occasional bit of irrelevancy. And I wouldn't even call the Cassandra Claire mess irrelevant, to be honest--it's a fascinating study of human foibles and fandom screwups. The Ms. Scribe saga is my personal favorite.

I learned something about myself last year during NaNoWriMo. I cannot be trusted with an internet connection, if there is writing to be done. I spend more time looking at Failblog and Cracked than I do working on whatever I am working on.

So, how did I fix it? Simply put: notebook and pen.

I find that I get far more done if I am writing things out by hand, away from an internet connection. It is slow going and it is painful, at times. You have to deal with hand cramps and (in my case) sometimes not being able to read your own handwriting. In the end, though, it really worked for me.

-Phobos

Maybe it can work for you?

I too have recently discovered this and am reading a goodfic named Forward. It's AU, but explains that at the beginning.
Link for those who want seventy odd reasonable length chapters more stuff to read in their lives:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4099993/1/Forward

With my chronic laziness, I'm not sure that I'm the best person to answer this question, but I've found that getting organized really helps when I want to do work. I set myself a goal, like "I want to write a fic about [insert series you're currently fired up about]" or "I want to write a fic to practice writing action scenes". Then I start sketching out an outline and write myself a little plan so that I'm not just making it up as I go along. That way, I get to ration the excitement that comes with starting up a new project, and hopefully it goes on for longer.

Welcome back to the board. I've just come back from a stint of inactivity myself.

There's a whole internet show for that. It's called "What the F*** Is Wrong With You". It's NSFW, but the philosophy behind it is that laughter is the only weapon we have against stupidity. Come to think of it, that philosophy is pretty similar to what the PPC does...

Anyways, yeah. Just laugh. And believe me, I know all about the bad side of fandoms. One of my favorite fandoms is Kingdom Hearts, which is notorious for it's fanbrats squeeing over the bishonen characters (Which is pretty much every single original character in the series and the Final Fantasy ones), Mary Sue's abound, and ship wars.

So all you really can do is laugh.

You get tired of beating your head against a wall. Or I did, anyway. I still watch The Daily Show, but I gave up reading badfic, reading fandom_wank, etc. It just gets to be tiring, and there's enough to be angry over in this world without going out of your way.

That, and if I spend four hours on my laptop... if I've spent four hours writing and, say, building something in Minecraft, it feels good. If I've spent four hours reading badfic and going "AAARGH, why would anyone write that?!" it feels like I've wasted the day.

There's a lot of excellent 'fic in Firefly-verse. If you're into Sandman, search AO3 for "Endless Moments," it's a really awesome series crossover with Sandman and Firefly.

It also depends on what the subject is... a scientist in the real world is hard to write unless you know a decent amount about their science (such as, you've taken a college course in it at least.) One of my pet peeves with books in the real world is people who write "experts" in a subject that get things you learn in a high school class on the subject wrong. (For example, nuclear radiation is not an infectious disease and is not transmittable by blood... yes, there is a published book where they make that mistake. They also use bio hazard suits. The main character is supposedly a world-renowned expert in nuclear radiation. And the book is a New York Times bestseller, but that's a rant for another time.)

On the other hand, if you want to write a teenager who has astrophysics as their main hobby, you can get away with them getting things wrong, because they aren't expected to be experts by the audience. (Especially if they've been researching online.)

If you have it set in a world that isn't supposed to represent the "real world," you get a lot more leeway to make things up. Don't know much about psychology? A fantasy mind healer doesn't necessarily have to. Results may vary, but psychology at least is something where proof is hard to come by. Physics is not.

Long story short, if doing a science, please at least find some recent basic textbooks on it at the library. On the other hand, you can have a person who is a particle physicist and hardly ever mention any specifics of their job if the plot doesn't require you to do so. I know they make and look at graphs a lot and collide particles comparatively little.

Tangentially, I went on a field trip to Fermilab last month and realized that my grasp of particle physics is significantly less than the square root of my reach.

We were lucky enough to get a visit from sci-fi novelist Kim Stanley Robinson, so we all grilled him for advice on writing.

One of the subjects we broached was that of research. Being a science fiction writer, of course he had a lot to say about it. One of the things he said stuck with me: he would apparently spend hours researching a certain topic if it was relevant to his story, and more often than not the results of said tireless research would be a few sentences, or a paragraph smaller than the width of three of his fingers. But it was still necessary, because sometimes it's those few sentences or that small paragraph that enriches the story and makes it more real for the reader.

So, sometimes it'll take a lot of research to write only a small part of the story or the setting, but I guess what one must take from this is to be patient, and to give the story the love, care, and effort it deserves, even if it seems like the end result is a lot smaller than you would have liked.

I know what you're going through, though. I like to have diversity in my characters, particularly when I write urban fantasy. Lately I've been interested in having a main character who is devoutly religious, or a supporting character who is a priest or a minister. I am agnostic. I have no idea how being religious works, or what priests do, beyond what I've seen them do on Supernatural (which I'm fairly sure is not a reliable source).

How interested are you? If we were limited to writing what we already know... well, fanfiction would be a good deal less shiny.

Go ahead and write particle physicists. Just be aware that when you plug it to the PPC, we're going to expect that you've done research to support your character's view on antiprotons or goodness I don't even know. What is an antiproton. So.

How much?

...if you want a character to pick a lock, you might get away with them just carrying a set of lock picks.

If you want a character to perform surgery, then head off to the library and get a book on the thoracic cavity.

I guess it depends on how much you need to move plot & dialogue forward.

Hmm.

I'm sorry if that wasn't as helpful as you'd like. I just can't think of a concrete answer, like, "Always do three hours of research", because circumstances vary so much.

Keep 'em coming if you still would like to chime in. Some great angles on the issue so far! For the record, the particle physicist was just a hypothetical character.

Research is absolutely key, admittedly, but it can be done. For example, one of my many, many agents is a British soldier from the Special Air Service, something I have no personal experience of. However, I've done a hell of a lot of research into the SAS, requested advice from people who know more, etc. and come out with what seems to be a fairly believable mostly-finished product. :P

So yeah - research and then have a go. Worst comes to worst, you make mistakes and can then go fix them.

If you don't know something, you've got the entire internet to do research on. Or, at least, that's how I work. I have relatives who've lived on every continent (except Antarctica), I've got a genealogist in my family, computer programmers, mechanics, three members of the military, and access to research sites and forums if I don't know something.

I don't know diddly about particle physics, but I know where to look to find the basic information that'll make my character appear to know what they're talking about.

I personally think that, as long as you do basic research--which will, theoretically, lead to a lot more in-depth research--then you can write just about anything. As much secondhand knowledge as your brain or harddrive can hold would be my recommendation, though.

There's a quote by Thoreau that I think illustrates my point: "Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." Our theoretical particle physicist character is the castle in the air; the research you need to do is the foundation you should put under it. (Which is pretty much my approach to writing. London sewers are a fascinating subject, by the way.)

But that's just me, and I need to stop rambling and start doing college stuff like I should be.

-Dragormir

There are characters who are into stuff I don't know much about, but if I need details, I go and look them up. Even though I write an awful lot of computer science people... yeah, I feel most comfortable with stuff I know.

For stuff I only know superficially, I ask Wikipedia and go on from there, depending on what details I need. Also, I have an uncanny ability to interpolate things.

... who's in a field I don't actually know (Philosophy)...


... is a first-year University student who ends up in a fantasy world about a week in. Saves time both ways.

There's also a physics student in there somewhere - but I know enough physics to fake it.

Actually my character who most knows things I don't is (occasionally Agent) Lou: depending on when you ask her, she either did English or Biology, neither of which are my Thing. I don't have a problem with writing about her, because, generally, Peoples Is Peoples. If she absolutely has to talk about Bio, I'd look it up or ask someone who knows (see: other people on Research).

hS

I prefer to think of the adage "Write what you know" more as "Don't write what you don't know." If you have a character who's a particle physicist, but you know nothing about particle physics, you probably shouldn't write about that - or, at least, not without doing some research.

Especially for something like particle physics, reading up on it, looking through the internet, or checking out books from the library is a perfectly valid way to know something and therefore write about it.

As for how much you need to know, that depends on what you're writing and why, as well as how big of a part it will play in your story, and how much you or your audience will care if you get some details wrong.

You think, say, Tom Clancy was a spy or a government agent? No, but he clearly did a ton of research to the point that the government was, according to rumor, worried that he actually was a spy because his books were chillingly accurate. And Michael Crichton was no mathematician, paleontologist, or biotechnician - he was a doctor - but Jurassic Park was a brilliant piece of work that got very in-depth in... well, what was cutting-edge science at the time, viewed as a bit dated now, but it's still so good because it's clear that a lot of effort went into the research.

You probably don't need to go to the same lengths as those guys, who are known for showing every single detail of their work. But a working knowledge of whatever you're writing about is important. And if you're not a particle physicist, and never will be a particle physicist, as a writer you should still know what you're talking about. (If you're actually looking for information about particle physics, I'd recommend Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time - it's from the 80s, but I think it all still holds.)

When I was working on my NaNoWriMo a few years ago, for example, I came to a part where I needed to write about black holes. I had very little idea of how black holes actually worked, so I spent several hours of valuable writing time researching. In just a couple hours I was by absolutely no means an expert, but I'd learned enough to be able to finish my story.

As a closing note, I'd just like to say that if everyone wrote from their direct life experiences only, fiction would be a much, much more boring place.


... wow that went longer than I meant it to.

I dislike writing stuff set in the real world for exactly this reason. There is too much stuff to know.
However, I always create a world before deciding what I want to write. The more I know about a world, the easier it is to find something to write about. The only downside is that a lot of the stuff I think up doesn't get used. For example in a story I'm failing to write due to loosing a load of work, I created this huge complex society, based in a swamp and in the 'finished' plan the characters don't even go there. One has a father who came from there, but that's it.

The link for Ultimate Escape Artist got broke. Heh. Here's the real one: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4275069/1/The_Ultimate_Escape_Artist

"Cauterize" was so lovely and tragic... wow. I love these sorts of stories, the explorations of just what happened after the series ended. It doesn't hurt that it's beautifully written, either.

Thanks for bringing this to attention; not only is it an incredible story to read, it's really, really nice to be reminded that there is not only goodfic but amazing fic out there.

I've noticed it too. I really enjoy the series, but I don't even bother with fanfic. I think there are several things that lead to Percy Jackson fics being even more riddled with Sues than average.

One, the series is very welcoming for OCs. Demigods canonically are reasonably common and can turn up anywhere, anytime. They also tend to turn up when they're 12-16 - perfect Standard Sue range.

Two, these kids that can turn up from anywhere are already by default half-human half-(something super awesome). This is already a common Sue trait - and this is canon. It's also very easy to give these characters superpowers and/or tragic pasts.

Three, the series is geared towards exactly the age range that writes Mary-Sues the most.

And, most importantly I think, four: There is a hot single guy. Never underestimate the power this holds. Nearly all the PJO Sues I've found go after Nico di Angelo. He's a hero with a dark past and Kool Goffik Death Powerz. Think of all the Legomancers in LotR fanfic - Nico is PJO's Legolas, in this respect.

(Just putting this out there: I love Nico. I think, after Annabeth, he's my favorite character from the series. Unfortunately, the Suethors seem to share this opinion.)

As July said: if you think a character you're writing is OP, it probably is. Other words: It's really, really, really easy to screw up when writing a demigod and end up with a 'Sue/'Stu in your hands. But, as noted elsewhere, OPness does not necessarily mean Sue. Sues have more traits than just OPness.

That's what those teenagers are. So it is not unusual that you think that they are Mary/ Marty Sues. But I only watched the movies.

Just going to slip these in:

I will not tell Manwë to 'do the windy thing'.
I will not insinuate that Manwë and Varda are John and Rose from Homestuck.
-They don't even know what Homestuck is.
-I won't tell them what Homestuck is.
Nienna cannot bend tears.
Ulmo is not a Water-bender, nor is Manwë an Air-bender, nor is Yavanna an Earth-bender, nor is Aulë a Fire-bender.
-And Illúvatar is certainly not the Avatar.

N. All of the Eleven are forbidden within HQ.
- We don't need any agents on Allswell.
N+1. I will not open a portal to the Nevernever in HQ.
- If I do, I'm responsible for dealing with whatever comes through.
- And the damage.
N+2. I will not set up a fight between Harry Potter and Harry Dresden to "see what would happen".

X. Agent Saline must never be allowed to have a proper conversation with anyone bent on taking over the world.

X+1. I will not make any variation of the "I'd tap this" joke around agents or canons from the Magic: the Gathering 'verse.

- This is mostly for my own good.

X. Under no circumstances are Araminta Meliflua and General Zaroff to meet.

X+1. I will not attempt to use a Retief-verse Jaq as a magic carpet.

X+2. I will not introduce teenage James Potter to Gilda the Griffon.

X+3. If I am in a music shop on the Disc and every instrument has a number, I will NOT test any of the instruments.

- Nor will I buy the guitar labeled "1".

-I will not sell Smile Dip (from Gravity Falls) in Headquarters.
-I will not let BBC Sherlock and Watson meet any movie version of Sherlock and Watson
-I will not allow any blockbuster movie characters to meet cheap, knock-off versions of themselves (Iron Hero and Iron Man, for example)
-I will not do any of the following to get rid of paperwork
--Feed it to a mini
--Use it as mulch to feed the flowers
--Throw it into Mount Doom
--Use it as firewood
--Hide it in any enormous library
-I will not become one of Kiel'ndia Vel'Vloz'ress's princes or princesses.

I will not cause Father from Fullmetal Alchemist and Lord Voldemort to meet just to 'see what happens'.
- I will not give Voldemort a FMAverse Philosopher's Stone.
- Or Father a Potterverse one.
# I will not let Barry the Chopper (from Fullmetal Alchemist) and Dexter meet.

I am not allowed to let a Bolo MK XXXIII into the Mass Effect-verse.
-Or any verse without common laser weapons.
-Or any verse at all. They are PLANETARY siege units after all.

I must not introduce the Replicators from Stargate to the Marvel Avengers-verse.

- Adamantium and/or Vibranium Replicators would be a Very Bad Thing.

- In fact, no introducing the Replicators to any special metals from any continuum beyond their own.

Not allowed to sub-contract assassination missions to canonical mercenaries
- or non-canonical mercenaries
- or any in-universe Assassins' Guild
- or anyone for that matter

# Not allowed to anonymously send the message 'We are discovered, flee at once.' to any agent just to see how they react to it

I will not introduce Candace Flynn and Stacy Hirano to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
I will not put Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Javert into an interrogation room to 'see what happens'.
I am not allowed to dress as Mary Poppins while working in the Potterverse.
-Especially if I'm dealing with Voldemort.
I am not allowed to kidnap Arthur Kirkland, strip and bind him, and leave him as a present to BBC Irene Adler.
-When Mycroft said she was the dominatrix who brought a Nation to its knees, he didn't mean it literally.
In that same vein, introducing BBC Irene to Agent Lux is a Very Bad Idea.
I will not drop BBC Sherlock Holmes into the Labyrinth.
-He's only going to solve it, meet Jareth, and cause Something Very Bad.

I will not introduce Han Solo to Indiana Jones.

-In fact, if two characters are played by the same actor, introducing them would cause quite a bit of confusion.

1563: I will not whistle the tune to "Rainbow Factory" in the presence of any native of the MLP G4 continuum.
-Even if it is pretty catchy.

1564: I am not a chemist. Mixing Bleeproducts with Purple Stuff to make fireworks is strictly prohibited.

1565: I will not administer Eragon Shadeslayer Logicillin.

1566: I will not introduce Dr. Evil to the Evil Overlord list.
-Then again, he might not even understand it.

1567: I will not put Captain Beatty in a library "just to see what happens".
-I will be charged with arson.
--And billed for damages.

1568: No matter how good I am with animals, the Mechanical Hound is not to be approached.
-Beware its sting.

1561: I will not introduce Gamzee to Real World mind-altering substances.

- Zydrate is right out.

1561: I will not strand Sam and Dean Winchester in Gravity Falls.

- Nor will I strand Dipper and Mabel in the Supernaturalverse.

15XX: If Optimus Prime dies during a mission, I am not allowed to say "He always gets better" and ignore the matter.
- Yes, he canonically died and came back to life more than fifteen times already, but he would still need Medical for a check-up. And an oil change, maybe.

15XX+1: No matter how much I think Optimus Prime and Madoka Kaname would be good friends and how much it is true, they are from different canons and so I will not arrange a meeting.
- Besides, Madoka's currently a goddess present everywhere and everywhen in the multiverse, and Optimus spends a sizeable part of his existence in the afterlife. They probably already met.

15XX+2: It doesn't matter how disturbing it is, Tranformers Kiss Players is canon. I am not allowed to spork it.
- It would be a painful job, too.
- For the same reason, I am not allowed to force anyone to see it.

15XX+3: Fifty Shades Of Gray, despite being born as a Twilight fanfic, is currently a canon. I am not allowed to spork it.
- If I go rogue only to kill it, I will surrender to any PPC Agent sent to retrieve me. I will not try to make them join my cause.

1557: I am not allowed to arrange an 'arm wrestling' match between Treebeard and the Whomping Willow.

1558: I am not allowed to start a flame war between Karkat Vantas and Dogbert from Dilbert.
- This also goes for Catbert.
- And Eric Cartman.
- And pretty much any tool with access to the internet.

1559: I'm NOT ALLOWED to put butterfly wings on the Cullens so that I can 'prove' they're fairies.

1560: I am not allowed to give Hammy (Over the Hedge) caffeinated ANYTHING. This includes marshmallows, bacon, and lollipops.

This is the fic I'll be sporking, if there aren't any objections: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7914422/1/The_Dark_Heir_of_Lord_Voldemort

Congratulations! Cookie?

One: Why do you want a yoshi and a cartoon fox for your agents? You explicitly note that they are unusual. So, why do you want a pair that is so far out of the norm together?

Two: We require a writing sample.

... so I'm in the process of rebooting OFUDisc. Given the presence of Elves on Discworld, I think that guarentees an appearence by ISPCE... so we'll see what we see.

(Always assuming I get past four chapters this time...)

hS

I've been racking my brain trying to think of a title. I supposed we could always go with HPLOTRPOTCsues, but that's rather...obvious.

I have a nickname for it, though: "Harry Potter and the Pirates of the Rings."

Perhaps Epicsues -- or Sagasues?

Myth&magicsues?

I'm open to suggestions.

Also, should this be on LJ or dreamwidth? Or perhaps both?

...in operation, like OFUA:TLA and my two, the IAHF and the Modern Baker Street Fanfiction Academy.

Oh, and as a heads up - IAHF has been taken over by Sues from the Mirror Multiverse, but as of now PPC help isn't required until some Grand Finale battle. I want to immerse the students into a war zone and see how "kawaii" they think invading vital regions are after being forced underground by bombings, dealing with food shortages, and living under a Mary Sue police state complete with the systematic execution of more intellectual students.

I remember seeing a fanfic... somewhere, which was sort of similar to an OFU, except... not an OFU, really
It was a Hetalia fic, and people would send in questions about certain writing things, and the author would write a chapter on each one.
Like, there would be a chapter on how to use semi-colons, and how to write good FanFic summaries, and things like that.
I really can't remember what it was called though. I'll search about and see if I can find it again.

That Sue-Report thing especially. I've found lots of badfic that are too short to make a real mission of, and this deleterius thing sounds good! I'm gonna try and post stuff there now.

Who will the prospective colonies fall under? Will they just be extensions of whatever country founded them? I could see that being the backdrop for every rebellion story ever.

Investigating Mars is fascinating, but I think we'd be better off starting out with lunar colonies before we try moving out that far. If nothing else, it would give us time to come up with improved radiation shielding -- one news article I read (I think on the BBC webpage) said Curiosity took enough radiation on the trip to take a hefty chunk out of a human astronaut's career radiation exposure limit, and a human would get even more radiation on the way home.

I'd love to watch the landing live, but 1) the home connection stinks and 2) I have to get up by 5:30 AM.

Beat me to it. Dang.

I am pretty interested in mars development myself. Funny fact, we have the tech to put a human outpost on mars presently, yours for only 1,500,080 easy payments of $19.99!!! (Most of that in rocket fuel).

Plus, depending on future Rare Earth Metal, platinum group metals, and human population growth, there is a real possibility that a Mars colony could pay off long run.

Think of it this way. Comparing space development to the Age of Exploration, Earth is the Old World. Greenland is the Moon. (Fairly) easy to reach, but resourse starved and incapable of holding a large population. The Asteroid belt is the west indies, resource rich, but incapable of supporting a large population.

Mars, however, is like America. It is large, with many and varied resources, and could serve as the start of a new civilization.

I will continue if anyone is interested.

Can't wait for the data to start coming in! Mars is as close to Earth-like as it's gonna get in this Solar System, and if we can get a better picture of its geology (historical and present), we might be able to figure out how to colonize and even terraform it. Sure, that's sci-fi dreams, but we have to start somewhere, right? Plus, maybe we'll finally be able to pin down those tantalizing hints of life on Mars, at least at some point in the past.

Heyo, it's the sporadic OFU writer here. Enjoy measuring things with your new graduated cylinder! -tosses-

Welcome to the Boards! Hope your stay here is (relatively) pleasant and full of amusement!

~Puck

Welcome to the Board! Have some of my hydrophobic water to commemorate the event. Fuels the Improbability Drive!

Have you read the Original Series yet? If not, read it here!

Hope you enjoy your time here!
...hm, I need a gift...
Here! Have a life sized car made out of Lego, with actual wheels on the bottom!
It might not be safe, but it's strong.

Welcome to the board! Have a portable trap! Perfect for ambushing Sues.

Greetings, new friend!

Well, I see you read some fics, but I'm curious: Do you do any writing? If so, what style of story do you tend to create? Do you lean more towards fan fiction or original works?

Hello and welcome! Always nice to see more people around here. Here, have a can of compressed reality, in case you meet any 'Sues in your travels.

What fandoms do you wander in? Which ones' badfic makes you want to take up a flamethrower?

Here, have some rain, there was enough of it last night that I can share. (I'm technically on vacation and camping, but my dad got a couple gigs of bandwidth so he could keep doing work. I've got approval to mooch off it for my own fun. :D)

Hey there. Grab a spot on the shop floor, it's not like we're short of desks. While you're here, have a copy of our Operations and Planning journal, "Farsight". There's a really interesting editorial on advanced logistics.

It's dangerous to go badfic hunting alone. Take these.
*Hands voidoid- various Bleep products.*

So, welcome and hello.

Hi, have some fudge!

What fandoms are your favorites?

Inheritance Cycle twaddle is here.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8199628/1/an_unexpected_change_2

Um... according to the summary and what of it has actually managed to engage my brain on it's way through, Eragon gets turned into a dragon. He and Saphira go to Aberon for some reason... and Nasuada "did jut hat." Don't ask me what that means.

Yeah, mostly I'm seeing horrible, horrible grammar, spelling and formatting (the entire thing is centered)and possibly a charge for Saphira being OOC, hard to tell how much because my brain is refusing to register right now.

Is it bad enough for us?

One wonders what kind of translation manages to cut nearly three thousand words...

Ew. Ed and Roy shipping just doesn't work for me. I can see Ed seeing Roy as an uncle or father figure (because someone needs to hold him to his responsibilities and be a mentor in his life) which is the reason in cannon why Roy worries about the kids and all. They're kids. And they're his responsibility.

Don't you hate it when they spell summary wrong?

Wait - Hawkeye fires at Mustang? My internal CAD is dying.

That the author also does not understand how FMA alchemy works. At all.
-fumes-

Perhaps a series?

If only I could get my wireless scanner to work.

http://lilywinterwood.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d52u0m4 (Link is kinda-sorta-NSFW since it includes a penisshaped ... well, go see for yourself).

It think the Crossover page on the wiki would benefit from having a link to it. Would you (or anyone else) mind that?

You've now pushed me into making a Deviant Art account so I can comment on your work. Curse you!!!

*Shakes fist at the sky*

For some odd reason, that Sue reminds me of the women featured in various shampoo commercials on TV.

...Great Scott, they've invaded my television set.

u no speel lyk a reel sue!!!!!!!!!! u must be.................... PPC IN DISGUESESES!!!!!!! [/Sue]
But yeah, it's great. I just reread IAHF, and broke out laughing at this poster. Now I want to make a PPC recruitment poster. "The Sunflower Official wants YOU to fight Sues. Join the PPC." All I need is the SO with an Uncle Sam beard, and a suit with the DMS logo.

YES. A SHINY NEW MISSION.
I think you'll find a jarring change in writing style between this and the 2008/2009 ones.

Last Smoke Before the Snow Storm, in which the sister of Irene Adler realises that the world does not revolve around her.

You read a lot of books? So do I! We should definitely be friends!
I all seriousness though, or at least as close to seriousness that the PPC will ever get, welcome to the Board! Since you seem to have come from the relative direction of TV Tropes, your welcome gift shall be a Nice Hat. It automatically morphs into whatever style or color you prefer at just the push of a button. I recommend not using it in confined areas, as it has a tendency towards showing off, and will likely turn into an enormous top hat.

Have a bag of pebbles and a Random Shiny Object.

Welcome to the PPC, please leave your shoes and sanity at the door. As a new member you are entitled to a number of things, some of which you have already received like discussions of fandoms and pleas to read the Constitution and the Original Series. One thing that you have yet to receive is a gift from me which I always try to make as relevant or ironic as possible. Since the only fandom I've seen that we have in common is Discworld and I can't think of anything related to that, I grant you some Pockets of Holding* for storing all your new gifts and books that you're looking to read. Enjoy!


*Pockets of Holding are not compatible with ponchos or tie-dyed clothing. ThatOne is not responsible for items lost in the Pockets of Holding.

Welcome to the PPC! You'll like it here. By the way, I'm a Young Wizards fan too (bit behind, but that's life).

-throws graduated cylinder- Have fun measuring things!

Here's some Swiss Chocolate and some Bleepka. You'll need them both pretty soon.

Oh, hello. Nice to see a budding sporker join our ranks, and I see you're a fellow fan of Pratchett's Vimes books. Have you read 'Thud!'? It's the sequel to Night Watch, so if you're reading in order you might want to read that first, if you haven't already. Anyway, have a diurnal owl. Great for if any Agents you get ever need to blend in in a Harry Potter fic.

Oh, and hey! Another AVID! Edanna and Spire are the best Ages.

Have a fat, evil bird.

His name is Deathy McKillCrush III. Ignore his glowing red eyes, his horns, and the fact that he appears to be on fire. He's actually quite well behaved.

Ahm.

Games. Wizards. Play. Tenth one. Probably you know all about it already but here's the ErrantryWiki article on it anyway. Eeeeeeeeeee! ... no one heard that.

Anyway. I'm Lielac, despite the name I'm not a Flower just a punster, have a bottle of essence of glee because I bought a bow and arrows the other night and there was enough delirious joy around me that I took the time to distill it. Now if you'll excuse me, it is 1:40 AM and I have been up since 7:30 AM.

Welcome to the Board! Have some of my hydrophobic water to commemorate the event. Yet another innovation inspired by B.S. Johnson.

So it seems like you've read Pratchett's Night Watch, eh? That's my favourite Watch novel! If you really like the City Watch arc, then I would like to suggest Thud!. It's another Vimes novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Glad to meet ya. What manner of stuff do you read?

Welcome to the board! Have a Schrodinger's cookie. (It contains and does not contain chocolate chips.) Do you read Discworld?

Hi, have some fudge!

I've played Myst and Riven, but haven't been able to find Vista-compatible versions of the other games. (For that matter, I haven't had much luck finding Vista-compatible versions of Myst and Riven, which is one reason the desktop remains on Win98.)

Hi there! If you haven't done so already, read the Constitution (there's a link in the top of the page). Also, what SingingTheThunder said. Last but not least, have a gift: a cup of green tea. Just don't let the leaves eat you.

So, greetings and a quick question: Are there any particular books/genres you're interested in/recommend?
I'm always up for discussing books, but only really read fantasy.

Hey, welcome! We're in the midst of a quiet period at the moment but we're always hiring. Take a desk anywhere on the shop floor; if it isn't free you'll know it. While you're waiting for orientation, have a copy of our in-house adventurers' periodical, Wayfarer's Monthly. In this issue, "Pixel Navigation for the Agent-in-Training". Here's to a long and fruitful career.