...until NaNoWriMo is finished. How did everyone who was participating fare?
I will admit that it wasn't one of my best ventures, though the experiment (have nothing planned out except for who's the protagonist and the setting) was an eye opener; at least have a rough idea of what I want to write. I hit a plot wall about 30k in and the plot that was there was very slow moving. I had to start another story that wasn't fleshed out very much either.
But I did manage to reach the 50,000 today. Much earlier than I usually verify. I'm usually just a couple of hours away from the deadline.
So, how was everyone's NaNo go?
~AW~
-
Just a few more hours left... by
on 2013-12-01 00:44:00 UTC
Link to this
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IntelligentAirhead and I started a week late, by
on 2013-12-03 03:49:00 UTC
Link to this
but we got to about 50,409 words on December 1 in our super long Star Trek Writer!AU. :'D
Then again, the main plot got held hostage in favour of a roadtrip to Scotland to find the Jim Kirk Prime of this AU, so that contributed significantly to our word count. :'D -
51,163! by
on 2013-12-01 18:53:00 UTC
Link to this
On the 29th, even!
It was heaps of fun writing The Kraken-Knights of Wintertide, and not just because I got to keep referencing that title. It was one of those novels where I occasionally sat down and calculated something (such as the instantaneous velocity required for a jet-propelled giant squid to fly in an arc and touch down a couple of miles away), only to discover that I didn't like the answer - and so, being NaNo, I just ignored it and did it anyway. (Magic! Totally magic)
I also managed to keep track of almost all of my plot-hooks, and resolve them by the end - without even using too many deii ex machina. Fun, fun stuff.
hS -
Great going! Will you be making an aim at publication? (nm) by
on 2013-12-01 19:49:00 UTC
Link to this
-
Er... by
on 2013-12-01 19:38:00 UTC
Link to this
...what did you need the jet-propelled giant squid for?
Please don't say it was a dynamic entry vehicle -
All giant squid are jet-propelled. by
on 2013-12-01 20:54:00 UTC
Link to this
And what else would a kraken-knight ride on?
hS -
Point taken. by
on 2013-12-01 21:15:00 UTC
Link to this
Incidentally, what was the velocity needed for your squid to fly whatever distance it needed to cover?
Considering cephalopods aren't the most aerodynamic creatures on the planet and that the mass of a giant squid is something on the order of 150-250kg according to Wikipedia, that ride would have needed a titanic force to get it off the ground.
...and with titanic force goes titanic acceleration. I hope the kraken-knight was wearing their seatbelt.
Am I seriously discussing squid ballistics? Wheeee! -
Exactly. by
on 2013-12-01 21:36:00 UTC
Link to this
Even neglecting air resistance - which of course removes both mass and streamlining from the equations - I was getting answers of multiple thousands of kilometers per second. Even if I managed to make a mistake - entirely possible, this was NaNoMaths - it was still way higher than a human (or kraken) body could withstand - or than a giant squid could produce.
So I ignored it. Maybe the gravity's weaker there, or maybe the squid jet for longer than just while they're in the water, or maybe magic. ;)
hS
(And yes, seat-belts were worn. Or at least, buckles and harnesses) -
Thousands of km/sec seems a bit high... by
on 2013-12-01 22:58:00 UTC
Link to this
According to long-ago lessons in model rocketry, the worst-case for rocket misbehavior is if the rocket launches at about a 45-degree angle. In such a case, it'll only achieve half its expected altitude, but it will cover four times that distance downrange.
To give us nice easy round numbers, let's say that our giant squid is wanting to fly about four kilometers downrange. This gives a maximum squid altitude of one kilometer, enough to clear even the tallest man-made structures on earth. Presumably, this will be plenty of height to clear whatever anti-squid defenses exist to resist the transient cephalopod.
From a kilometer of altitude, disregarding air resistance, an object will take 14.1 seconds to free-fall to the surface, at which it will arrive at an impressive 141 m/s. If the squid happens to have 141 m/s of lateral velocity when it starts its flight, it will also cover two kilometers downrange over that time.
This whole process works backwards too - if the squid can achieve a launch velocity of 200 m/s, at a 45-degree angle, it will cover four kilometers before arriving at its destination. (Assuming launch site and destination are at the same altitude.)
That's a launch velocity of roughly 450 MPH - nontrivial, certainly, but still subsonic. If we assume that a kraken can inhale 25% of its body weight in water, it only needs to eject that at 1 km/sec to achieve the aforementioned launch velocity. A bit beyond the ordinary, certainly, but it's reasonably achievable - the exhaust velocity from the space shuttle's main engines is more than four times that. -
I think... by
on 2013-12-02 09:11:00 UTC
Link to this
... I was probably calculating a 4-mile-or-so flight. I suspect that gave me a speed around about 1000 kph - which, yes, is a lot less than that many kps. ;) It's still, like you say, pretty impressive.
I'm intrigued by your closing statement - the one that makes the whole thing at least moderately plausible (assuming our krakens are biomagically augmented, which they probably are). Assuming you can cover some of the distance underwater - which, with the right plumbing, could provide infinite quantities of water through in a constant stream - I think it's definitely plausible.
Good thing I never drew a map, though. It's a lot easier to fudge if you don't have any actual distances.
Thank you!
hS -
Isn't physics fun? by
on 2013-12-03 05:22:00 UTC
Link to this
Unfortunately, there is one problem with traveling very quickly underwater: cavitation. Water can only re-fill spaces after something has passed through it at a given rate. Once you exceed that rate, the trailing edge of any object (usually propellers) collects little tiny vacuum bubbles. When these collapse (as would be expected from bubbles of pure nothingness underwater), they do so very violently, sending jets of hyper-velocity water and focused ultrasound into whatever happens to be collecting them.
Cavitation is nasty stuff - it eats propellers, impellers, and other high-velocity parts like an unholy combination of sandblaster and water-jet cutter.
On the plus side, if you can get the squid traveling fast enough, you can leave cavitation behind entirely and enter the wild world of supercavitation.
In supercavitation, the shockwave from the leading end of the object (usually with a flat nose and then sharp edges) opens a bubble which, through the application of large amounts of gas and velocity, remains open for the entire length of the object and finally collapses behind it. The object doesn't even get wet - it is flying in a bubble of air underwater.
The Russians played with supercavitating torpedoes - it is theorized that they could hit 300 knots, or roughly half the launch velocity a hypothetical flying kraken would need.
Obviously, establishing and maintaining a supercavitation bubble around a giant squid is a challenge for magic, as it's hard to mount a forward-firing rocket on the nose of a squid. Keeping the squid supplied with water will also be a challenge. The whole process will be anything but subtle - the squid will produce a huge wake as shock waves and then gas bubbles reach the surface.
On the plus side, though, you now have a squid capable of traveling at significant fractions of the speed of sound while utterly immune to lightning, fire, or other mage-friendly weapons. It only needs to travel near a ship to destroy it utterly, and with one good blast, the squid can jump tactically significant distances inland to deliver a cargo of kraken-knights.
You might even have to measure its effective range in kill-o-meters.
-Dann -
Wouldn't any anti-squid defences take that into account? by
on 2013-12-02 00:05:00 UTC
Link to this
Re: One kilometre altitude. I'd think they'd make sure their anti-squid stuff actually has the range to hit the squids they're anti-ing. :P
-
Thesis Month by
on 2013-12-01 17:01:00 UTC
Link to this
Is finished.
I finished my 31 k thesis yesterday. Tonight, I intend to game until I pass out. :D
(31 k of research is arguably harder to write than 50 k of novel: every sentence or so has to be researched and cited. So it totally counts, even though some of the writing was done in October. :D )
Next year, I can do NaNo properly! -
Number Count by
on 2013-12-01 21:48:00 UTC
Link to this
Then you should have done a 19k short story!
Word count is word count. You totally could have used your Paper, me thinks.
Ah well. To next year! (Or Summer Camp NaNo) -
Badly, very badly. by
on 2013-12-01 04:07:00 UTC
Link to this
Besides a ton of problems IRL I kept hitting walls and writers block almost from the off. Managed to squeeze out 29k, which I suppose isn't too bad for a first attempt. But still...
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50k! by
on 2013-12-01 00:51:00 UTC
Link to this
I hit 50k... a week ago. I managed to hold pretty close to 2k a day, plus a few bonus thousands on weekends.
Of course, my protagonist died at 47k and then pulled a Gandalf for the last 3k, but that's beside the point. -
Well, that was unexpected by
on 2013-12-01 17:02:00 UTC
Link to this
Congratulations, sir! Tonight, we drink bleepolate milk in your honor!
-
Kill your darlings! by
on 2013-12-01 01:19:00 UTC
Link to this
I can't say I've ever killed off my protagonist either. That's pretty awesome.
I was hoping to try and do a 2k/day goal, but I was hit by a strange exhaustion this year so there were some days that I didn't write at all. That ruined that plan.
-
Anybody want their characters drawn? by
on 2013-12-01 12:07:00 UTC
Link to this
Kinda bored. Kinda artsy. Need the practice. So, I thought to myself "Why not ask the good people at the PPC?". And thus, here I am opening myself (hopefully unregrettably) to no colour bust requests of their own OCs and what not.
Anyone wanting? -
On second thought... by
on 2013-12-03 21:56:00 UTC
Link to this
I think I can scrape together a description or two :) If you're still taking requests, that is.
If that's the case, I'll happily take a picture of either (or any) of the following:
Agent Bookworm: Male, thick glasses, often looks menacing (sometimes unintentionally). 5’4”. He looks like a teenager, as in, just over twelve years old, although he claims to be fourteen or fifteen. Spiky blond hair, brown eyes. Carries Klingon weaponry and a trophy--a Sue’s sparkly, urple bag.
Agents Naergondir and Gurnirel: Both are Tolkien Elves, so very tall, leaf-shaped ears, and very similar in build. Naergondir is male and has dark hair and grey eyes; Gurnirel is female, and has golden hair and grey eyes (so sue me, every Tolkien Elf has grey eyes. What can you do.) They both probably wear tunics or warriors' gear of some sort. They're very close, although not romantically, and are often (but not always) found looking rather sad. Both probably have long hair, with various braids in it.
I'm very much enjoying the sketches you've been posting (and will now continue to look through them!) Keep up the good work! :)
~DF -
Slightly weird request... by
on 2013-12-03 17:07:00 UTC
Link to this
But could you draw James (Agent Apollo) pre-PPC days, his 'costume' is described here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PLF4LTW0BqfmJdqqm8s33rwyqybsAEMts5gDKLTloms/edit?usp=sharing
with a quiver on his back (because I partially forgot about it when I wrote the scene).
Thanks
Storme Hawk - Are requests still open? by on 2013-12-03 08:58:00 UTC Link to this
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I'm not late to this party... by
on 2013-12-02 23:55:00 UTC
Link to this
...I'm merely fashionably delayed.
If you've still got the time and inclination, I would humbly request a drawing of the boundlessly energetic Rachel Calendar. She enjoys coffee, well-written slash fiction, and high explosives. -
More dynamic! by
on 2013-12-03 04:13:00 UTC
Link to this
MORE COFFEE! -
Very nice! by
on 2013-12-05 15:08:00 UTC
Link to this
She looks suitably gleeful, not to mention suitably caffeinated. Thank you very much!
-
Always! by
on 2013-12-02 14:54:00 UTC
Link to this
I'm a glutton for fanart, so if you don't have too many requests at this point, I'm in. ^^
I think I'd particularly like one of <a href="http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/JenniferRobinson#Appearance">Jenni and Henry Robinson together, 'cause I haven't done one of Henry yet. You can find my most recent drawings of Jenni here, though.
If you feel like taking a crack at my other agents, go for it—Ilraen is an Andalite and Derik has some extensive facial scarring that might be fun if you're looking to stretch yourself—but I won't be greedy.
~Neshomeh -
Whoa there, only a few each customer~ by
on 2013-12-03 02:43:00 UTC
Link to this
Here ya go~ -
Thank you! by
on 2013-12-03 15:16:00 UTC
Link to this
Heh, you do like drawing them on the larger side, don't you? It's an interesting take. I kinda wish you hadn't gotten to it so quickly, though—I hadn't realized you have a preference for verbal references over visual, and I could have given you a lot more detail than what's in the wiki articles. Alas.
*gleefully adds pic to her collection*
~Neshomeh -
Wow, those are pretty good. Why not. by
on 2013-12-02 14:42:00 UTC
Link to this
This is Dafydd Illian. He could be described as tall, thin, with long black hair and pointy ears. Grey eyes, and if you happen to get down that far, he has no right hand. These days he tends to wear light-coloured open-collar shirts with a tunic underneath, simply because he can (being long since retired). He also has a miniature bronze-coloured dragon who sometimes perches on his shoulder, but I doubt you want to draw that. ;)
hS -
And here you go, too! by
on 2013-12-03 02:47:00 UTC
Link to this
Enjoy! -
Definite mixed feelings here. by
on 2013-12-04 21:12:00 UTC
Link to this
On the plus side, the vast majority of the picture is really good. I like the hair, and I'm really impressed by the way you've defined his clothes in just a couple of lines. I also think little Ilwion on his shoulder is absolutely adorable.
But... well, for one, that ear terrifies the life out of me. I'm not sure why - I think it looks a bit too 'spidery' for me. It's scary, either way.
And his face... again, I don't know why it bothers me. There's nothing I can point to and say 'that, right there, is totally wrong'. Just the whole overall effect... I don't know. I think it might be that the mouth looks like it's a 3/4 shot, while the nose and eye say it's a profile. Playing around a bit in Paintshop, I think you might also have his eye a little high up, or a little large, or possibly both.
But like I say, that's really impressive! And the simple detailling on the clothes has me entirely stunned.
hS -
If it's not too much trouble... by
on 2013-12-02 08:08:00 UTC
Link to this
I'd like to request a picture of Gaspard.
His TekTek avatar is a pretty good cartoon representation of him and there should be a decent description of him on his page. I'm not too sure if it matters or not, but I'd just like to add that he's of mixed ancestry: his mother is Caucasian and his father is Chinese. -
And here you go! by
on 2013-12-02 13:53:00 UTC
Link to this
Nope, totally not Matt Smith. Enjoy! -
Many thanks! by
on 2013-12-02 18:12:00 UTC
Link to this
He looks exactly as I imagined him. Hats off to you!
Now that you mention it, he does share some similarities with Matt Smith... -
Wow, all those drawings are really good. by
on 2013-12-02 14:07:00 UTC
Link to this
You know what? Forget my previous statements about needing a certain style and full figure.
Am I still in time to request my Agents? -
It's not wrong to ask for a style by
on 2013-12-02 14:14:00 UTC
Link to this
But please understand that I can't do just any styles
And no, you're not late, but some simple text description is good enough for me, guy/gal/bot. -
And another thing: Refs. I need clay to smelt bricks! (nm) by
on 2013-12-02 05:33:00 UTC
Link to this
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Re: Anybody want their characters drawn? by
on 2013-12-02 03:16:00 UTC
Link to this
I'll take a picture. I need an update of Marco for an RP profile.
-
I'll need a Ref ... (nm) by
on 2013-12-02 07:54:00 UTC
Link to this
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Ref pic by
on 2013-12-02 21:42:00 UTC
Link to this
Best I could do; I picture this look but clean shaven with brown eyes and looking to be about 18-20. As for clothes a black T-shirt with the Floater's flash-patch and blue jeans.
If you do hands put a Scorpion tattoo on the top of the left hand as well. -
I don't think you understand how this works. by
on 2013-12-02 23:36:00 UTC
Link to this
One, a written ref would've been nicer, and
Two, busts don't go beyond the chest.
What you have there is essentially what a bust is.
But
Here ya go. -
Yeah sorry about that. by
on 2013-12-03 01:47:00 UTC
Link to this
It's what I'm used to when I hear Ref actually. A long time friend of mine is actually a professional artist and tends to use pictures for basic looks and poses. So it's kinda my fault I could adapt the pic though; looks wise say that he lost his good looks when he joined the PPC
-
Hm... by
on 2013-12-02 01:24:00 UTC
Link to this
Y'know, I've needed a headshot of my character Zerenze for some time.
So yeah, I'll go ahead and ask for one.
So essentially, Zerenze is a Sangheili from the Halo canon. So here are some references:
Sorry for the multiple references. I figure that with a design like the one the sangheili have, you'd need quite a few references.
Don't worry about the armor in the second reference: essentially, I just want this Sangheili done up in little more than a shirt. (Since it's a bust, I'm assuming it won't go below the chest, so...) Zerenze is more of a techie type with a bit of a personality that isn't usual for a Sangheili, so I think for the facial expression you could go with that. Or something.
I hope that strikes up your muse! -
Any personal/exclusive detail I should be aware of? (nm) by
on 2013-12-02 07:54:00 UTC
Link to this
-
Well... by
on 2013-12-02 12:29:00 UTC
Link to this
Not really, I don't think. Aside from his posture, I can't really think of any personal details that should be mentioned that'll apply to a black and white image, so...
-
Sorry guy, but I think I'm going to have to pass. by
on 2013-12-03 01:55:00 UTC
Link to this
As much as you really want that bust, I'm afraid this is rather out of my league. Sorry.
-
Hey, it was worth a shot. by
on 2013-12-03 01:57:00 UTC
Link to this
And hey, I appreciate the honesty. Thanks anyway.
-
Yes please! by
on 2013-12-02 00:19:00 UTC
Link to this
I don't know if you are familiar with the comic Homestuck, but if your aren't, here is a link to the particular species I would like you to draw.
http://viria13.deviantart.com/art/Homestuck-trolls-346627056
As for my agent: Short cropped black hair, Small, thin frame, Female. Usual PPC uniform, DoF, streamlined horns, ( think Loki's shrunken and turned upside down, or Ava's Demon style :http://www.avasdemon.com/pages.php?page=0002 (she'd be the one on the left))
Thanks for offering, and I hope I didn't make it too hard. -
You didn't leave me your agent's name! by
on 2013-12-03 05:24:00 UTC
Link to this
And now she's just troll. -
Name by
on 2013-12-03 22:25:00 UTC
Link to this
Zahara Phuket. My bad.
-
Jealousy mode engaged. by
on 2013-12-01 22:24:00 UTC
Link to this
Someone who can write and draw. I can do neither.
As for the topic...I don't think I have any agents. -
Not to worry, I suck at writing too. by
on 2013-12-02 07:52:00 UTC
Link to this
But I've been drawing for years, and I'm not sure if that natural talent or just trained.
-
Drawing by
on 2013-12-01 21:53:00 UTC
Link to this
If you need assistance in drawing them, feel free to message me. Since Nano is finished now, I can scratch my drawing itch again.
-
Oh, definitely, but I don't have much posted. by
on 2013-12-01 20:39:00 UTC
Link to this
I mean, I have rather a lot written, and could probably put some descriptions together, but...it's kind of exam time.
Some other time, perhaps (that is, if you're still doing this sometime in the future when I have no exams)? This sounds pretty awesome :)
Good luck! And have fun.
~DF -
Are there any examples of your work? (nm) by
on 2013-12-01 20:29:00 UTC
Link to this
-
I do, but they're kinda not for the general public ... (nm) by
on 2013-12-02 05:31:00 UTC
Link to this
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You can mark links as NSFW, you know. (nm) by
on 2013-12-02 06:20:00 UTC
Link to this
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They're more than just NSFW. Trust me. (nm) by
on 2013-12-02 06:21:00 UTC
Link to this
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As are quite a few of the fics we get. (nm) by
on 2013-12-03 20:15:00 UTC
Link to this
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I would love that by
on 2013-12-01 20:14:00 UTC
Link to this
That would be awesome, thanks. :) You can see who my characters are on my userpage. http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/User:EileenAlphabet Two of them are anthropomorphic and the other two human shaped, so you can pick who you think would be fun or challenging.
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Here you go! by
on 2013-12-02 06:45:00 UTC
Link to this
Enjoy! -
Awesome, thanks! by
on 2013-12-02 19:55:00 UTC
Link to this
Aaawww, I look cute! :)
-
Oh, perfect! by
on 2013-12-01 19:59:00 UTC
Link to this
I need a picture for Marvin anyway. Let me see here... I know I have the descriptions of him somewhere...
Aha, here we are! Here is Marvin's wiki page, just updated slightly to fit with my further development of his character. I would ask for Jumper as well, but his appearance is not concrete in my head at the moment, so I won't bother. I need to write something with him soon... -
I have no idea if I did this right. by
on 2013-12-02 06:47:00 UTC
Link to this
But I hope you enjoy! -
That's really good. by
on 2013-12-02 07:15:00 UTC
Link to this
I mean, I imagined him a little skinnier, but you know what, I like it this way. He's like that big, warm teddy bear that could be scary, but he's far too happy to be mean.
Thank you so much! -
I suppose you could have a go at Cyba. by
on 2013-12-01 14:41:00 UTC
Link to this
This is mostly because it would be interesting to see how other PPCers picture her.
A description of her current form can be found here: http://cyba-zero.livejournal.com/2019.html
Have fun! -
Are you sure you don't want to use a proper ref? by
on 2013-12-02 14:39:00 UTC
Link to this
Because You might not like what I got in store.
-
You realize I'm intrigued now, right? by
on 2013-12-02 18:59:00 UTC
Link to this
However, she does have a wiki page: http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/Cyba_Zero
The picture on it isn't perfect, though. The description probably describes her better. -
Specifics by
on 2013-12-02 21:44:00 UTC
Link to this
To clarify, the description in question is when Eagrus takes a closer look after taking Cyba to Medical.
It just occurred to me that I may not have been specific enough about where the description was in the linked mission. -
Probably the most detailed one yet. (NSFW?) by
on 2013-12-03 03:33:00 UTC
Link to this
Here you go? -
That's incredibly good! by
on 2013-12-03 11:23:00 UTC
Link to this
I wish I could draw like that. The detail is fantastic! I personally imagine her hair and chest slightly differently, but that's mostly a stylistic thing. Were I to imagine her in a more anime style, you would be pretty much spot on. (And as I said, I was interested to see how others pictured her, which you have done exceedingly well.)
The expression is completely right: pleasant enough but with the underlying danger of succumbing to residual hive influence. You also did the implants very well, particularly the neck, eye and foreground arm. I love the little details like the veining on her forehead and the dish at the back, too.
All in all, excellent job! I really like it! Thank you. :) -
I actually needed better images of my Agents, but... by
on 2013-12-01 14:07:00 UTC
Link to this
I need full figure image. Oh, and what style do you use? Two are from anime continua, and the third has no defined style so far (Agent!Sergio came from a crossover with a bit of everything in it, but it's going to stabilize into anime too after my next project) so drawing them in a realistic style would be a no-no.
-
References in case you still want to try. by
on 2013-12-02 11:29:00 UTC
Link to this
Busts is still better than nothing, after all.
Sergio Turbo
His clothes are that of the wiki article, black jacket worn open with a t-shirt under it, black trousers with bug, cargo pants-like pockets on the legs and an utility belt with a pistol holster on the left side, with the pistol's grip pointing forward). He wears regular glasses (the ones with wider-than-tall lenses) and a red Rambo-style bandana. It's quite the contrast, but he needs both: glasses to see and bandana to keep the sweat out of his eyes.
I'ts kinda tricky find a good reference, as he's an old Gary Stu of mine reworked into a plausible character. As such, I want to avoid making him look like myself, but at the same time I don't know exactly how he would look like.
However, he shares some visual traits with several Card Captor Sakura characters: Yukito, Eriol and Syaoran
Yukito Tsukishiro
Eriol Hiiragizawa (the one looking like him the most)
Syaoran Li (Good source for his expression, but take care: Nikki says that Sergio doesn't look like him, so avoid using him too much)
Nikki Cherryflower
She's a clone of Sakura Kinomoto from Card Captor Sakura, so the reference is easy. Just bear in mind that Nikki is much older (17-18 years old against the 10 to 12 timespan of Sakura's life CCS covers) and has longer hair, reaching below her shoulders. The hairdo is simpler though, with no hair decorations. Feel free to decide if those big-as-a-fighter-jet's-intakes bangs have to go or not.
Her clothes are pretty much those of the Wiki article, a black coat over simple jeans and sweater. She also has her Device in standby form (a star-shaped blue gem) hanging from a simple string worn as a necklace.
Simple clothes and a like-Sakura-but-not-quite appearance are pretty much the staples of Nikki while in the PPC, as subconsciously she's still not sure about who she is.
Corolla
As an Unison Device, the best reference in Reinforce Zwei from Lyrical Nanoha. However, her hair is a different shade of light blue (slightly darker than that of Sayaka Miki from Puella Magi Madoka Magica) and held up in two pigtails. Her clothes are that of the wiki article image (it's rather outdated, though, so she still has brown hair in a ponytail). so a typical anime-style skirt, white thighs and a blouse. She really likes to look cute (and act like a ditz)
Keep in mind that Corolla, being an Unison Device, is just six inches tall.
Reinforce Zwei
Sayaka Miki
Corolla-like avatar I did for the MicroVolts game
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-OpVQVHsyhQclZ1eVBtdXF1b0k/edit -
Uh, ignore the colors. by
on 2013-12-02 11:36:00 UTC
Link to this
Forgot that you don't color them.
Question, though: in the case you do them, is it fine if I try to color them to use as Wiki article images? -
I have no idea if I got this even slightly right. by
on 2013-12-02 14:56:00 UTC
Link to this
But enjoy? I think?? -
Looks really good, but... by
on 2013-12-02 15:07:00 UTC
Link to this
The bandana and expression are wrong. I actually meant the headband kind of bandana (my fault, should've been more specific), and he's got a bit too much of a Cheshire cat smile, but... that's him. Great job!
-
Bionicle badfic- in fangame format! by
on 2013-12-01 20:56:00 UTC
Link to this
Right, so I'm a huge Bionicle fan, and I'm also an RPG fan. Naturally, when I found an archive of a bunch of fan RPGs in the BZPower software forum, I was pretty excited to try some of them out and promptly downloaded a bunch. First I tried out Map of Mata Nui, made by the rather infamous admin bonesiii; believe it or not, it was actually rather decent, and got my hopes up for the rest of the games I'd found.
And then I decided to check out Legend of Mata Zuto.
Five seconds in, and I was already wishing it was a text fic just so I could KILL THE SHIT OUT OF IT. >
So yeah, this is a thing. Anyone interested if I do a stream or twenty? And if so, what time would be good? Because I really want to mock the hell out of this thing, and I'd love if some other Boarders stuck around as well. ^^ -
My understanding: by
on 2013-12-02 13:55:00 UTC
Link to this
You get to MST3K, spork, or lets play with your characters as much as you want.
That said, if it mangles BIONICLE, I want it dead. :D -
KEEELL IT!!!! by
on 2013-12-01 23:59:00 UTC
Link to this
If it violates the canon, has a Sue, or is just BAD FIC….
I suggest that you kill it with fire in any format!~
As it is an RPG, I wouldn't know how to spork it. Let's Play sounds like a good format, but then it wouldn't be a part of the Kudzu plot know as the PPC. Of course, treat it like a second person fic and throw in the dummy and have your agents dispatch the Fic.. What ever you choose, be sure to put it up here! -
For those uninitiated of the Bionicle canon... by
on 2013-12-01 21:54:00 UTC
Link to this
...would you mind giving a run-down of why this is awful? I remember the toys from when I was a kid, and I remember that they were awesome, but I don't remember any actual storyline associated with it.
Now, as to the stream: I probably won't be able to see it live no matter when you do it, but if you put it on YouTube, I will be sure to watch it when I can. It sounds fun, and I don't want to miss a PPC Let's Play. -
I'd put them on YT if I knew how, but I don't. by
on 2013-12-01 22:49:00 UTC
Link to this
Also, Bionicle probably had the biggest, most involved storyline out of anything Lego's ever done. Now, I'm not really the best at explaining stuff, so I'm probably not the guy you want to ask for a plot summary for the first two sagas or stuff. The games concern the 2001-2002 storylines, though, so if you don't mind looking through gigantic wiki pages, feel free to check out http://biosector01.com/wiki/index.php/Saga_Guides/Coming_of_the_Toa and http://biosector01.com/wiki/index.php/Saga_Guides/The_Bohrok_Swarms for the basics.
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I think he means why precisely is it bad. by
on 2013-12-01 23:28:00 UTC
Link to this
Rather than having to read the entire lengthy Saga Guides without any details from the game to compare that information to. You didn't post any details of the game itself, and any attempts I've made to track the game down have lead to either launch celebration threads or 404 Not Found messages(not that I'd have time to play the game anyway, but with a name that distinctive, I'd expect to track it down within a few Google searches), so I can't do my own comparisons.
And I'm intrigued, too, since Bionicle was my first real fandom. What exactly is the huge problem? Is the game really awful mechanics-wise? Does it absolutely mangle the canonical events of the Toa Mata era? Does it just make a lot of silly decisions? What is being dealt with here?
Granted, the lofty and pretentious phrases like "we intend to rival the official storyline in entertainment, tension, and originality" and "it's not just a game, it's an experience" that its creators used in the celebration threads are cause for me to believe you that it's not at all going to be good, but since I can't play the game itself, I don't know what precisely makes it so awful. -
The issues with the story stand out to me more than gameplay by
on 2013-12-01 23:56:00 UTC
Link to this
And by damn are they big issues. It does indeed absolutely mangle the canonical events of the Mata era, and there's a whole bunch of silly stuff (the sound and visual effects, even for an RPG Maker game, are stupefying), but I think what pisses me off the most about it are how horribly they mangle Gali's character in what I presume to be a completely misguided attempt at character depth that went horribly, horribly wrong. At times it feels like the writers took every horrible stereotype of women they could think of and just piled them onto her and called it a day. >_
Incidentally, here's a link to the BZP software archive: http://www.bzpower.com/board/index.php?showtopic=127
Links should be in there somewhere. First game is called Fall of the Conqueror; second is The Infestation. Might want to use ctrl+f to find them, since the page seems a bit screwed up at the moment. :|
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A penny for your thoughtsÂ….. by
on 2013-12-02 00:30:00 UTC
Link to this
What defines Bad Slash Fics?
I've read and reread the article, but aside from impossible positions…..., I have no idea what makes it a bad slash.
Any ideas?
P.S. (Reason I'm asking is because I think I have a fic. But its well written, but the events are implausible, and there is enough OOC to label it as NSFB. Did I mention its a crossover? Message me if you want the link….) -
Crap. Repost. (nm) by
on 2013-12-02 00:31:00 UTC
Link to this
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A penny for your thoughtsÂ….. by
on 2013-12-02 00:30:00 UTC
Link to this
What defines Bad Slash Fics?
I've read and reread the article, but aside from impossible positions…..., I have no idea what makes it a bad slash.
Any ideas?
P.S. (Reason I'm asking is because I think I have a fic. But it's well written, but the events are implausible, and there is enough OOC to label it as NSFB. Did I mention its a crossover? Message me if you want the link….) -
The few I've seen sporked by
on 2013-12-02 13:57:00 UTC
Link to this
Contain improbable anatomy, dubious lube, etc, though I don't think that's absolutely a requirement.
Put it up - we've all been duly warned. :D -
Those are definitely charges. by
on 2013-12-02 14:35:00 UTC
Link to this
There's also all the basic stuff that defines a badfic - characters being OOC, spelling/grammar issues, ignoring the rules of the world, manufacturing tension ("Oh Legolas, our manly man-love is forbidden because of prejudice which there is no hint actually exists in Middle-earth!" ~ No-one, ever*)... heck, bad slash can have a Sue or Stu as the main character (remembering that femslash exists). And then there's the general-purpose badly-written-romance stuff ("Oh Leggy my darling will you forsake everything to be with me?" "Yes, dearest Saruman, I shall! Now let me climb your dark tower, if you know what I mean." "Orthanc? But there's nothing up there but the roof..."), and just... it being a bad story. ;)
hS
*How do I know that indicates it's not a thing, rather than that it just never comes up? Simple: Bilbo Baggins, noted crazy person who wandered off with a bunch of foreigners and came back inexplicably wealthy (ifyouknowwhatImean), and also a bachelor in a society where massive families are the expected norm, is allowed to adopt his young cousin with absolutely no fuss, so they can live together in a huuuuge empty house. If people were fussed about homosexuality? That would have been the subject of their rumours, not 'he talks to elves sometimes you know'.
(Note: no, Bilbo and Frodo weren't lovers. But the good folk of the Shire apparently wouldn't have cared if they were) -
Why not just put the link here? by
on 2013-12-02 01:16:00 UTC
Link to this
We'll be able to read the thing and judge for ourselves whether or not it's PPC material.
Anyway, I'm not sure what makes something Bad Slash, but if the Bad Hetero department says anything, I would say that it's any situation where there is a romance fic that is horribly written and full of major stupidity. I don't know, you might want to ask PC or someone who's a veteran of the department since they'll know better than I do. - God Speed. by on 2013-12-02 19:11:00 UTC Link to this
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Scene from "A Masked Ball" by
on 2013-12-02 20:47:00 UTC
Link to this
i thought that, with the opera broadcasts coming up this weekend, I'd share a clip from last season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4cb96zBgo4
That is Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Renato Anckarström in Giuseppe Verdi's "A Masked Ball" (Un Ballo in Maschera). -
Oh my... by
on 2013-12-03 00:05:00 UTC
Link to this
Ah, "Un Ballo in Maschera"... How complicated your backstory is. Fun times are had with you.
I dunno... personally, I'm sort of all "eh" at "Ballo in Maschera" by this point. There are other Verdi works that I enjoy a lot more (Fallstaff and the Requiem in particular), so... I dunno.
As for this season... the only things I'd probably be interested in are all the not-so-standard Slavic operas they're doing (Rusalka, Prince Igor, The Nose) and the Falstaff broadcast coming up. Personally, I'm really annoyed that they're not broadcasting the production of Wozzeck they're doing in March, but that's me.
But yeah, the Met broadcasts are fun. Here's a clip from the Siegfried broadcast I saw a couple years back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc0yLN2AQgo -
RE: Oh my... by
on 2013-12-03 04:03:00 UTC
Link to this
I selected this one because Dmitri Hvorostovsky is kicking off the radio broadcasts in the title role of Rigoletto" and I am a Hvorostovsky fangirl. I don't Russia has produced a sexier baritone than him.
I do like "Rusalka". "Eugene Onegin was already done this season, but that's one of my faves. I would also love to see "La Cenerentola" because it's got Juan Diego Florez, and he is incredibly sexy when he sings Rossini (well, he's sexy anyway).
I'm sorry; I am just really crazy about this sort of thing. I don't particularly like Berg, Schoenberg, Janacek, Glass, or Adams. I also really hate "I Puritanni" and "La Sonnambula". It feels like the heroines are very much one-dimensional characters.
I love Prokofiev, especially his opera "War and Peace". -
Well, a lot of people aren't into Glass. by
on 2013-12-03 12:52:00 UTC
Link to this
In my opinion, Early Glass is the only Glass worth listening to. His more recent stuff basically gets a "meh" reaction from me. I'm not really familiar enough with Adams to make a call either way, but... Y'know.
But how does...? Never mind. I don't know, with Berg I think you do kind of have to sit with the tonal language a little bit. I'll be the first to admit it's a very complex music, but once you get used to the language it sings. Schoenberg does it less so, but I think it's the same deal with him. (Though it could also have to do with the performances. Out of curiosity, what Schoenberg/Berg have you been exposed to?)
Personally, I'm mildly interested to see La Cerentola. Rossini is one of the few composers of bel canto that I actually find interesting in any way, so... I dunno. We'll see. -
I heard some clips a few years ago by
on 2013-12-03 22:31:00 UTC
Link to this
I can's remember what exactly they were, but they were very atonal and didn't seem to go anywhere musically (I think one of them was a clip from "Wozzeck").
I just don't like a lot of the 20th Century composers simply because I find their music hard to listen to. I like Ravel, however, and I'm also a big fan of Stravinsky (particularly of his "Firebird" ballet), and as I said, I love Prokofiev.
There are only three really well known bel canto composers anyhow. And Rossini's music is recognizable; even if people don't know his operas, they know the famous "William Tell" Overture.
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PPC Boss Battles. by
on 2013-12-02 22:48:00 UTC
Link to this
Imagine, for a moment, that the PPC had a video game.
...Well, OK, we do have one, but I am thinking about a different kind of game. A game with boss battles in it. A game where the bosses have strengths and weaknesses either as part of their fighting style or environment. Games like Legend of Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, amoung many others. The PPC has a lot of enemies, ones that could make for interesting boss battles. I challenge you to write how a boss battle with particular enemies of the PPC would work. Where are you fighting? How are they fought? Strengths, weaknesses, and taunts are needed as well.
Now, I am sure several of you are asking, "What qualifies an enemy worthy of being a boss?" Think Sues, preferably from Legendary Badfic, or heads of hostile departments or organizations. However, in the end, just about any named hostile could work.
I will leve you all to create your boss battles. Oh, and before anybody tries to take it, Pinkamena Diane Pie from Cupcakes is mine! Happy battling. -
Let's try it! Jay and Acacia vs. Elvira Magiseer! by
on 2013-12-04 01:06:00 UTC
Link to this
This is something I imagine far too often. Being a gigantic Kingdom Hearts fanatic, I tend to want things to end in giant boss battles now. (Looking forward to that, Ekyl!)
I also like imagining soundtracks to missions. Neshomeh's most recent one incorporated music into the story through footnote links to YouTube videos. (I'm heavily tempted to steal that idea for all my missions.)
So! To video game-ify some scenes from PPC past! (Italics are from the original story. Apologies to authors of any characters involved. And concrit is still appreciated, as there's still quite a bit of writing involved here.)
1. Dragon!Jay and Dragon!Acacia vs. Elvira Flameheart in "Elemental Crystals" (http://www.misssandman.com/PPC/ElementalCrystals.html)
(Playing throughout, from beginning of opening cut scene to Elvira's deth at Smaug'shandsbreath, is "Age of Dragons," by Howard Shore and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, from the trailer to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2IFji_6TVQ)
The Sues and the dragons stepped onto a huge pile of gold, in coin and jewelry. The gold continued all the way up to the scales of the dragon who was sitting on the top.
"Now, see there?" said the white dragon (Jay). "That's what J.R.R.'s dragons are ACTUALLY like. Big, scary, mean, scary, evil--"
"And they don't go around casting spells, by the way," cut in the blue dragon (Acacia). "They breathe fire, sure, but that's just sort of a . . . dragon thing."
"ROGUES!" shrieked Elvira, as she suddenly grew up into her red and black dragon form. "Silavren, stay back! I'll punish these rebels!"
All three non-Tolkien dragons took to the air, scattering dust and gold coins with the gusts stirred by their wings, and prompting Smaug to finally open his eyes and watch the fight.
"I am the Magiseer! Most powerful sorcerer in the whole of Middle-earth!"
"Not saying much," said Jay, "considering your one-of-a-kind-ness."
"Fortunately for everyone else involved," added Acacia.
(Elvira has power over all five of the elements pointlessly present in her story (fire, water, earth, wind and wood). She has a different spell to represent each one. After losing half her health, she begins to cast them in multiples to create combo spells. Throughout, she probably spouts off the obnoxious demands for respect and obedience that fill the whole mission.)
(Jay is a white (air) dragon and can probably fly faster than Acacia during this fight. Acacia is blue (for water), so maybe she has some kind of resistance or immunity to Elvira's fire spells?)
(The entire battle is in the dark, with Elvira lit up by Smaug's vision t all times. If any party gets too close to Smaug or his treasure, he will attack with powerful jets of fire.)
After the battle, Elvira was knocked to the ground at the foot of Smaug's horde, but immediately stands up. "You can't stand against me! I am Chosen by the Fates! I will--"
"Enough." Smaug's deep rumble of a voice cut off the Sue and immediately shocked Jay and Acacia out of the adrenaline rush of the fight. The glow from Smaug's eyes regarded each of them in turn.
"None of you are truly dragons," he said, looking down at Elvira once more. "But YOU. You dare to call yourself RULER over me!" The dragon laughed, the echoes of his voice thundering around the cave.
"I am! You're nothing but a rogue!" Elvira snapped her wings and launched herself at Smaug's face. Smaug merely turned so that she collided with his shoulder.
She bounced roughly off his diamond-hard scales, then slid down the pile of treasure to the ground below, stunned. Lifting her head again, she found herself directly into Smaug's eyes.
"I am strong. Look into my eyes and know."
"Strong." Elvira shuddered, unable to look away from the dragon's gaze as one great claw clutched down over her body, pinning it against the ground. "So strong."
"And you," Smaug said, inhaling, "are ash."
Silavren and the agents had to shut their eyes gainst the bright red fire that poured from Smaug's mouth over Elvira.
(That went long. Might do more later. I've never written Jay or Acacia (or Smaug) before; how was that?) -
Heh, pretty good. by
on 2013-12-04 09:25:00 UTC
Link to this
I like the idea of Smaug being a lazy bystander the whole battle, smaking/breathing away the characters if they get too close. I also like the cutscenes at the beginning and end. Works great for set-up.
Is it just me, or does the idea of Jay and Acacia being the first agent pair you play as work for this imaginary game? Later on you could unlock other agents and play out their missions. You could even fight other cretures, like Slorp.
...Oh goodness. Somebody needs to make the Blackout a game, like, soon. Fighting the Angel in the hall of mirrors, Creepers, and a stray Timberwolf pack, all building up to the confrontation with Slorp. Sombody, do this. -
I now have "Yell! Dead Cell" stuck in my head. Thanks. :P by
on 2013-12-03 02:43:00 UTC
Link to this
Incidentally, I've been trying to learn Game Maker, so this kinda thing might not be a pipe dream for ever...
I'll come up with a battle to take and give it a whirl in near future. -
My challange by
on 2013-12-03 02:14:00 UTC
Link to this
I think I'm gonna do the self-insert Stu from NARUTO VENGENACE REVELATION. That being said if that doesnt work. I can do the monster from Agony in Pink and also how long does the battle have to be
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As long, or short, as you want. (nm) by
on 2013-12-03 03:30:00 UTC
Link to this
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One of my Floaters missions actually has a "boss" in it. by
on 2013-12-02 23:41:00 UTC
Link to this
And people got hurt dealing with it, so... here, have that mission:
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1_693UCSa0yT-K2hRiTscIyq6cLs7kxCgIABw7P9vQrY
Yeah, it was a Stu with the ability to manipulate ice and water in ways that even broke logic at one point. His weakness? Well... He likes to monologue. -
You mean the exorcism/fighting scenes aren't boss battles? (nm) by
on 2013-12-02 23:11:00 UTC
Link to this
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They are, but... by
on 2013-12-03 00:35:00 UTC
Link to this
How do I put this... They don't feel like a boss battle. They feel like a fight scene in literature, which they are supposed to, as that is the medium. In many missions, (not all, mind you, just several) the Agents manage to kill their target without too much of a fight, and when there is one, it does not have the same feel as a boss battle. I'm asking, if you were to make a full-fledged PPC game with fighting in it, how would you design the Sues and Stus? What's the stats? How do they move in relation to the environment? What are their weaknesses (hit for massive damage!), either physical or environmental? Stuff like that.
Hold on, give me some time, and I'll write out Pinkamena's, to show more of what I'm talking about. -
That's kinda hard actually. by
on 2013-12-03 01:48:00 UTC
Link to this
To game-i-fy a story that incorporate the entire spectrum of pop-culture media is going to be a very hard one.
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Shameless MST Plug. by
on 2013-12-03 02:00:00 UTC
Link to this
Heyo, all. I thought I'd give myself a little plug for an MST-in-progress I'm doing.
Those of you who've kept up with me know that I started contributing to a WordPress blog some time ago that hosts MSTs of fanfiction by certain authors. So of course, me being one of the prime contributors, I figured I might MST something different...
...by MSTing my biggest old shame!
Ladies and gentlemen, embrace yourselves: http://literarytravesty.wordpress.com/2013/11/28/twenty-warriors-prologue-and-chapter-one/ -
So you want us to give ourselves hugs? by
on 2013-12-03 02:30:00 UTC
Link to this
I believe that you wanted us to brace ourselves, not embrace ourselves.
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*headdesk* by
on 2013-12-03 02:37:00 UTC
Link to this
Yeah, I think that's what I wanted too. Dangit, you know you're having a bad day when you can't even type properly, let alone talk.
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It's here. by
on 2013-12-03 23:06:00 UTC
Link to this
OFWho has been posted to fanfiction.net.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9897613/1/The-Official-Fanfiction-University-of-Doctor-Who
I felt this was a place that needed it. Registration is still open. You can register via email or my Tumblr. I'm Tumblr user
kittyofthekatties.
Concrit is much appreciated. -
Nice. by
on 2013-12-04 21:32:00 UTC
Link to this
This is looking very promising. Very promising indeed. I imagine Lilly helped with the voice of 11? Not to say you could not write for him, but seeing as she pre-read for you, I'm guessing she had a bit to do with that part.
I'll e-mail you the registrations, (yes, plural, I have two) but do you mind if I post the filled forms on the Board? I love reading those, but if you would rather they stay secret, that's fine. -
It's perfectly fine.. by
on 2013-12-04 23:15:00 UTC
Link to this
To post them on the Board. If you want it to stay private, that's perfectly fine.
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Oh... by
on 2013-12-03 23:18:00 UTC
Link to this
I forgot in the last thread to thank Antigone,and Lily Winterwood for graciously beta'ing. I would also like to thank those who read an earlier version and gave concrit. You guys rock!
Those who have generously volunteered agents, I'm so sorry for not getting back to you quickly. I've been so busy with several projects. Please feel free to remind me via email, or Tumblr, or any other means of messaging.
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Hello! by
on 2013-12-04 12:02:00 UTC
Link to this
Hiyas! Peeking in here, mostly.
I'm old enough to have been on the MST3K Usenet groups in their peak. Good to see the occasional more direct homage to it here, as well as the general spirit of concrit with a generous helping of snark.
Personally, I like how the MSTs use the entire fic. Quote the whole fic and let the reader play along instead of having to consult the raw text on their own to really get the flavor.
I'm not into much of the continuums in the current Unclaimed Badfic list. I tend toward several current TV fandoms. Haven't been into anime since lion Voltron and Sailor Moon in the 80's.
I play computer games, but most do not have the sort of fleshed-out characters that a Mary Sue can screw with, literally and figuratively. The closest I get to a video game franchise these days is any of the LEGO games based on hit films. (And I got the LotR one in part so that I wouldn't have to slog through the dense Mid-E histories and other stuff that you'd pretty much have to have been born and raised there to get.)
I have had Nintendo consoles, just not in the past few years, so I know some of Mario and Link.
Actually, the real reason I am here is that, after coming to you through TVtropes (not through the Cupcakes page as with Artemis below, but some other mention) is wondering what would Agents make of my current super-fave, fangirl-glee, wow-I-am-a-shipper continuum:
Welcome to Night Vale. :-D
Consider:
-- A continuum new enough that agents might recon it just to get a bead on what is "normal."
-- Timey-wimey shenanigans that would give even a TimeLord headaches, and mess with Agent's Chronometers.
-- Plenty of weirdness about so that many of the common crazy ideas in fanfic seem actually plausible. (Canonical non-human MPreg!)
-- This also makes it crossover bait: What would (insert char here) make of Night Vale?
-- Even has MiB types running around, which makes this one canon that might maintain knowledge of the PPC because those agents might also know the neuralyser trick.
-- Also, I think that Carlos, being an outsider getting to know Night Vale, might spot bewildered Agents a mile away. Maybe he wouldn't see through the disguises as he is canon, but he'd notice they were not from around here, and not the usual government type.
-- An evolving storyline that can just as easily make obsolete as confirm fan speculations, with no off-season to catch up, updating twice a month like clockwork.
-- Canon that creates bit players seemingly just for the funny, but then comes back and uses some of the more interesting ones for larger stories.
-- One OTP to mess with.
-- And, best or worst of all, depending on your perspective, it is a magnet for a demographic notorious for badfic: Prepubescent girls! Most podcasts skew to the guys, but some elements in WtNV attract the girls.
I am with Karen and the others in looking forward to badfic in Night Vale with both dread and morbid fascination.
So, I may be lurking much of the time until there's a fic in something I do get into. -
Hello! by
on 2013-12-06 01:35:00 UTC
Link to this
Welcome to the PPC! So, an older newbie, eh? Around my age, I'm guessing? (I'm four years out of college.)
Now, what to give, what to give?
*rummages through bag of holding*
Aha! Here, have a snowglobe with a replica of your favorite fictional city! (Inspired by a similar gift given quite some time ago.) -
Oh, you sweet boy! by
on 2013-12-06 05:32:00 UTC
Link to this
Aww, how sweet to believe me to be in my mid 20's. :-) *smooches soh176*
Wait, Usenet's still around? I thought everyone had already migrated to web forums.
Oh, no, I was reading MSTs when I was in college in the mid-90's, back in the heyday of MST3K and Usenet. Much fun was had sniping at Usenet spam as well as badfic.
Yeah, I am uncomfortably close to 40. :-( On the other hand, I do have this nice distinctive front lock of almost-premature gray hair.
Ooh, a snowglobe of Night Vale! Or rather, a sandglobe, since it is a desert town, and Cecil doesn't believe in snow. *shakes globe* Sandstorm!!! -
Welcome Battle-Bruva! by
on 2013-12-06 01:28:00 UTC
Link to this
I am 99Hedgehog, but just call me 99. Here, have a Servo-skull!
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Servo-skull
The Emperor Protects! -
Tom Servo, no! by
on 2013-12-06 05:35:00 UTC
Link to this
*cringes for the fate of one of her fave robot pals*
You monster! You killed Tom!
Oh, wait. It's some sort of servitor thingy from Warhammer 40k. Nevermind.
And, actually, it's Battle-Sister. Nat's short for Natalie. -
My bad, Battle-Sister. by
on 2013-12-06 06:15:00 UTC
Link to this
I simply default to Battle-Bruva when no gender is specified.
The Emperor Protects! -
Oh hello there! by
on 2013-12-05 02:16:00 UTC
Link to this
Welcome to the PPC, Nat. Take your shoes off, leave your sanity at the door, and come right in! We love newbies here, we do!
As a welcome gift, I'll give you some music by Harrison Birtwistle. Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25j1wcO7yfY -
Welcome! Welcome! by
on 2013-12-05 01:19:00 UTC
Link to this
Here, have a Christmas-themed snow globe for your present. Inside is a tiny statue of an agent assassinating a Sue in an urple dress, so be careful not to look directly at the dress.
Enjoy the PPC!
~Autumn -
Hi there! by
on 2013-12-04 23:19:00 UTC
Link to this
Nice to meet you. Please accept my gifts of a potato cannon, basket of potatoes, and an Official Fanfiction University of Doctor Who sweatshirt.
I haven't listened to a lot of Welcome to Nightvale, but I am familiar to some of the concepts. Sporking those badfic would be very very interesting. I could imagine many strange happenings. -
*waves* by
on 2013-12-04 17:26:00 UTC
Link to this
Hello and welcome!
I give to you a brand-new lined Infintie Notebook, featuring urple covers and wilver bindings. Good luck not looking at it!
I've only listened to the first two episodes of Night Vale, but gracious...
-Aila -
Welcome Newbie! by
on 2013-12-04 16:19:00 UTC
Link to this
Lurkbie? In any case, welcome! As is traditional, I'll start giving you useless stuff: Have a swan feather, a container of yogurt, a plaid handkercheif, and a can of Lysol!
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An essay Just a few points on DoS (SPOILERS(?) by
on 2013-12-05 01:16:00 UTC
Link to this
The Hobbit: DoS has just premiered in LA on Monday. (Or was it Tuesday? The time difference is making me confused.) And while our chance to see it ourselves in the cinema have not come yet (keep yer hair on, everyone), the media's buzzing. Interviews on talkshows. Articles about the Hobbit in magazines. Even the Colbert Report has launched the "Hobbit Week". (They did this last year too; the host is a Tolkien fan.)
I've been keeping tabs on the Movie ever since September and I've watched the live stream of the premiere for spoilery details. I can't help it. Curiosity always gets me.
Anyway.
There wasn't much I could get from the livestream itself, except a lot of fangirls screaming for Benedict Cumberbatch, and a lot growling (me) at interviewers who keep saying,"...the world Peter Jackson created...". Grrr. Oh, and Fili and Kili gets separated at one point, (possibly while the Company is crossing the river in Mirkwood?) causing them to cherish their relationship as brothers. Hints are being dropped by Aiden Turner about a "flirtatious" Legolas-Tauriel-Kili love triangle.
Honestly, Peter Jackson?
But hold it there; there's still more.
I've gone back to watch all three trailers, as well as some clips, for the Movie, and noticed things I have not, well, noticed before.
1) Attack on Mirkwood.
I think this was discussed before, but I'm just bringing it up so it leads to our second point...
2) Reinforcements from Rivendell.
Remember Figwit? That elf extra from LotR everyone fangirls about? Well, turns out he was Lindir, and I think I see him and an army from Imladris at Mirkwood with Legolas and Thranduil. I think. I'm not too sure. Although there is a possibility of PJ pulling off another movie!Helm's Deep.
3) Orc Intereogation Carried Out by Our Favourite Elf Trio.
Legolas and Tauriel and Thranduil. What makes a livelier company? Anyway, in this clip, the elves interrogates an orc. The orc angers Tauriel--"antagonising" her, in the words of Legolas--and causing her to threaten the orc, and Thranduil to dismiss her. Legolas asks the orc some questions, the orc replying with some very melodramatic sounding lines, before it finally says the line that catches my attention: "My master serves the One." Who is this "One"? We all know it can't be Eru. Can it be Sauron, who, I assume, so arrogantly took up the title of Ilúvatar for himself? Can this mean Azog (*shakes fist at PJ*) works for the Necromancer?
4) Tauriel Showing Her Passion To Fight For Truth, Justiceand the American Way.
Tauriel, Tauriel, Tauriel. *sigh* Planning to take on 30 orcs that are going to attack Laketown (?) on her own. And of course, she can't possibly go without Legolas tagging along. He and her, always needs to barge into other people's affairs. And why the hell are the orcs trying to invade to invade Laketown anyway?
So, this is the most I could gather. I may be wrong, I may be correct, but these are just predictions, so I guess we'll have to wait for December 13 to see.
~Autumn -
Hoy, maybe wait until it's out places other than LA? (nm) by
on 2013-12-05 02:37:00 UTC
Link to this
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Sorry for being the annoyingly-curious Seer I am. by
on 2013-12-05 05:31:00 UTC
Link to this
Apologies. I should wait till December 13.
~Autumn
P.S. I don't think it has come out in LA yet. That was only the premiere. I think. -
For your ability to see movies from two weeks in the future by
on 2013-12-06 03:29:00 UTC
Link to this
I grant you the title Seer of Time! (knights Autumn_68 with the Cutlass of Zillywair) Use your precognitive powers wisely, young one. You may see the encroaching doom or the light of a new world, but there will still be many who would rather not brave spoilers. Your duty, shall you choose to accept it, will be to see the distinction and keep the future bright.
Sorry, the capitalization of "seer" there just inspired me to make a very silly Homestuck reference, and it got out of hand very quickly. Didn't really end up very Homestuck-like at all by the end, really.
You can still have this Seer of Time god tier hoodie, though. The godhoods don't do anything until their wearer unlocks supernatural powers of some kind, but they are still very good for aiding in dramatic poses. -
Thanks... by
on 2013-12-06 06:46:00 UTC
Link to this
for being so nice about my mistake. I admit that I was *just* a little hurt by Ekyl's second reply, though I understand that he was pissed by my revealing of spoilers. And yes, I do have a tendency to be an annoying, bumbling idiot. Sorry if I pissed off anyone else.
Oh, and thanks for the hoodie! I really, really appreciate it. :)
~Autumn -
He was rather too harsh. by
on 2013-12-06 11:20:00 UTC
Link to this
I'm not sure this post actually violates any specific article of the Constitution - but it certainly pushes up against the spirit of it.
hS -
That, by definition, is coming out in LA. by
on 2013-12-05 10:49:00 UTC
Link to this
And it's basic common sense/decency to not go blaring out spoilers two weeks before anyone who didn't catch the premiere will even have a chance to see the bloody movie.
-
Sorry. Really, really sorry. by
on 2013-12-05 11:14:00 UTC
Link to this
The clips are out and abroad, though. There are still more clips than the ones I mentioned. Apologies, once again.
~Autumn
-
Ever notice that canon TV eps sound like badfic? by
on 2013-12-05 01:34:00 UTC
Link to this
Thanks for the welcome so far in my intro thread. :-)
Because I've known of fanfic, good and bad, for a loonngg time (mid-90's MSTings), I've noticed that some canonical, professionally-written episodes sound suspiciously like badfic, or ideas copped from badfic.
Violators in the current American TV landscape include:
Grimm. Mangled German. "Blutbad" is supposed to be the preferred term for the werewolfy species, and was said to be bastardized into "big bad wolf." But if you bother to look up the meaning of the word, you know it is not quite something a pacifist wolf like Monroe would want to reclaim.
Agents of SHIELD. Skye. One of the most Suvian canonical chars ever! Agent Coulson comes back from the dead to head his own team. He chooses two agents, two bickering British scientists, and . . . Skye, a random hacktivist type who's been snooping around the SHIELD computers.
Supposedly, he chose her for her mad l33t haxor skillz . . . only to not use said skills until the fourth episode! Only then does the show bother to think about the implications of having a hacker on board and deal with her more realistically.
Meanwhile, in episode 2, the team gets into trouble and she is the one who says the right things for the nascent team to bond together. Oh, and she is an orphan, abandoned as a baby, and SHIELD has files on the incident.
It's like someone took a halfway decent fic speculating on New Adventures with a not-so-dead Coulson and attempted to clean up the worst offenses, but sparkly residue remains.
I think it was some of the Star Trek Enterprise episodes that got me thinking about a fanfic quotient for canonical eps. The more they do in the Trekverse, the more I suspect that Marrissa Picard's youth brigade is just around the corner. -
Okay, that did come across a bit harsh by
on 2013-12-06 05:09:00 UTC
Link to this
I think Skye and I may have gotten off on the wrong foot. For the first few episodes I was like, "Um, why are you here?" Her presence annoyed me until they started diving into her motivations and such. That side of me ended up . . . venting. Sorry.
Also, there is overlap between lousy professional writing and good solid stuff by amateurs. Pretty much any show that lasts long enough will eventually have a "what was they thinking?" moment.
And a lot of that runs into YMMV territory. ;-) -
*pops out of lurkerdom* by
on 2013-12-05 13:47:00 UTC
Link to this
(Mentioning Star Trek is a great way to catch my attention.)
I might not have been around badfic as long as you, but if you think Star Trek is hospitable to Sues you're misunderstanding something. Also, please don't make broad generalizations about a gigantic universe like Star Trek and then not explain yourself.
Let's do some math:
Crackfic =/= Badfic
However, badly written crackfic is badfic.
Bad writing =/= Badfic
However, badfics always have bad writing.
Fanfic-y =/= Badfic-y
However, badfic is a subset of fanfic.
More specifically, Star Trek often does fanfic-y stories, crackfic, and occasionally has bad writing, but very rarely dips into badfic.
Take TNG's "Elementary, Dear Data". Having characters cosplay as other fictional characters in a crossover between the two is very much a fan fiction-y idea. It's not serious, hard sci-fi, but the episode is a lot of fun, and a fan fiction around a similar idea would not be a badfic unless there were other things wrong.
Crackfic is very subjective, but I think sometimes Star Trek does it well. DS9's "Fascination" involves all of the characters randomly falling in love with characters they would never be conceivably shipped with, but everyone realized the silliness. It was like self-aware characters being forced to act a badfic. I thought it was fun.
Star Trek has its bad writing days. Voyager's "Threshold" involves a failed warp experiment that inexplicably "superevolves" two characters into mutant lizard...things. It's stupid and seems to imply that the writers failed basic biology, but is it really something you'd find in a badfic? There aren't any Sues, and the episode is made slightly more bearable by how in character everyone is.
Yes, they have occasional badfic episodes. TNG's "The Naked Now" involves a virus that makes everyone act drunk. This leads to dubiously consensual sex (THAT LEADS TO PEOPLE SHIPPING THE PAIRING WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL), and an idiot kid taking over the ship and then saving it (he's definitely a Sue).
However, those badfic episodes are not common. Sorry if that got a bit pointed, but overall, Star Trek is full of interesting, well-developed, complex characters that I love quite dearly, and having badly developed, one-dimensional characters is really what makes a continuum welcoming to Sues. -
I would have made some points about TOS by
on 2013-12-05 17:39:00 UTC
Link to this
... But I think you've got it covered.
-
The thing is... by
on 2013-12-05 09:21:00 UTC
Link to this
... any story can be described in such a way as to sound like a badfic. There's the tale of the young man who ends up being the Chosen One for ill-defined reasons, is the only person capable of resisting the lure of the eeeevil magic object he carries, has a group of friends who put aside everything - despite being very important people - to help him, and who (in the film version) has huge eyes and falls over a lot - okay, I'm not very good at this, but you could definitely summarise the plot of Lord of the Rings to make it sound Suvian.
The key isn't the descriptions you can stick on it - it's the quality of the writing. I think Skye has enough character - and character development - and consequences for her actions (she's still wearing that bracelet, as far as I know) - to count as a decently-written character. She's not the best character in the show (hi, Fitz-Simmons!), but she's not a terrible Mary-Sue who ruins it all. At least, not for me.
The same can also be applied in reverse, of course. The reason many people in the PPC think Eragon is a Gary-Stu isn't because of his summary - he's basically just a farmboy who stumbled into something far larger than him, and is doing everything he can just to keep up with the demands made of him, even though he didn't exactly choose to be The Last Dragonrider or whatever - it's because it's really badly written.
And to close off, another example of a character who can definitely be described in a Sueish way: he's an alien, who (of course) spends all his time on Earth, saving the planet because he's Just That Nice. He's the last of his people, and of course angst about this occasionally - otherwise what use is a tragic backstory? - and, get this, he can't die. He just comes back every time, healthier than ever. He's accompanied by a bunch of people who literally drop everything in their lives to go with him, despite only knowing him a day or so - and he's got a magical time-and-space machine which can take him anywhere (or -when) he wants.
Bu-bu-ba-dum, bu-bu-ba-dum, ooo-eee-ooo...
hS -
I do have to admit that it happens. by
on 2013-12-05 09:11:00 UTC
Link to this
Inheritance cycle. Twilight. Fifty hades of gray. Eye of argon. Ok, they're books, but they might as well be badfics.
(In fact, Fifty shades of fail was actually a Twilight AU badfic with renamed characters)
However, if you were taking about good series suddenly turning bad... the ending of the Madoka Magica Rebellion movie. Just... no.
Complete mess on a characterization, canonical and writign level. And stopping here because not only of spoilers but I would also end up writing a long and not necessarily polite rant.
Another one. (For the ones who don't mind spoilers, my mission blog has my opinion in full form under the ramblings section) -
Technically, badfics ARE bad writing ... so ... (nm) by
on 2013-12-05 06:56:00 UTC
Link to this
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Er... Hi? AKA: I'm new by
on 2013-12-05 23:10:00 UTC
Link to this
Hi. I'm LightDarkPheonix, you can shorten that as you will. Yeah, yeah, I know that Pheonix is misspelled, that dates back a while and involves a now dead ff.net account that had some terrible fics on it (I'm so sorry House, Wilson, Dr. Bruce Banner and Cuddy) that were thankfully never read (if any of you somehow find them, be willing to spork them, I really won't mind, they were terrible)
I have read the constitution. I have read most of TOS (will read me, so sorry, RL involves much school and Latin homework)the FAQ and have been lurking around the Wiki for a while.
Fandoms (where I can write fics): Sherlock, mostly. ACD a little bit, mostly AUs. One Thor 2 fic.
Fandoms (where I don't/can't write): Um... Harry Potter, Hetalia, Soul Eater, Dragon Riders of Pern, Discword, Elementary, Lord of The Rings (including the Hobbit), Cabin Pressure, having started watching Supernatural, Attack on Titan and probably a few others (I don't remember right now... ah, yes Kuroshitsuji(Black Butler). There are probably others, yeah...)
You will hate me for this, but I found the PPC thanks to My Immortal. I was on the TV Tropes page (ah, that wonderful time sucker) and the PPC was mentioned. So I went to the PPC TV Tropes page, read TOS, and well, you can guess what happened. Somehow, y'alls are crazier than I am (this is coming from a girl who gets excited at the mere mention of Star Trek.. oh yeah, other fandoms Star Trek and Doctor Who, see I knew I'd forgotten something!) and so I decided I wanted to post. Because this place reminded me of Nerdfighteria, which is fantastic.
Um... I'm female. I'm in high school.
I write fanfics over at AO3 under the same handle I've posted here. Concrit please?
Thank you for reading this newbie's ramble,
LDP -
Greetings! by
on 2013-12-08 00:42:00 UTC
Link to this
Since I've been talking in your thread and messing with your wiki page (don't worry, I do the same stuff to every new user page), I should probably at least say hello. ^^;
Looks like we share a couple fandoms in common—House, M.D., for one! I totally agree the show went downhill after a point; I stopped watching sometime after season four or five. The first three were great, though. I might even be in a position to spork that badfic of yours if you really want it done, since it sounds like it could qualify as some sort of crossover. *g*
Also, Dragonriders of Pern is one of my biggest fandoms, up there with The Lord of the Rings/Tolkienverse in general, Harry Potter, and Farscape. One of my agents is a former bronzerider.
I also like Discworld and Star Trek (especially DS9), but I can't quote them like I can the above.
So, yeah. Hi! ^^
~Neshomeh -
Hi New, I'm Ekyl! (nm) by
on 2013-12-07 05:37:00 UTC
Link to this
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Greetings! (nm) by
on 2013-12-07 14:50:00 UTC
Link to this
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Family Wars V: The Dad Jokes Strike Back (nm) by
on 2013-12-07 06:58:00 UTC
Link to this
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Re: Er... Hi? AKA: I'm new by
on 2013-12-06 12:38:00 UTC
Link to this
Hi, have some fudge!
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Om nom by
on 2013-12-06 12:50:00 UTC
Link to this
That is awesome :)
THANK YOU! -
My first newbie welcome! by
on 2013-12-06 04:49:00 UTC
Link to this
Hi, fellow fresh newbie! My welcome thread is a little down below yours here.
I've probably read most of ACD over the years, and I've read much of Pern.
And, of course, waaayyy too much ot TV Tropes. Definitely a fun way to lose a few hours. :-)
Here, have a pipe. It's shaped like Sherlock's, but blows bubbles. -
Omygod! by
on 2013-12-06 12:52:00 UTC
Link to this
BUBBLES!!!!!
I started reading Perm when my aunt gave me a truly massive amount of them.
Did you know that some snakes actually do drink milk? -
(picks up the mini-Wehr) by
on 2013-12-07 00:55:00 UTC
Link to this
Hey, look! Discword can have a friend!
Be sure to keep your eye on this guy; it looks like little Perm here enjoys gnawing on table legs. -
*mini-Wher by
on 2013-12-08 00:31:00 UTC
Link to this
I don't mean to be picking on you, but I couldn't help but notice you've now created a mini-mini... or something. ^_^; Mini-Wehr there is probably a white mini-Wher, a stunted version of his larger, more color-saturated fellows.
To answer your question from down-thread while I'm here, though, I don't think minis are "officially" created unless the misspelling is found in a formal-ish work (like a piece of prose fiction) that can be expected to have been proofread and edited. You could make a case for proofreading before posting being expected on the Board (because it is), but a post here is still not what I'd call a formal-ish, published(ish) work.
But yeah, I didn't realize you were talking about a live typo. I don't think making jokes about creating minis is anything to worry about. Sorry about that!
~Neshomeh -
Drat. by
on 2013-12-08 19:15:00 UTC
Link to this
This is why I should recheck the wiki page for mini names before reporting them. Now there's an albino mini scrambling around in here with all of my other embarrassing mistakes.
It's okay! It's good to have that matter cleared up, at least.
It raises a related question of what happens to the minis in-universe that are adopted by a Boarder, since the Boarders don't exist to the PPC agents(most of the time), but I suppose that could easily be explained away by having some of the numerous unnamed background agents that show up in crowds and hallway scenes coming in and adopting those minis that the Boarders have custody of out-of-universe. -
Two options. by
on 2013-12-09 14:22:00 UTC
Link to this
Sometimes, Boarders and Agents adopt the same minis: Thanduril is both mine and Dafydd's, for instance. Alternately, students at OFUs tend to share names with their Boarder/general-internet-person counterparts, making them theoretically the same people.
Also:
Poor Wehr just wanted to exist... ah, the endless plight of the mini-Words...
hS -
Cybermat by
on 2013-12-07 01:05:00 UTC
Link to this
I'm more worried about him gnawing in Tooth...
Thank god he's bigger than Discword, or he might be eaten. -
*on (nm) (nm) by
on 2013-12-07 01:29:00 UTC
Link to this
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Newbie gifts! by
on 2013-12-06 04:08:00 UTC
Link to this
Latin homework: that thing that makes you wonder how the Romans survived their schooling. :D
Hetalia, Discworld, Cabin Pressure... sounds like fun. How far are you in Supernatural? My roommate's been dragging me through season one.
I give completely random gifts, so... here, have some cocoa mix, and a notepad, and some concrete mix (don't mix it up with the cocoa) and a ball of Urple yarn! -
Thank you :) by
on 2013-12-06 12:59:00 UTC
Link to this
Yup.
Still on one. WHY SO LITTLE TIME IN THE DAY?????
Thank you :) Here's a mini-hound I accidentally made while writing my fic. His name's Micrift. -
Oh hai there! by
on 2013-12-06 02:41:00 UTC
Link to this
Welcome to the PPC! Take your shoes off, leave your sanity at the door, and come on in!
Here, have some music by Harrison Birtwistle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaUOeaLXtVM -
My sanity's long gone, don't worry by
on 2013-12-06 02:50:00 UTC
Link to this
Just a thing, isn't it funny that my name is incorrectly spelled, meaning that if someone spells Phoenix correctly they've created a mini by spelling something right?
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING WELCOMING :)
*searches bag of holding* um... I have some toothpicks? I don't have much stuff yet... sorry... -
I get the feeling... by
on 2013-12-06 02:54:00 UTC
Link to this
...that you'll fit right in. =D
And only if they're referring to your username, I think. The last thing we need is for creatures to be invented by spelling errors in Harry Potter, y'know?
Hey, toothpicks are awesome little things, don't ya know? I'll go ahead and take one! -
Thank you :) by
on 2013-12-06 03:00:00 UTC
Link to this
Yeah... ye gods, that would be horrible.
I knew they'd be useful :) -
Salve, amice! by
on 2013-12-06 01:54:00 UTC
Link to this
Discipula Latinae es? Bene! Te adiuvare possum.
But enough Latin. Welcome to the PPC! A Star Trek fan, eh? Which series? I'm partial to Voyager, myself.
As for your newbie gift...
*rummages through bag of holding*
Here, have a snowglobe with a replica of your favorite fictional city inside! -
Salve! by
on 2013-12-06 01:58:00 UTC
Link to this
Itavero! Except Latin 1 so I can tell you that you have a head and that the Germanics are fighting the Romans but not much else.
YESH!! All of it. Books, nearly all the series except Enterprise which I'm on the fence about. Fave... probably TOS because McCoy.
Omygerd, late 22nd century San Francisco! Thank you so much ;) -
Hey, we share the same favorite TOS character! by
on 2013-12-06 02:23:00 UTC
Link to this
Hmm... I was going to make a reference to his elevator line from Wrath of Khan, but I don't know if you've seen it, so you might not get the joke.
Oh, well. Have a hypospray as a bonus gift for enjoying what I enjoy! -
Don't worry, I've seen Khan multiple times by
on 2013-12-06 02:52:00 UTC
Link to this
And then I saw Shatner say it live at a con that I was at :)
Thank you :) *puts in bag of holding* I have all this stuff! -
Welcome Battle-Sister! by
on 2013-12-06 01:19:00 UTC
Link to this
I'm 99Hedgehog but just call me 99. Here, have a Warhound Scout Titan complete with crew!
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Warhound
The Emperor Protects! -
Scout Titan? by
on 2013-12-06 01:28:00 UTC
Link to this
Is... is that from the manga?
Why is it metal?
I'm confused...
But thanks 99 :)
-LDP -
It's from Warhammer 40k. Follow the link for more info. (nm) by
on 2013-12-06 01:30:00 UTC
Link to this
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Warhammer? That sounds AWESOME by
on 2013-12-06 01:34:00 UTC
Link to this
Must go read...
But I have homework...
But interesting link...
Homework/link/homework/link
I'm going to read the link. -
continuation by
on 2013-12-06 01:36:00 UTC
Link to this
OMYGOD TABLE TOP GAME
Wish I had more people...
WHY CAN I NOT HAVE MORE TIME TO DO THINGS :(
Thank you for telling me about it, awesome person. -
You're most welcome. (nm) by
on 2013-12-06 03:45:00 UTC
Link to this
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'Ello! by
on 2013-12-06 01:17:00 UTC
Link to this
Welcome to our Board! Don't worry about the My Immortal thing, lots of Boarders found their way here the same way you did.
So...another High Fantasy/Sci-Fi fan? Great! Here, have a wilver edition of Legolas's long knife. (The one from the book, not the twin blades from the Movie) Enjoy the PPC!
~Autumn -
Wilver...knife? by
on 2013-12-06 01:27:00 UTC
Link to this
Thank you so much :)
I now have a Old Who Cyberplate, a mini-luggage, an infinity notebook, and a wilver version of Legolas' knife. Can... can I give this to my agents, if I ever make some? -
'Course! by
on 2013-12-06 06:55:00 UTC
Link to this
Just make sure they don't look directly at it. They may blind Sues with that, but I don't want to be responsible for them ending up in Medical. ;)
(Psst, that Infinite Notebook--blinding it may be--is very useful for Assasins.)
~Autumn -
Sure. by
on 2013-12-06 01:52:00 UTC
Link to this
There's precedent for duplicates of Boarder welcome gifts to wind up in the possession of Agents. Though, if I recall, Cyba never actually ended up wearing that powered armor later on, so it might have just been a continuity gag.
A Cyberplate? Did you crush Tooth the Cybermat flat? What did you even do to make that happen? It's only been like two hours, and those things are as durable as all get out! You weren't trying to kill any Terminators, were you? -
Um... by
on 2013-12-06 02:18:00 UTC
Link to this
Oh shoot, I mistyped and the words are punishing me.
And isn't Cyberman I am confused did I miss something big? -
And the Cyberman isn't what? by
on 2013-12-06 02:42:00 UTC
Link to this
He's not going to be asking for his Cybermat back, if that's what you're asking. On another related ground, Cybermats are these guys, not these guys.
Of course, you may have meant some completely different third thing, in which case I don't think I entirely understood the question. -
Thank you so much by
on 2013-12-06 02:54:00 UTC
Link to this
I'm so sorry Tooth.
Um... he's fixed now. I think?
We were fleeing some angels and we got separated... yeah... -
Crud, angels in the Board halls again? by
on 2013-12-06 03:03:00 UTC
Link to this
Were they the Weeping variety, the Supernatural variety, the Aziraphale variety, the mechanical variety, or the twelve-foot-tall-horror-with-six-faces-and-flaming-weapons variety? The DES is going to need to know before they move in.
As for the thanks mentioned in the post title... I'm not certain what exactly I just solved. You're welcome, I suppose. -
The Weeping variety. by
on 2013-12-06 15:35:00 UTC
Link to this
I think I must have stepped on him (walking backwards while not blinking=/= seeing behind you).
Twelve foot tall horror with six faces? What is this from? -
Traditional-style seraphim. by
on 2013-12-07 00:47:00 UTC
Link to this
I misremembered. They have six wings, not six faces. Traditional seraphim only have four faces. How embarrassing.
Dang. You crushed a Cybermat's armor plating with an accidental step? What kind of shoes were you wearing? Ah well. I should be able to reinforce the outer shell for you if you want, to keep this from happening again. I've been looking forward to testing out some of the equipment I've been finding in the Board sub-basements. -
I officially think the biblr is crazy by
on 2013-12-07 14:41:00 UTC
Link to this
On the shoes thing...
I don't think you want that answered.
That would be awesome.
Question: Currently the reason my agent has my newbie gives is that Mysterious Entities gave them to her. Does that work? -
Or she can just, you know... have traded for them. by
on 2013-12-07 19:52:00 UTC
Link to this
If you solve the problem by saying "she was given all of these random items by creatures beyond human understanding", it raises basic questions like "Why would they do that?" and "How did they do that?", and a spin-off question from the first, "Why did they choose to give her these specific items?"
On the other hand, since most of these sound like things that could just be found in a badfic or swiped by an Agent while their partner wasn't looking, it would make more sense to have your agent pick some of them up from HQ.
Let's run down the list here:
Fudge/Cocoa mix: you would've probably eaten these already, and neither is really something somebody would want to keep in their RC for very long anyway, for fear of the minis eating it. Irrelevant.
Bubble pipe: This seems like some sort of whimsical item that an Agent would've picked up at some point and eventually gotten bored with. I can see this being traded away to your Agent for pretty much anything, picked up at the General Store, or perhaps it was just left in the RC by whoever was using it last, if you're going to characterize your RC as previously occupied. Same for the the urple yarn, the snowglobe, and the non-Infinite notepad. Highly plausible.
Minis: there are several different Mini Adoption Centers scattered around HQ, and new Agents usually tend to go out and adopt a mini or two that matches a preferred fandom. Highly plausible.
Classical Music: I'm not sure how music itself would be physically present, but it would be reasonably plausible for the song to be alongside other assorted classical music on a CD from Small Murphy's shop.
Wilver knife: This sounds like something that an Agent would've picked up on a mission and traded in to the Armory. Z would probably be happy to get rid of it for a reasonable price, since wilver tends to make people's eyes water when they look at it. Reasonably plausible.
Hypospray: The Supply Depot actually stocks a few of these, in case they'd be needed as emergency items. Highly plausible.
Urple Infinite Notebook: Also something that an Agent might have picked up on a mission. This sounds like it might potentially occur naturally through confusing phrasing. Reasonably plausible.
All of those could just be summarized with a few sentences that essentially summarize to "(Agent's name) had been travelling around HQ all day, collecting a myriad assortment of items of varying levels of value. Also, she adopted some minis.(minis immediately commence causing trouble)".
The concrete mix is a little less plausible, but if you really want to include it, it could be glossed over by something like the Agent's partner looking in the bag and says "Is that concrete mix in here? Where did you even get that? (exasperated sigh) If this spills on the floor, you're cleaning it up.". It would be more of a one-shot joke than something that would be likely kept around, though, because it would harden into a misshapen blob over time and not really be useful for anything after that. I guess it could be used to throw at something, maybe.
Anyway, that covers the gifts within the realms of reasonable plausibility, but the Cybermat is significantly less plausible, and would probably need to be explained by events that occur in-story. Maybe it could have wandered in through a plot hole with a small clutch of other modified Cybermats. The DMFF could be sent to go clean them up, but one would escape, wandering into the path of (Agent's name), who names it and brings it back to the RC with her. Eventually it's found, but after (Agent's name) petitions to keep it, the Cybermat is allowed to stay on the condition that it stays in the RC and doesn't try to cyber-convert anything. It's not as though a Cybermat is the strangest pet an Agent's kept.
Speaking of Cybermats, here's Tooth back. His outer shell should be significantly harder to damage now, since it's been enhanced with tironium, the same stuff the Decepticons make bladed weapons out of. There's a surprisingly large amount of it in the sub-basements. At some point I should probably investigate where all of this extra-dimensional technology came from, since some of it seems a little too convenient to have just fallen in through random plot holes. -
Of course! by
on 2013-12-06 01:47:00 UTC
Link to this
There is nothing that says that you cannot give your agent newbie gifts. On the contrary, there has been one agent who wore a suit of armor given as a newbie gift.
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Hey look, the exact same link! by
on 2013-12-06 01:54:00 UTC
Link to this
That's... a little awkward, actually.
Oh, and by the way, the beta-read e-mails should be sent by tomorrow afternoon. I was going to do them Tuesday, but got sidetracked by last-minute finals preparation. -
Good luck on finals! by
on 2013-12-06 02:50:00 UTC
Link to this
And I'll be waiting for those e-mails.
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Fantastic ;) by
on 2013-12-06 01:52:00 UTC
Link to this
Now I just have to figure out how to disguise the luggage... pittbull?
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Minis don't go with the Agents on missions. by
on 2013-12-06 01:57:00 UTC
Link to this
There's a "no pets or other associate non-sapients" policy.
They tend to get off their bounds and wreak havoc, or get lost and need to be hunted down to keep anachronism to a minimum. You can keep Discword in HQ, though. Lots of Agents have space in their RCs for mini dwellings. -
Ah. thanks :) by
on 2013-12-06 02:00:00 UTC
Link to this
Still, I'm vaguely worried about it following me through a portal...
Question, if a friend of mine and I want to write missions together, should we apply for permissions in the same post? -
It's entirely up to your jurisdiction. by
on 2013-12-06 02:09:00 UTC
Link to this
I'd personally recommend it, especially if the two of you are going to be writing as a unit, but if you feel it would be best if there were agent summaries and writing samples from you both separately, then it wouldn't be a necessarily bad thing to make two posts.
Just keep them both in the same thread. Maybe have the shared parts in the initial post, and the individual sections as reply posts, or something of the sort. Don't make duplicate threads. Space is limited. -
Thanks :) by
on 2013-12-06 02:57:00 UTC
Link to this
I was thinking of doing the same post anyway, but she's a big part in the decision making.
Though I do feel a bit guilty. I just gave her a bunch of links and was like GO READ and then she said that PPC was as awesome as fezzes... so I think she likes it :) -
Greetings and bienvenue! by
on 2013-12-05 23:59:00 UTC
Link to this
Hello there! I see you've had been reading the missions already. Read any spin-offs yet? If so, which is your favorite?
Welcome gift, welcome gift... (rummages) Here! Have a Cybermat! Not the New Who kind with the freaky teeth, though, the mechanized silverfish from Classic Who. They're much more adorable.
Oh, and look, a mini-Luggage! (waves to Discword) You can take him, too, as a bonus gift. Just make sure he doesn't eat the Cybermat. -
I think the OFUDisc coordinator... by
on 2013-12-06 02:21:00 UTC
Link to this
... would prefer that mini-Luggage adoption took place via the Mini-Luggage Adoption Centre. That way the adopter gets a nice certificate with their mini's name and picture on it, too. {= )
Minis in general probably aren't the best thing to use as random handouts, since it will mess with the official records of people who keep track of such things.
~Neshomeh -
She made the mini in her entry post. by
on 2013-12-06 02:30:00 UTC
Link to this
It's a little less than formal, but I didn't revealing it to her here was much different from the collecting the mini-Balrogs or mini-Discords and such that are born from other typoed Board posts.
I'm not sure whether or not that makes them "official" minis or not, though. You're right, this probably would be difficult to keep track of.
Did I accidentally step over another line? I thought I had spotted them all, but this might have been one that slipped past my radar. -
Yeah, I've never been too keen on that idea, either. by
on 2013-12-09 13:18:00 UTC
Link to this
And since I'm here, I'll also note that the occasional habit I've seen around (don't know who) of claiming mini-Boarders of other people just plain disturbs me.
Anyway: just saw this whole thread, sorry for the delay, had to comment: I would very much prefer that any minis be adopted through the Adoption Centre, since otherwise we end up with two people claiming toownbe owned by the same mini, which just gets messy.
Additionally, typos from Board post have long been said not to create minis, except for mini-Boarders/Agents (and mini-Words, but those don't exist). The main reason for that is that otherwise people could just... create as many as they wanted. Which, given that the creation of minis is a charge (and cruelty to animals besides), would be bad. Yep.
That said... eh, I'll talk to LDP directly about 'Discword'. Probably later, though.
hS -
*didn't think that by
on 2013-12-06 02:31:00 UTC
Link to this
Missed two words there. I keep doing this today.
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Barzul, only just caught that by
on 2013-12-06 15:37:00 UTC
Link to this
Thank you for telling me about the mini I made.
Discword.
Great.
Hi, Discword. Please don't eat tooth, he's already kind of squished.... -
Wait... by
on 2013-12-07 00:45:00 UTC
Link to this
Then what did you think the mini you nicknamed "Tweeflower" was?
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I'll name him... Tweeflower (can I do that?) by
on 2013-12-06 00:13:00 UTC
Link to this
Spin-offs? What are those magical things and how do I not know what they are?
Awmygod, thank you :) I'll name it... Tooth.
Who's an awesome mini-luggage... Ow! Stop that! *scampers off to read more Discworld since only have read one book*
Thank you for the welcome :) -
They're all of the stories that followed Jay and Acacia's. by
on 2013-12-06 00:26:00 UTC
Link to this
http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/The_Complete_List_of_PPC_Fiction
Most of them are up in that link up there. There may be a handful that showed up in the early days that vanished before they could be cataloged, and a few of those spin-offs have been wiped or otherwise deleted from their sites, but there's still a lot of them. I usually prefer the spin-offs with a high story count, myself, because one can see the same characters dealing with a variety of shenanigans, but there are a few good ones that tragically stopped writing after their first mission. It's how this goes sometimes.
And I don't see why you wouldn't be able to nickname your mini. Of course, giving it a nickname that would also possibly be the birth name of another mini-Luggage could lead to problems if a mini named Tweeflower ever shows up. They'd probably have to fight to the death to prove the rightful owner of the identity. There can be only one! -
Fight to the death! by
on 2013-12-06 01:33:00 UTC
Link to this
That would be interesting to see... there is probably a Tweeflower somewhere... hm...
So that's what they're called...
Hm.. my favorite is probably this ACD one with zombies in it. It was badslash I think... don't remember the title though.
Me and a friend are planning on starting a team of agents as soon as we've established ourselves and gotten the all important Permission. -
I'm not entirely sure what ACD stands for. by
on 2013-12-06 02:05:00 UTC
Link to this
There is only one bad slash mission I'm familiar with that has zombies in it, but technically it's only Bad Slash overflow since the Agents involved are from two separate Floaters teams. Is that it?
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Ah, sorry, Arthur Conan Doyle by
on 2013-12-06 02:59:00 UTC
Link to this
It was a Sherlock Holmes one that involved Twu Wuv and a canon couple being split in a completely unrealistic manner.
Also: there's a department me and my friend want our characters to be in, but there's only one RC in it, does that mean we have to get that author's permission? -
Nope. It means you create a new RC. by
on 2013-12-06 03:07:00 UTC
Link to this
Unless it's the Department of WhatThe, which is still in some sort of weird provisional limbo following the transfer or death of all but one of its agents and the death of its Department Head. I'm not even sure anyone but Huinesoron is allowed to get involved there any more, and he can only do so because he created the Department.
Which Department did you have in mind, by the way? -
That sounds unpleasant... by
on 2013-12-06 13:00:00 UTC
Link to this
Department of Angst. The Flower is the Aloe Vera.
How do you become a floater? -
Oh, nice choice. by
on 2013-12-06 16:58:00 UTC
Link to this
I haven't even seen anyone try to mention the DoA in recent years, and it's good to see someone who wants to resuscitate the obscurer Departments. Plus, the Aloe Vera is still pretty much a blank slate personality-wise, which should open up a lot of creative opportunities to develop her. Good luck!
There really aren't any prerequisites for entering any Department. People usually choose Floaters when they want to deal with multiple types of fic that don't overlap. It doesn't always work out that way, and there are some Floaters RCs that often end up more suited for the All-Purpose Department or the Department of Mary Sues, but that's the intended purpose of the department.
If you're talking about the prerequisites in-universe, I don't think there are really any there, either. I've always seen Floaters as the home of more of the inexperienced or unspecialized Agents, personally, which is an opinion largely bolstered by the fact that if people write Floaters RCs for long enough, a lot of them tend to transfer out to another department or at least plan to transfer, as well as a large proportion of Floaters bios indicating that the Agent is relatively new to the job.
That's not always the case, though. For example, Herr Wozzeck's Floaters RC has two out of three Agents as knowledgeable and experienced right from the first mission, and one even transferred to Floaters from the DMS. Majority does not equal unanimity. -
I write angst... by
on 2013-12-06 17:37:00 UTC
Link to this
..so I think I'm half-decent at spotting bad angst. And the amount of bad angst on AO3 is semi-impressice... Also, the Aloe Vera seems interesting.
Thanks.
Has anyone ever started out as a recent transfer from the Floaters? -
Yeah, nobody's done much re: DOA since Trojie made 'em by
on 2013-12-06 17:03:00 UTC
Link to this
It's really a shame. They seemed interesting, and I know it'd be cool to see more missions that aren't just "find the Sue and stab it at a certain point". I know I made a brief attempt at a mission for them, but it kinda fell way back in my backlog...
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Angst by
on 2013-12-06 17:40:00 UTC
Link to this
The ending of Sherlock series 2 has made there be much bad angst.
And good angst, actually.
Could my agent know of the PPC from the real world? -
Not much saying they couldn't. by
on 2013-12-06 17:43:00 UTC
Link to this
A lot of agents come from World One, and though many come across it by chance others learn of its existence somehow, often through runins with other agents.
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Hm... by
on 2013-12-06 17:58:00 UTC
Link to this
I have a semi-written down AU that is about a group of children who exist within the Internet. Could that be the origin of my agent or is that too weird even for the PPC?
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We have sentient shades of the colour blue. Give it a shot. (nm) by
on 2013-12-06 18:00:00 UTC
Link to this
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Sentient... blue? by
on 2013-12-06 18:10:00 UTC
Link to this
What I mean by internet born is that they, I mean this literally, are manifestations of FF.net, because there are so many stories on that sight that it sprouted multiple conciousnesses.
In this story, FF.net is a giant library type place, with each fandom having a different shelf (or shelves).
My character, disgusted with the amount of badfic (of which there are a lot) in her home, doesn't know what to do.
She stumbles across the FFU of Middle Earth, and discovers the PPC through that, and falls through the world/transports herself/falls into/something I don't know yet into HQ. The reason that she's in the department of angst is.. I'm not sure yet.
I think I know why you have to wait so long for permission.
Making a good character takes a while. -
That sounds *really* cool. by
on 2013-12-11 18:41:00 UTC
Link to this
Also, hey, welcome to the Board! Sorry I didn't welcome you earlier, I've been on limited coherence and time due to exams. But now they're over, so I'm back! Here, have two bars of the finest Swiss Bleepolate as both a welcome gift and an apology...
And on an earlier note, I'm fairly sure you can have characters knowing about the PPC from the real world. I'm pretty sure I've read some agents like that...and, at the very least, one of my agents was crazy enough to read Jay and Acacia's mission reports in World One and then actually *apply for a job*--which I'm fairly sure was actually standard practice at some point. Anyway, you should be fine :)
As to why the Department of Angst...maybe your character is irrepressibly cheerful? Or maybe she really isn't, and so the Flowers put her there for their own amusement?
~DF -
Yep. From the Hitchhiker's Guide continuum. by
on 2013-12-06 19:32:00 UTC
Link to this
Frank, one of the FicPsych secretaries, is the only named one so far, but there could be more.
They're known as Hooloovoo, and, to put it in Star Trek terms, they're photonic lifeforms. They exist as hyperintelligent telepathic blue light. How Frank manages to get any paperwork done as a photonic entity, I don't know, but that's not really a question that's ever come up in-universe, so I'm assuming there's some method to it.
So, pertaining to your agent, you mean she's like a tulpa, shaped from all of the fanfiction on the site, or an aspect of such a being? Or was she formed based on the idea that if there are enough stories in one place, strange things happen, ala Unseen University's library? Or is her birth a side effect of something? Was she an actual entity prior to her discovery of OFUM and separation from her birth zone, or was she some sort of abstract digital force bonded to the site itself?
Will her partner be a similar entity, and if so, how do they view the Agents rescued from FF.net stories? What sort of physical form does she take, if any? And is that her natural form, or does she shift into it to interact with others? And what does she think of Quotev?
I ask because 1) it isn't really all that clear the way you said it and 2) these are important things to think about in case you'll need to deal with them when writing. Origins can affect disposition and worldview, which can drive character interactions. Except for the last question. That one was mostly just curiosity. -
She looks likes a hologram from Star Wars by
on 2013-12-06 20:56:00 UTC
Link to this
The Pit in my headcanon is decidedly a bit like the Unseen university. She looked human when she was at FF.net, but when she ended up at PPC her form shifted a bit. Like the subject says, she's flickering, but like Star Trek holodeck characters, she can interact with the physical world.
Her partner? I have no idea, I'm not her creator, my friend is.
She's excited about seeing places where Canon is based of the real world, because she doesn't know what it's like. She gets excited about things like Skyscrapers. And trees. I will have more on her eventually. -
*site... darn it (nm) (nm) by
on 2013-12-06 18:12:00 UTC
Link to this
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Just by making a character in that department. by
on 2013-12-06 16:48:00 UTC
Link to this
I think it's become slightly overdone though? I'm unsure, I just remember Neshomeh and possibly someone else complaining about it a while back.
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Department of Angst it is, then (NM) (nm) by
on 2013-12-06 17:59:00 UTC
Link to this
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*waves* by
on 2013-12-05 23:16:00 UTC
Link to this
Hello and welcome!
I hereby give to you a lined Infinite Notebook for your very own. It features urple covers and wilver binding, so I would recommend that you not look at it straight on, though.
-Aila -
Hi! by
on 2013-12-05 23:18:00 UTC
Link to this
Omygods, thanks you :)
*looks* ow... why did I do that?
Urple... I really don't like that color. I used it as a name for a troll in a fic I wrote... so yeah... (I referenced the PPC in a Sherlock fic I'm writing... yeah)
Thank you for the gift :)
-LDP
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RIP Nelson Mandela by
on 2013-12-06 01:56:00 UTC
Link to this
Most likely, you may have heard the news that a great man has died today. Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, has died today. Let us keep the Mandela family in our thoughts and prayers during what must be trying times for them.
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RIPM (nm) by
on 2013-12-15 18:44:00 UTC
Link to this
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So long, and thanks for all the struggle. (nm) by
on 2013-12-08 13:53:00 UTC
Link to this
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RIP (nm) by
on 2013-12-06 14:56:00 UTC
Link to this
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RIP. by
on 2013-12-06 13:02:00 UTC
Link to this
He was a great man.
I now really wish I had finished his autobiography.
Prayers for his family. I'd give them something wilver, but I don't think they'd appreciate it. -
Rest well, Mr Mandela (nm) by
on 2013-12-06 12:36:00 UTC
Link to this
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He's had a good long run, yes. (nm) by
on 2013-12-06 11:51:00 UTC
Link to this
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*salutes* The world has lost a great man today. (nm) by
on 2013-12-06 10:26:00 UTC
Link to this
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Rest in peace forevermore. (nm) by
on 2013-12-06 08:06:00 UTC
Link to this
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*bows head in respect* by
on 2013-12-06 06:25:00 UTC
Link to this
RIP.
~Autumn -
RIP indeed by
on 2013-12-06 05:52:00 UTC
Link to this
Rarely do we see:
A determined activist;
A patient man;
A man who preferred the loving and peaceful path but wasn't above fighting fire with fire if need be;
A spiritual man capable of much understanding and forgiveness;
A deft politician; and
A Founding Father type capable of reinventing his own nation without inciting civil war;
All rolled into one, tied together with an aura of charisma, every ounce of which he may have needed to accomplish his goals.
If aliens ever stop by and ask us if we are worth keeping around, Mandela is a prime example of humanity at its finest, for having battled and come through humanity at its worst without overpowering bitterness and with his extraordinary compassion intact.
We are lucky to have lived in a world where he existed. His legacy will ripple through us for centuries to come. -
RIP (nm) by
on 2013-12-06 05:15:00 UTC
Link to this
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RIP (nm) by
on 2013-12-06 04:04:00 UTC
Link to this
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A new theory about Tom Bombadil by
on 2013-12-06 12:53:00 UTC
Link to this
Tom Bombadil, for those of you who somehow don’t already know, is a mysterious, oft-maligned, and frankly bizarre character who helps the hobbits out in the early part of The Lord of the Rings. He has managed to escape appearing in any of the film adaptations, though he does show up in a few of the games.
He’s a nature spirit, or at least was before LotR was written (“Do you think Tom Bombadil, the spirit of the (vanishing) Oxford and Berkshire countryside, could be made into the hero of a story?”). The idea of ‘nature spirits’ seems a bit foreign to LotR, but it actually isn’t - while a lot of their traditional roles are filled by Maiar of various kinds (not to mention the Valie Yavanna), there is one key example of a genuine sentient piece of landscape: Caradhras. Ignore the films’ ideas about it being Saruman who attacked the Fellowship there - the books make it very clear that the Redhorn itself is out to get them. Admittedly the mountain doesn’t appear to be embodied, but the idea of the landscape having a personality is there.
So Tom is a nature spirit (probably). He has difficulty describing himself (‘I am’, and his wife similarly says ‘he is’), but when pressed calls himself ‘the Master’. Not the ruler of the land he personifies - the things in it, he says firmly, are not his - but its master. He can control everything in his lands, to the point where he can quell the ancient Huorn (or similar creature) Old Man Willow, and even drive out a Barrow Wight with no visible effort. He can seemingly teleport - he shows up instantly when Frodo calls from within the barrow, despite presumably being at home at the time. He’s also unaffected by the Ring - in the same way that a tree, presumably, wouldn’t turn invisible if you stuck it on a branch.
But the actual extent of Tom’s lands is a bit of a puzzler. He claims mastery over the Old Forest, including the Withywindle valley, and the Barrow Downs. But… why those limits? The boundary there is purely artificial - the Old Forest used to cover the whole of western Middle-earth, and even the Barrow-downs extend pretty much directly into the South Downs. Tom seems limited by the roads, rather than anything natural.
Which may be the explanation. As a nature spirit, the arrival of Men and all their works would be like a jab in the ribs. Every time Men put down another road, they were further binding nature to their will - and further binding Tom Bombadil to the wilderness that remained.
Okay, that actually is a new theory - but that’s not the one I was going for here. This is:
I think Tom Bombadil has a Palantir.
The evidence lies in the dreams the hobbits had while in his house. On the first night, Frodo dreams about Gandalf in Isengard, Pippin about trees surrounding the house, and Merry about rising water. Sam doesn’t dream at all. On the second night, we only hear about Frodo’s dream - of being on the Tower Hills, thinking about the Sea.
Obviously, we’re supposed to assume Pip is having nightmares about being trapped by Old Man Willow. But then… why is the house surrounded? And why is Merry - who was also trapped by the tree - dreaming about water?
My theory is that the Palantir - elven magic from Valinor - interacts with the presence of a powerful nature spirit to give people visions without them actually looking into it. It also appears to come unstuck in time, showing both the past and the future.
Assume that Saruman was actually using his Palantir at the time the hobbits lay sleeping. If he was looking westwards - perhaps searching after Gandalf, who by then had escaped - he could have opened a link with Tom’s Stone. Frodo, too, was worrying about Gandalf - so the linked Seeing Stones showed him Gandalf’s most recent connection with Orthanc, specifically his escape. The other hobbits weren’t so focussed, so the Stones, influenced by Tom, showed them something else - their own future interactions with Isengard. In Merry and Pippin’s case, that is the attack of the Ents (trees surrounding the building, trying to break in) and the subsequent flooding (the rising water). And Sam? Sam never goes anywhere near Orthanc. He only passes it on the journey home. With no connection to draw on, he simply doesn’t dream.
The next night, the Orthanc-stone isn’t open. Nor is the Anor stone, nor, fortunately, that of Minas Ithil - but the Palantir atop the White Towers, looking out over the Sea, is always active. Frodo - the only dream we’re told about - thus dreams about the Tower Hills, and the passage to Valinor which that Palantir shows.
Okay, so hopefully you accept that Tom having a Palantir at least has some support. But where did he get it? There were seven Stones originally, of course, of which four are still active - Orthanc, Anor, Ithil, and the Tower Hills. Of the remaining three, it would be highly unlikely for Tom to have gotten his hands on the Osgiliath Stone - it’s a very long way away, after all. That leaves Annuminas (capital of Arnor, later held by Arthedain) and Weathertop (on the border between the three later kingdoms).
We know that the princes of Cardolan - one of the three successor kingdoms to Arnor - were laid to rest on the Barrow-downs, which lay in their territory. We also know that the two lesser kingdoms - Cardolan and Rhudaur - squabbled over the Weathertop Palantir - since Arthedain already had one, they were rather less interested.
In 1409 of the Third Age, Weathertop fell, with its Palantir being retrieved. Shortly thereafter, the last Prince of Cardolan died, and the refugees retreated to the Barrow-downs and Old Forest. It is assumed that Arthedain took the Palantir, only for it to be later lost when Arvedui’s shop went down, hundreds of years later. But… what if it wasn’t? What if King Araphor of Arthedain - whose father had died in the failed defence of Weathertop, and thus secured the Palantir’s recovery - gave the Seeing Stone to the survivors of Cardolan in an effort to cement their alliance? After all, with Angmar-controlled Rhudaur to the east, he certainly didn’t want his southern neighbours to turn on his fragile nation as well.
So Cardolan takes the Weathertop stone - and when at last they retreat to the Old Forest, they take it with them. Two hundred years later, even the power of Tom Bombadil isn’t enough to protect them from the plague, and they die out - but the Palantir remains, and is retrieved by Tom.
It could have happened. Did Tolkien come up with it? I doubt it - the dreams I think appeared long before Treebeard was even imagined, and certainly before the fall of Cardolan was envisaged. But it could have happened.
hS -
And a second theory. by
on 2013-12-09 09:11:00 UTC
Link to this
Tom Bombadil is the Doctor.
Specifically, he's the Fourth Doctor, as played by Tom (see?) Baker. He's bombastic (HMM THAT'S A FAMILIAR WORD), has an awful fashion sense, and a wicked sense of humour. Four also seems exactly the type to write appalling songs just to entertain himself. And I can totally imagine Bombadil with that shock of hair.
This presumably makes Goldberry Romana II, as played by Lalla Ward. She also has that wicked sense of humour.
It explains the time-displaced dreams (TARDIS, duh), and the teleportation (ditto), and the fact that he can claim to have been there before anyone else (ditto, again). In fact I think it can be safely said to explain everything.
This does of course mean that, in accordance with the TVTropes theory, the Doctor is in Middle-earth in no less than four incarnations: as the slightly clownish Gandalf who regenerates into the stately old man (Two and Three), then as Bombadil (Four), and a bit later as the eccentric Radagast (Seven, naturally). Whether there are more incarnations out there, I leave as an exercise to the reader (One as Saruman? Hmmm...)
"I hate good wizards in fairy tales; they always turn out to be him." ~ River Song
hS -
And here I thought I'd escaped "Everyone is a Time Lord" ;) (nm) by
on 2013-12-10 00:41:00 UTC
Link to this
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I'm so sorry, but...[ficlet incoming!] by
on 2013-12-11 03:35:00 UTC
Link to this
"What do you mean, they're all Time Lords?" Brenda demanded. "They can't *all* be--"
"They are, though, it says," Charlie replied. She pointed to the console's readout. "See? James Bond, Mary Poppins, practically everyone in Middle-earth--"
"Legolas too?" Edgar asked, fascinated.
Charlie nodded. "He's Romana in disguise."
"That makes no sense, Romana never acted like--"
"He's Romana who went through the Chameleon Arch."
"Oh."
"What about Feanor?" Dawn put in. "Is he--?"
"The Master."
"You're kidding," Edgar exclaimed. "Come on, he can't--they can't *all* be--"
"It's everyone on Supernatural, too," Charlie said. "Zachariah is secretly Rassilon, Sam is not-so-secretly the Doctor, Dean is--"
"No way Dean's a Time Lord," Dawn said, shaking her head. "No way."
"Dean is the Doctor-Donna."
Dawn gaped at the younger agent, while Edgar did his best not to fall off his chair as he laughed. "What about in Harry Potter?"
"Do you have to ask?" Brenda said. "Dumbledore is Gandalf is the Doctor, Voldemort is probably the Master or Rassilon, and, well, I've definitely seen fics where Harry was the Thirteenth Doctor. The fandom's got that covered."
"What about Narnia?" Dawn asked eagerly. "Any Time Lords in Narnia?"
Charlie stared at the console for nearly a full minute before she replied. "I'm not touching Narnia. Sorry."
There was a long pause, and then Dawn sighed and stood up. "I suppose I should go check on the minis..."
And of course, that was the moment the console took to go [BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!] and make everyone jump.
--
Thank you, all. This has been DawnFire and the Random Ficlet. Hope you enjoyed.
~DF -
... oh. Oh dear. by
on 2013-12-11 10:51:00 UTC
Link to this
You know, I can totally see Legolas as Romana... and Feanor as the Master, for that matter (possibly in one of his more ridiculous incarnations). Hilarious. Thank you. :)
hS -
You're welcome :) by
on 2013-12-11 18:17:00 UTC
Link to this
Mind you, considering that I know very little about Romana, I'm surprised that worked so well. (I do know rather a lot about Feanor, though, so that's not as surprising).
Ever heard of Matt the Smith? Specifically, Mahtan the Smith?
I can't take credit for that, as I heard it from Lily, but it does amuse me rather a lot.
Although, I'm fairly sure I was once tossing around the idea of Mahtan being the Doctor, finally ginger, who then runs around after his descendants the Feanorians trying to fix things...not sure who I was dreaming that up with, though. Either Lily or Karen, but I'm not sure which one...probably Lily, actually, come to think of it.
Actually, could you explain to me how/why Legolas as Romana fits? I'm getting pretty curious as to what character traits they share.
~DF -
Depends on the Romana. by
on 2013-12-11 20:49:00 UTC
Link to this
Obviously he shares the hair with Romana II, and in some of his later interactions with Gimli, you can see hints of the Romana II/Doctor interactions (put 'That still only counts as one!' into Tom Baker's voice... yeah, seeing it). But there's also Romana I - the haughty, far-better-than-you-in-every-way-and-knows-it version. That's pretty Legolas, too.
But mostly? It's the hair. :D
hS -
Did you know...? by
on 2013-12-11 06:55:00 UTC
Link to this
There is a theory that Ms Frizzle from the Magic School Bus is a Time Lady, and that the Bus is her TARDIS? The scariest part is how much sense it makes. Here, I'll copy the lines exactly from the WMG page, so you don't have to scan for yourself:
She has a time-and-space traveling contraption that can change its size and shape and affect those around it, echoing the known facts about TARDIS, the Timelords' own time-and-space traveling contraptions. The "Magic" School Bus has shrunk in order to go through Arnold's digestive system, traveled throughout the solar system in speeds beyond the Speed of Light, and even (a sure sign of a TARDIS) gone back in time to various ages where dinosaurs still existed.
She has an eccentric personality, which is a sign of later-generation Doctors: Tom Baker and his scarf, David Tennant and his obsession with certain phrases like "Allons-y!" and "Fantastic!", etc. Perhaps all her different clothes and behavior are a sign that she is on her last regeneration. One of her previous generations may be Mary Poppins, whose handbag is a Bag of Holding.
-Ms Frizzle is obviously Iris Wildthyme's final regeneration.
-This would also explain why the bus isn't any recognizable make and appears at least 30 years too old to have been in front-line service in The Nineties.
-To further prove this point, Dr. Who was originally a children's television show where the Doctor would take children on adventures through time and space to teach them about science and history.
So yeah. Ms Frizzle is a Time Lady. I want to see more Doctor Who X Magic School Bus crossovers, pronto!
Also, because I have nothing better to do:
-
I *knew* there was a fandom favorite I'd forgotten. by
on 2013-12-11 18:12:00 UTC
Link to this
Yes, I've seen those theories about Ms. Frizzle. I also love those theories. I hadn't seen that second picture, though, I don't think--and it's *brilliant* :D
(There's also a theory where Welcome to Night Vale's Carlos is the same Carlos from Ms. Frizzle's class, which is pretty awesome. Just saying.)
For lack of an edit option, we'll just have to pretend Charlie's line now reads: "See? James Bond, Mary Poppins, Ms. Frizzle, practically everyone in Middle-earth--"
~DF -
You're welcome. by
on 2013-12-11 21:02:00 UTC
Link to this
I have to say, this is one of my personal favorite Time Lord theories. Some of them are silly, but this one just fits, you know? It explains so much about the series, it's not even funny.
You know, I can't say I can get behind that theory. Night Vale!Carlos does not say nearly enough puns for it to be him. Further, their personalities are just not similar enough for me to see any connection beyond the name. I suppose I would laugh at some fan art, but if I saw it in a fic, I would have problems with the concept, no matter how well explained. -
Uh. Buh. Guh? by
on 2013-12-11 10:53:00 UTC
Link to this
Yes. Yes please. (Where the heck did you find those pictures?)
... dangit, now I have to fight to avoid putting The Frizz into my entirely-serious 'Time Lords with Scientist Companions hang out' fic. Curse you!
hS -
I know, right? by
on 2013-12-11 20:53:00 UTC
Link to this
I need to see something more! This concept is too good to waste!
I found the pictures by googling Ms. Frizzle Time Lord. There are a few more, but those are some of my favorites. I'll throw on a few more at the end of his post.
Huine (I can call you Huine, right?), just look at the the concept. Entirely-serious. Time Lords hang out. Those statements do not belong together. Things will get silly, I gar-ron-tee.
Besides, if you don't want to have the Frizz in the serious story, just write a different one. Have one where she decides to teach the class about Aliens or something. I don't know, just write something with The Frizz as a Time Lady!
Um, you know, if you want to...
Now, for more pictures!
Yes, that is Ms. Frizzle as River Song.
-
*falls over laughing* Brilliant. (nm) by
on 2013-12-11 04:51:00 UTC
Link to this
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Thanks! Glad it amused you :) (nm) by
on 2013-12-11 18:17:00 UTC
Link to this
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The first one may be the most sensible theory ever, but... by
on 2013-12-09 17:35:00 UTC
Link to this
...this one has got to be my favourite. I will never read those chapters in the same way.
Because, of course, there's the fact that it totally fits. And the fact that I utterly adore Four and Romana. (Their banter is the best thing ever.)
You are so brilliant.
-Aila -
The thing about theories... by
on 2013-12-10 09:27:00 UTC
Link to this
... is that there are two kinds: the ones that make you go 'Hey, that sort of works', and the ones that make you laugh.
The former are what give rise to epic fanfics (and I do want to write a Fall of Cardolan story someday); the latter, though, are far more fun. Fics based on them, though? They tend to be a lot harder, because once you've made it explicit - "Oh hey, it's the Doctor talking to Frodo" - there's not much left to do with the theory. Now it's just a crossover (which may of course be excellent, but that's not the point).
I suppose one sneaky thing to do would be to write a perfectly normal fic with Bombadil in it - but write him as Four in disguise, without ever saying that you're doing so. That might be interesting...
hS -
If you write that, I will read. by
on 2013-12-11 00:47:00 UTC
Link to this
Any of them.
...and that would be very sneaky indeed.
-Aila -
Ooh, I like this. by
on 2013-12-07 02:51:00 UTC
Link to this
I like this a lot. If your theory is true, then this explains a lot what went on when the hobbits' were at Bombadil's. It does make sense, after all, he is, as far as I can tell from LotR, quite powerful.
~Autumn -
This is the most sensible Tom Bombadil theory I've ever seen by
on 2013-12-06 18:00:00 UTC
Link to this
I really like it.
-Aila -
I like it. by
on 2013-12-06 16:01:00 UTC
Link to this
I don't know very much about the Lord of the Rings and supporting texts, quite honestly. However, I do like a good theory.
I like the explanation of Tom Bombadil as a nature spirit. It makes a lot of sense. I especially like the bit about the roads marking his boundaries because they are man-made. I seem to recall something like that being used somewhere else, as well. Can't remember where, though. This section of the theory makes as much sense as any other I've heard to explain him.
As to the Palantir, I don't really know how they work. I do know about numerous systems of magic, though. It is entirely possible that two powerful magics could, if brought together, interact in unforeseen ways. Who knows, if you bring together a powerful clairvoyant artifact and a highly magical nature spirit (Or two? Wasn't his wife a water something?), you might get unpredictable visions of far off (in time and/or space) events as viewed through the lens of nature. It seems to me that most of the dreams fit that description. The only one that doesn't is Gandalf in Isengard and that could be explained by multiple highly magical beings causing another unforeseen interaction with the Isengard Palantir.
Thinking about it, if Bombadil is an earth spirit, and his wife is a water spirit, then you have the two major elements of the dreams. You have trees closing in around the house, in one, and water rising, in another. If you look at Frodo's second dream, it involves the point where earth and water come together.
So, yeah, that all could make sense.
-Phobos -
Interesting trivia: by
on 2013-12-06 17:03:00 UTC
Link to this
The Eldar don't seem to have a 'four elements' system in place, but rather three. The biggest indicator of this is the Three Rings - Nenya for water (represented by diamond), Vilya for air (sapphire), and Narya for fire (ruby). There's no Ring of Earth (despite certain Mary-Sues adding one made out of Teflon!).
Thinking about this, that probably stems less from 'elements' than from the Silmarilli. There were three of them, of course, and they ended up in those three 'elements' - Earendil has one in the sky (air), Maedhros threw his into a volcano or somesuch (fire), and Maglor chucked his in the sea (water). So maybe if there had been four Jewels, there would also have been four Elven Rings?
(And, just maybe, the 'elements' also correspond to the most powerful Valar. The seven male Valar are Manwe, Aule, Mandos, Lorien, Orome, Tulkas, and Ulmo. Of those, Manwe (air) is the most powerful, and Ulmo (water) is said to know the most about Arda. Add in Aule (fire) as the one most connected to the Noldor... of the Aratar, the unmentioned are Orome (nature again) and Mandos (death). Hmmm...
hS -
The hidden fourth element by
on 2013-12-06 17:34:00 UTC
Link to this
Can I just point out that all of those rings are made of metal and gemstones, and that the Silmarilli are jewels?
I think we've found our earth element. It is hidden in all of those. It is supporting all the others. Earth is, after all, a pretty low key kind of element.
On a different not, wasn't Aule the smith? Yeah...just looked it up. He created the Dwarfs. He strikes me as an earth-aligned being, making things from, since his creations tended to be made of stone and metal. I mean, he probably uses fire to do his work, but he is mainly concerned with earthen things.
I thought Melkor was the fire aligned one, though he is not on your list for obvious reasons.
Of course, I haven't even finished the Silmarillian, yet, so I could be very wrong on all that.
-Phobos -
"Earth is kind of a low-key element" by
on 2013-12-06 21:31:00 UTC
Link to this
(Look at me, joining a discussion about Tolkienverse. Bear with me, most of my knowledge is movieverse.)
I find it interesting that the Earth element is not apparently obvious in objects created by powerful beings to be wielded by powerful beings. The element is still there, but for the most part, they don't notice its strength, because it is a solid, steady element, not a flashy power.
What else is solid, steady, unnoticed for the most part, with hidden strength?
Hobbits.
The powerful beings ignore the earth element, ignore the hobbits, but if they didn't remember the hobbits and the values associated with earth, we all know who'd be ruling over Middle-Earth now.
And that, to me, is one of the most important messages of Lord of the Rings - that basic, solid integrity and strength go unrecognized by power, but are actually the most important in the end.
If that was Tolkien's intention - and I never thought I'd say this with such reverence - he was brilliant. -
Nice theory... by
on 2013-12-06 14:56:00 UTC
Link to this
But I'm fairly certain it is recorded somewhere in Tolkien's notes that the Weathertop Palantir was taken by Arthedain.
Two other things I'd like to point out.
1) From what I remember the Palantir at the White Towers is different to all the other Palantir and does not 'connect' in the same way as the other Palantir do, instead only looking out west over the sea and being unable to communicate with the others.
2) I'm fairly certain the Palantir don't work in dreams, because the person using the Palantir needs to be holding it to use it. The other problem with the use of the Palantir is that most of the time they only show what the other side wants the user to see, which is part of how Sauron managed to corrupt Saruman by showing him Mordor's might and how the West stood no chance against it (or so he thought). Although things can be hidden from view, like if you're using a telescope (I think, I'm trying to remember this from a book I read a few years ago).
Storme Hawk -
Three comments, but two numbers? by
on 2013-12-06 15:30:00 UTC
Link to this
Time to get creative.
0/ Yes, it is. It's said that it sank with Arvedui Last-King up in Forochel, along with the Annuminas stone and various regalia of the Kings of Arnor. But given how secretly the Stones were kept (one was in the most populous city in the world, and not even Gandalf knew!), how do we know that? All right, authorial intent, but from an in-universe point of view, no-one who knew about Arvedui's possession - or lack thereof - of the Weathertop Stone survived the fall of Arthedain. My tale about giving it to Cardolan to try and keep them on side - and to relay messages, come to think of it - still works.
1/ It's true that the Tower Hills Stone doesn't connect to the other six. That could be influenced by at least three factors:
a) The Weathertop Stone was apparently larger than the other Northern stones (holding the same position as the Osgiliath Palantir in the South), and acted as 'master' to them. As I understand it from Tolkien's notes, the master-stone could cut in on any communication between two other stones. It could well have also had access to the view from the Tower Stone.
b) Not being able to be used to communicate, and not being able to be rotated as a telescope, doesn't mean it can't transmit its view to another Stone. There's no evidence for this, of course - but nor is there any against it.
c) The Weathertop Stone is held by a nature spirit ;). Who knows what that does to things?
2/ Ooh, you sneak! This is actually two points in one. "String, or nothing!" But I'm onto you, fellow bird-named person.
2a/ Yes, normally the Palantiri need to be held to be used - although the movies apparently disagree, since they still allow eye-Sauron to use them. Bearing in mind that Bombadil is capable of, at minimum, mild hypnosis (the hobbits spend literally an entire day listening to him without even getting hungry, or noticing how long it's been), transmitting visions from the Palantir - either deliberately or purely as a side-effect of its presence - seems entirely in-character. In fact, I'd argue for deliberately - remember that all three hobbits hear (or think they hear) Bombadil's/Goldberry's voice at the end of their visions.
2b/ I'm afraid on this point you're just wrong ;). The reason Sauron was able to corrupt Saruman so thoroughly is that Saruman had absolutely no right to use the Palantir. Since Sauron didn't either, it turned into a simple battle of wills - which Sauron won. Denethor, as Steward of Gondor, did have the right, so was able to tear his Stone away from Sauron's control to a far greater extent. Sauron couldn't manipulate what he saw - but, being ludicrously powerful, could (and did) influence what he thought about it. Pippin, poor thing, had neither authority nor willpower, and was literally dragged to Sauron's attention. And Aragorn? Aragorn had the ultimate authority, and (according to him) just enough willpower to turn the Palantir to his own needs. If he had continued using it, it is entirely possible Sauron would have tried to manipulate him the same way he did Denethor (and there's an AU for the asking). Bombadil, having been given the Palantir directly by a rightful chain of authority (Kings of Arthedain > Someone from Cardolan > Bombadil), had the authority - and I don't see him as someone lacking in willpower.
hS
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Badfic possibly? I haven't seen it here. by
on 2013-12-06 19:17:00 UTC
Link to this
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5902133/1/Life-of-Cristancia
This fic is... bad.
Like, My Immortal bad.
I'm not kidding you.
There is impossible sex, impossible rape, bad slash, a Mary Sue, like, fourteen crossovers and just...
Here's an excerpt from chapter two:
We all sat down and eat snacks we stole, actully they just gave me them cause I was so beautiful. Hermione need to change so did I, we made gthe boys leave, even though i really wanned ed to see me change. WHile me and hermoine changed, i felt wet and I tackled her on the ground. There i thrusted my butt into the air and smikred as i thrusted on to her. she licked me and i licked her ad then I turned into a lion and started sexing her. Then i turned back and pretended nothing happened and erased hermonines mammorys.
I tried MSTing it, but a person on the sight threatened to report me if I did, and I have some other fics up that I'd rather not lose.
I'd do it myself, but I don't have Permission (obviously) and won't apply for any for a couple months.
Also, I don't think I'm experienced enough to do so.
-LDP -
I think it's a trollfic. by
on 2013-12-07 02:22:00 UTC
Link to this
Actually, scratch that. It is a trollfic. See the author's note:
"My friend told me this wasn't good and it looked like I trolled it, idk what that means, but... CRIS IS NOT A TROLL! SHE'S BEE-OOTY-FULL!"
*sniggers* I guess Cris is full of "BEE-OOTY". The excerpt you provided is both trollish and NSFW. And I heard you...claimed it? Be careful...be very, very careful. Here, have an urple shield to go with my newbie-gift-knife. Good luck!
~Autumn -
Thank you by
on 2013-12-07 14:25:00 UTC
Link to this
I haven't claimed it... yet.
God, the word world are going to have fun with this, she talks to a wall at some point. -
Oh good Emperor... by
on 2013-12-07 00:13:00 UTC
Link to this
...what is this piece of unadulterated crap? Even Nurgle and Namira are disgusted.
I would love to MST this but you can claim it if you so wish...
The Emperor Protects... -
I know right? by
on 2013-12-07 00:21:00 UTC
Link to this
I keep having to convince Discword not to eat it...
You can MST it all you want.
I'd love to claim it, but I'm likely to only get permission in a few months, and I don't know if two newbie agents should be sent to this one... -
Your Mini wants to eat the computer? by
on 2013-12-07 02:36:00 UTC
Link to this
Hmm. Restrain him from doing that. The computer might not fit into him.
Anyway, I think you can give your newbie agents that fic as a first mission. It has been done before, see Agents Gypsy and Katie Cray of the Division of Bad Het. But I suppose they ARE the Division of Bad Het, so...
Also, HQ works according to Irony Overpower and the Narrative Laws of Comedy, which means they can assign newbies with particularly painful fics.
~Autumn
PS, I should put an NSFW tag here for Gypsy and Katie's mission report. If you can't stomach works like that, DONT. READ. -
It's official then. People, Life of Cristancia is mine :) (nm) by
on 2013-12-07 16:11:00 UTC
Link to this
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I haven't gotten permission yet... by
on 2013-12-07 00:27:00 UTC
Link to this
...and I have claimed about 5-6 stories already. You can claim it without permission.
The Emperor Protects! -
Ah! by
on 2013-12-07 00:47:00 UTC
Link to this
Perhaps I shall claim it...
To the wikia! -
You know what... by
on 2013-12-07 00:49:00 UTC
Link to this
I think that I'll wait until my friend and I have created more concrete characters :)
-
As you wish. (nm) by
on 2013-12-07 01:30:00 UTC
Link to this
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First, your post needs a NSFW tag. by
on 2013-12-06 23:25:00 UTC
Link to this
You quoted something that can be taken as being fairly sexually explicit, so... For that, we have the NSFW tag.
Now, on to the fic itself... Just that excerpt alone is really bad...
*reads*
Hm...
Y'know, I feel like this fic is supposed to be a parody. There are times in the first chapter where the story seems too self-aware of its contradictions for it to be genuine. I'm especially thinking of parts where she says "I was the reincarnation of Naruto even though he's not dead", and then there are other parts that are a little too well-written for comfort. So I dunno, I feel like she was going for a parody here.
Of course, there's a reason the PPC has the Department of Bad Parody. In this case, it doesn't succeed as a parody because it sits too close to that kind of My Immortal-style fanfic for comfort. There's a fine line between imitating something and parodying it, and unfortunately this author is on the side of imitation. So it still qualifies as badfic, mostly because the parody just doesn't work.
Oh, wait, you told the person you were going to MST it? Dude, telling someone that you're snarking their fic is something you should rarely do. A lot of people will tell you that, mostly because badfic authors take it very badly when they find out that someone has been mocking their fic. There are a few authors that do see why their fic is bad, but a vast majority of them tend to take it as a personal insult. So often, MSTers have a code of not saying anything. (Some authors will inevitably find out you MST'd their stuff anyway, but you don't want to attract lots of drama to your MST, trust me.)
Also, don't listen to her when she tells you "IMMA REPORT YOU DUR HUR HUR". I don't know how strict the admins at The Pit are, but I know from having been on the Pit for several years that the only way that reporting is going to be effective is if she gets it to the point where people crash the servers. The admins on the Pit are notorious for how rarely they enforce their TOS. And besides, if they are better about taking down MSTs, there are other outlets that you can put your MST on that the admins of The Pit can't even touch. You could always post that MST to a GoogleDoc and put it here. -
Sorry about not tagging *winces* THE FIC DISCUSSED IS NSFW by
on 2013-12-06 23:47:00 UTC
Link to this
I posted the tag in a frantic response. Sorry about that.
I was upset, and it wasn't her who wanted me to take it down, it was a person who spends a lot of time on the Just In section. The author actually wanted me to post the MST. The reason why I think it's legit is that in our PM conversation she actually requested concrit, and I'm not sure a parodist would do that.
That MST is a collab between a friend and myself. I shall see when we can start it up again.
I think the DoBP should look at it, but I'm just a poster here. -
Haha, that's fine. by
on 2013-12-07 03:47:00 UTC
Link to this
Gets us sometimes when we post for the first time.
Wait, so it was some random person who read your review and thought "OH NOES I SHOULD STOP THAT"? I just... Wow. Let me put it this way: what kind of pompous ass just decides to randomly be all "IF YOU DO THIS I'M GONNA REPORT TO THE ADMINS HUR HUR HUR HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUR". I can understand the authors themselves getting miffed at an MST of their stuff, but why is it that some random person feels the need to get involved in things that frankly aren't any of his/her business? If the author's offended, let the author themselves deal with it! Jesus!
Hm... Well, I have heard it said that it's harder to pull off comedy than it is to pull off serious work, so maybe she just wanted critique on her parody. I dunno...
But yeah. There's all that. -
Re: Haha, that's fine. by
on 2013-12-07 14:29:00 UTC
Link to this
It's this person who apparently does it a LOT. Like, she has a FAQ in her bio for why she does it. I eventually took it down, but postly because her pestering was getting annoying.
The thing with this fic though is that it's just kind of mind melting.
I would review it myself, but a)I don't have Permission b) I DONT know if I'm good enough to write something like this. -
The contents of this fic a possibly NSFW, NSFB. by
on 2013-12-06 19:24:00 UTC
Link to this
Sorry for not mentioning that in the original post.
- And suddenly, a Sue-related song by on 2013-12-07 06:35:00 UTC Link to this
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Very Nice (nm) by
on 2013-12-09 00:55:00 UTC
Link to this
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Nice song. by
on 2013-12-07 07:39:00 UTC
Link to this
I feel like it may be a partial response to My Immortal, though it may also be just Potter Sues in general.
Now, I challenge the board this: rewrite some stanzas to fit some fandom other then Harry Potter. Feel free to do the whole song if you want, but there is no need. - Lyrics for anyone who wants to try... by on 2013-12-07 18:57:00 UTC Link to this
- Sherlock Holmes edition by on 2013-12-08 19:30:00 UTC Link to this
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I Accept. by
on 2013-12-07 18:44:00 UTC
Link to this
It's a decent song, just a shame it's about 2-3 octaves higher than I can reach. Still I'm going to have a go at rewriting it to fit a Tenth Walker/LOTR Sue.
-
Time to buckle up! by
on 2013-12-07 14:51:00 UTC
Link to this
As all of you LoTR fans know, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug is coming out THIS FRIDAY. And with Peter Jackson writing and Orlando Bloom acting, we all know what that means.
Fanfic Explosions are imminent! Run for the Beverly Hills!
Or don't, because you'll be waiting with sharpened sporks for whatever badfic come with it.
But whichever it is, get ready. December 13th is this Friday. -
Oh, this... by
on 2013-12-09 00:57:00 UTC
Link to this
Good thing I'm waiting for next Monday to go and see it - I made a pact with my brother not to see it without him. :D
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I can't wait as well by
on 2013-12-08 03:48:00 UTC
Link to this
From a review I've read it's apparently better than the first one.
Let's hope so.
(And let's also not hope for Legolas-Tauriel-Kili-OC love polygon, which I think has a great chance of happening.) -
Yes, yes. by
on 2013-12-08 02:03:00 UTC
Link to this
I'm rather excited/nervous. I can't really decide. For spoilery details, you can check out what I predicted down in the thread below. If you don't want your movie to be ruined, don't read. Hoo boy, what a line-up we have, eh? "Orly", "Evie" and Lee...oh, and throw Benedict in too. And here you go! The perfect concoction for a fanfic explosion.
~Autumn -
WARNING! READ THIS FIRST BEFORE YOU READ THE POST BELOW! by
on 2013-12-08 03:55:00 UTC
Link to this
For those who do not wish to watch DoS with a tensed-up heart, please, please, I beg you, do not read the below comment. It is spoiler-free, but it'll produce some outraged reactions from the devoted Tolkien fan.
~Autumn -
According to a spoiler-free review from a movie-and-book-fan by
on 2013-12-08 03:52:00 UTC
Link to this
"DOS is the litmus test that will separate Book Fans from Movie Fans more distinctly than anything before it, or I’ll eat my knickers." What can this mean? The review mentioned that "the extent DoS deviates from J.R.R. Tolkien’s original, you can bet your bottom dollar there will be a very vocal fan reaction, if not an outright scream of frustration from one or two up in the balcony", and that "P.J. has been quoted in Empire as saying 'I’m quite enjoying deviating from the books!'"
What!?
Oh dear, oh dear. *wrungs hands nervously* I'm not sure about this...
~Autumn -
Well... by
on 2013-12-10 16:39:00 UTC
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We already knew there were going to be deviations - after all, they're making three movies. They had to expand it somehow. The first one deviated, why would we expect this one to be otherwise
And hey, if P.J. enjoyed expanding on the plot and creating new material, then that just means he's enjoying his job. All I'm looking for is for the new plot points to make sense. I read The Hobbit right before watching Unexpected Journey and still enjoyed it, so I think I'll be okay.
The only thing I'm worried about is Tauriel, because female characters have a history of being represented badly in movies. If she gets shunted into the role of Love Interest I will be very upset. -
Yeah. by
on 2013-12-11 05:54:00 UTC
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AUJ was surprisingly loyal by Peter Jackson's standards. I think, for DoS, that Peter Jackson's just going to overblow the details from the book. Well, other than Tauriel. And that part where [spoiler]. And there's [spoiler]. Then, Thranduil somehow [spoiler]. Oh glod, why am I spewing spoilers everywhere? And I haven't even seen the movie.
~Autumn -
This should be very fun. by
on 2013-12-08 09:26:00 UTC
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I suppose I should bring my book and start chanting quotes whenever I spot a deviation, then.
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Next Friday, innit? (nm) by
on 2013-12-07 15:30:00 UTC
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No, I believe the release day is this Friday. (nm) by
on 2013-12-07 21:04:00 UTC
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New chapter! by
on 2013-12-08 02:58:00 UTC
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I've just posted a new chapter of my Bakugan/Pokemon crossover The Vexos Chronicles. The new chapter can be found here.
P.S.: If I shouldn't be posting these types of things here, please tell me.
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Neshomeh (and anyone who can answer) I have a question... by
on 2013-12-08 03:12:00 UTC
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...who in all the seven hells is Kittygirl19? I saw she made a thing on the wiki but she doesn't have permission, but...
Also she has her own wiki.
The Emperor is Confused. -
As I have said on Kg19's talk page, by
on 2013-12-08 04:00:00 UTC
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I think they are a group of young female writers have yet to find out enough about the PPC, or read the spin-offs, and they have not heed our advice. But they want to write agents nonetheless. I hope this helps.
~Autumn -
Out of curiosity... by
on 2013-12-08 05:48:00 UTC
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...what username did they introduce themselves under?
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Hmm... by
on 2013-12-08 09:14:00 UTC
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The first time they introduced themselves, it was under "2x Agent Combo!", referring to the two "agents" "joining" the PPC.
Next (and the most recent) time, it was under "Kg19", (short for "Kittygirl19"), and they had a new partner with them.
Both attempts to introduce themselves failed, mostly due to their lack of PPC knowledge and the content's over-fanciness. And a little bit of not doing what we suggested them to do.
~Autumn -
It does/ (nm) by
on 2013-12-08 05:40:00 UTC
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A couple things by
on 2013-12-08 03:41:00 UTC
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1) They are either one person in a three person group or one person who has three potential characters. Hard to tell. They have attempted to introduce themself/themselves a couple of times without actually managing to accomplish that task.
2) I believe the Emperor has better things to do than be confused about what goes on over here. He has other things on his mind, yes?
3) This one is not directed solely at you, but...I've noticed a higher level of swearing on the Board recently. Let's all remember to try keeping this a family-friendly place.
The Phobos Answers -
Thanks. (nm) by
on 2013-12-08 03:44:00 UTC
Link to this
- Goodfic or badfic? You decide! by on 2013-12-08 10:35:00 UTC Link to this
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How about a video? by
on 2013-12-09 05:35:00 UTC
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This is a 12 minute YouTube epic, so make yourself comfortable. Beware: contains strong language.
I'd say it borders on crackfic, but all of the characters are pretty OOC.
On the other hand, I nearly laughed myself to death. Make of that what you will. -
I'd say it's crack. by
on 2013-12-09 01:00:00 UTC
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I kind of prefer my crack to be improbable Sherlock Holmes or Star Trek crossovers, but the grammar is acceptable on average, so the fic is innocent. :D
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The jury's still out here... by
on 2013-12-08 21:48:00 UTC
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It's good for a snort, but I'm also on the fence.
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Eh. by
on 2013-12-08 21:27:00 UTC
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It's crackfic, and was intended to be parody/humor. The two things I look for in badfic are OOC and Mary Sues, and given the crackfic premise, no one was OOC and there were no OCs therefore no Sues. I don't think it's particuarly funny, but that's very much YMMV. Failing at a humorous goal doesn't make something badfic unless the humor is of a quality that no one should enjoy (e.g. rape jokes).
Bottom line, not badfic, but I wouldn't call it goodfic either. Maybe there's just some things that just don't fall in either category.
And since this is the inevitable question when putting such things up for debate - no, I don't think it's sporkable. It's not great, but it's hardly bad enough.
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A Star Trek Christmas Carol by
on 2013-12-09 08:55:00 UTC
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Heard this on the radio this morning and thought it was worth sharing.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard singsLet it SnowMake it So.
Anyone else got any canon Christmas songs to share? -
Technically sort-of... by
on 2013-12-11 21:31:00 UTC
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It's canon for the Yogscast anyway
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJezMI2ibH0 -
Loved it. by
on 2013-12-10 02:46:00 UTC
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In my opinion, the highlights were:
"I brought me some tea, Earl Gray, hot,"
and
"But if you--"
"Really?"
"Shut up, Wesley!" -
I enjoyed the assorted Picard facepalms. by
on 2013-12-10 16:10:00 UTC
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Not only are they classic Picard moments, they usually happened when other people started taking over the song, so it was as though Picard was saying "No, Number One, the title says that Picard sings Let it Snow. Stop that."
Moments where Wesley is told to shut up are the favorites of a lot of people. Which reminds me of another video. It's also not a song, but it's still very enjoyable. -
Not a song, but... by
on 2013-12-10 01:45:00 UTC
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I just found some Christmas themed posts on Mary Sue Problems. (Actually, I just found Mary Sue Problems in general... Welp, there goes my night.)
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This is amazing. (nm) by
on 2013-12-09 14:00:00 UTC
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New mission: DOGA & WhatThe in LotR by
on 2013-12-10 09:44:00 UTC
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Since roughly 2004, there has been an unacknowledged and practically unknown agent in the Department of Geographical Aberrations. His only mention was in Andy and Saphie's excellent Suedom:
"All of HQ was in an uproar. Every agent sent to Middle-Earth in the past...well, Headquarters time didn't work like regular time, but suffice to say it had been a long time since any agent who dealt with Lord of the Rings had come back from an assignment. Recruits who hadn't even been put through training yet were being sent, although this was more due to a "we don't want to risk losing anyone who can actually shoot to kill the person they've aimed at" mentality than through actual lack of good agents. However, HQ was running out of recruits, and a few of the veteran agents were still gone. Huinesoron of the Department of Geographical Aberrations hadn't been seen in at least a week, real-time wise, and as Arda was still changing shape about as much as an amoeba, his mission wasn't going well." ~Suedom: Chapter 24
As the fifth agent in DOGA (after Dafydd, Selene, Takua, and Jareth), Agent Huinesoron has had his fair share of adventures, but the thing is, he's never before bothered to write them down.
That changes today.
Help from the past
Agent Huinesoron has no permanent partner, but that's okay - the Flowers are fine with sending him on missions with random people from other departments. He's essentially a geography specialist, farmed out wherever he's needed (by deliberate authorial decision - it lets me use my many other agents who never get missions).
A few ancillary notes:
-The mission badges are these things, and function basically as described. Available from Agent Kayleigh, DBS, free of charge. They're not required, but are available for anyone to use if you want them.
-Findulias the confused mini-Balrog is presumably in FicPsych. Alternately, she may be at OFUM - or wherever the adoption centre is these days. Cassie, if you have an in-universe explanation for your takeover of the adoptions (other than the one I've mentioned in the mission), let me know and I'll edit it in.
-Reviews are very welcome, of course! If I've made any mistakes I need to be told to know about them, and besides that, just saying what you liked or didn't like - or that you did or didn't enjoy the mission - is always appreciated!
hS
(I'm sure there was another note, but I've no idea what it was. Ah, well, maybe it'll come to me) -
Ooh, I like this mission report very much. by
on 2013-12-13 09:45:00 UTC
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Same with Sevenswans, it's been quite a while since someone posted a mission with a fandom I'm familiar with. And I did liked how agent!hS tricked fake!Lúthien into battling Sauron single-handedly. Very creative. The jokes and puns were quite funny.
I've read Suedom once upon a time (it was awesome), and I've wondered back then, why Agent Huinesoron never had any had any missions of his own. I thought it would be awesome. And I was right.
~Autumn -
Ah, fake!Luthien. by
on 2013-12-13 10:06:00 UTC
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I actually feel just a little bit sorry for her. It's not as though she was a particularly bad character - but she wasn't a good one, either. She consisted of the statement that she was Luthien, and... not a lot else until she got the sword.
So I couldn't just have them kill her. She hadn't done anything to deserve killing. Instead, she got a choice (and failed miserably). If she'd succeeded (which would probably have constituted saying 'that's ridiculous, I needed Huan last time, I can't do it by myself, that's not my field'), I imagine they would have recruited her.
Which would have caused endless entertainment, given who she looks like...
hS -
Ah. by
on 2013-12-13 12:58:00 UTC
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I liked her demise anyway. It was creative, not particularly violent...at least the violence wasn't described in-story. *shudders* Now that I think of it, I hate to know what happened to her when she went to face Sauron.
But at least she had a choice, like you've said before. My heart did soften a bit at the end, when she said "thank you", before she met her...fate. She did acted like Lúthien should have, at times, but I guess she was too off to even make that up, and then there's the whole "if-that's-the-real-Lúthien-some-key-characters-couldn't-exist" thing.
Ah well. She was too stupid to have taken the opportunity to live, and we can't change that. Or can we...? (But that's highly unlikely to happen. Actually, scratch that. She seemed too determined to face Sauron.)
~Autumn -
It's been a while by
on 2013-12-11 15:25:00 UTC
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Since I've seen a PPC fic in a canon that I thoroughly recognize. And one filled with so many puns... I thought the breadwalls were clever.
Good luck in future partnerships! -
My thoughts. by
on 2013-12-11 12:32:00 UTC
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Most of what I want to comment on has already been pointed out in previous posts. I'll try to avoid repeating what others have said too much, but it's not going to be a sure thing. Just a heads up.
First off, I really like the fact that Agent Huinesoron actually has a legitimate cause to feel anger at this story. Not to belittle most other agents or anything (and I'm including my own in this), but the anger that a fan feels at seeing their favorite continuum twisted up in knots really shouldn't compare to what emotions someone from said continuum should be experiencing. Where in other stories rage can sometimes feel silly or hyperbolic, coming from him here it feels justified.
This has been mentioned before, but I just want to very quickly say that I enjoyed seeing a first person mission. That being said, I do rather wish we had more of Agent Huinesoron's actual thoughts. Too often this read like a typical mission only with 'he' swapped with 'I.' If you're going to use first person, really use first person.
I got a little tired of the movie-bashing as the story went on. At times it felt less like the characters complaining and more like you the author venting. Might be misinterpreting that, but that is how it seemed to me as a reader.
Speaking as someone who is not a fan of Tolkien's work (yes I know, shock and horror, cue internet rage, and so on) and has neither read nor watched anything Middle Earth-related in years, I found this very difficult to follow. Lots of references to what I assume is the Silmarillion. However, I do acknowledge that I'm not probably not indicative of your intended audience. Plus, this is set from the perspective of a Middle-Earth elf. It wouldn't make much sense to have him exposit things that would naturally know. -
Slightly off-topic, but why? Re: Tolkien dislike. by
on 2013-12-12 16:13:00 UTC
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Just found myself curious, sorry about that. I'll review the mission a bit later, too.
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A variety of reasons. by
on 2013-12-12 21:15:00 UTC
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First, I find the pacing and immersion in his works to be very poor. Every time I felt like I was finally getting into the plot, I was thrown out by a series of songs or poems or Tom Bombadil being quirky or time suddenly slowing to a crawl or what have you. (I may be misremembering this, but wasn't there something like twenty years between the birthday party at Bag End and Frodo actually setting off?) The songs and such were great for building the world, don't get me wrong, but they really dragged the story down for me. It did not help that in places his works felt more like a place to show off all the languages he made as opposed to actually tell a story.
I didn't much like the characters either. I found the vast majority of them to be dull and uninspiring. Maybe that's just because I've been overexposed to the traditional high fantasy types of characters, but I recall thinking that even back when I was reading LOTR for the first time.
That sort of ties into the final point I'll get into here: I'm tired of high fantasy in general. Too many creators nowadays jump into the groove that Tolkien carved without any thought of putting their own spin on things. The mystical and superior elves, the low and ultra-masculine dwarfs, the wizard's tower, and what not. I enjoy fantasy stories that take liberties with that material, like with the Discworld's cheeky satire, the grimy noir-like setting of Eberron, or the urban mingling found in the Dresden Files.
To put it short, Tolkien bores me. It's ponderous and slow. It's not my kind of fantasy. -
Thank you for articulating my feelings so well. by
on 2013-12-16 14:41:00 UTC
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I don't know about you, but personally, I like the movies because they fix the pacing problems and give the characters more depth. The visual medium, I feel, helps with immersion.
But thank you for putting my opinions into words in a way that is much more respectful than I would be capable of. -
Refreshing (nm) by
on 2013-12-15 05:58:00 UTC
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Oops by
on 2013-12-15 06:03:00 UTC
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Sorry, hit post too early. What I meant to say was it's refreshing to see someone with an intelligent and reasonable reason for disliking something, instead of the unfortunately all too common "I heard it sux on teh interwebz dont juge me". Personally, as a devoted lover of Tolkien's works, I can't really relate to your complaints, but I respect the lack of author-bashing and whatnot.
Speaking of something we apparently both enjoy, What's your favorite Discworld character/book/anything? -
I like the City Watch books. by
on 2013-12-16 02:44:00 UTC
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Although I hold the Lancre Witches in a special place in my heart. My first Discworld book was Witches Abroad. I found it at a library auction when I was about twelve. It's pretty much in three pieces now, but I can't bring myself to get rid of it.
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That's the state of my first copy of The Silm by
on 2013-12-16 06:26:00 UTC
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(which is, of course, Tolkien, but still). I had to buy another copy so I could continue to take it travelling.
-Aila -
Me too - with the first Harry Potter by
on 2013-12-16 14:08:00 UTC
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I own a broken hardcover and an semi-intact paperback.
It's a sign of love. -
Me and the movies. by
on 2013-12-11 13:27:00 UTC
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Personally, I enjoy the LotR films in general - they're pretty, and unlike certain Philosophers At Large, I don't think they did that bad a job. The Two Towers is definitely my least favourite, though.
Agent Huinesoron, though... well, that's his home they're messing up. He doesn't care about them being entertaining to watch - he interacts with them like, oh, a veteran of Insert War Here watching a film set in it. When they mess things up, he gets really affronted.
For example, the Noldor of Nargothrond had a certain amount of contact with the dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost. Agent hS knows what sort of people they are. Seeing Gimli, as the sole representative of their race, made into comic relief - well, even though he's not all that fond of them as a species (he is an elf, after all), he still doesn't take it well.
Mort is closer to the 'reasonable reaction' level of response, due to not being a local. Of course, that also means he doesn't have as strong a reaction to the badfic changes. Swings and roundabouts, or... something.
hS -
Re: Mission by
on 2013-12-10 21:01:00 UTC
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This was a nice, simple mission, TOS-ish in style. I like that Agent Huinesoron's history in Middle-earth recolors parts of the mission for him beyond what it would for the average agent. (I can't tell; do Agents Huinesoron and Dafydd have the same backstory?)
I loved the little nod to Acacia in ducking behind the partner, as well as the implied assassination of the replacement Luthien. The "Gap of Rohan" joke was pretty genius, too.
My brain was driving me nuts throughout the mission because my inner reading voice kept trying to correct "Findulias" back to "Finduilas."
Also, at one point, you turned Mortic into a Dark Lord:
"'Actually,' I said, stepping away from Morgoth, 'I had a thought about that.'"
Poor Mortic. He's probably thinking to himself, "WT-?" -
Oops! by
on 2013-12-11 09:56:00 UTC
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Out with thee, Dark Lord! Thou shalt not reenter Arda through this fic!
(Which reminds me of Mary Sue, Sue Mary and the Broken Plot Continuum, which is hilarious)
Huinesoron and Dafydd have similar histories - they're both Exilic Noldor - but the details are quite different. Huinesoron isn't Maglor, for instance - that's a pretty big one. This will come up when they run into each other (because of course that was going to happen).
hS -
But! The bread! by
on 2013-12-10 21:09:00 UTC
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Please, please PLEASE tell me you sent Cafeteria workers after that bread castle! We're starving for some real food in HQ!
Figures I get a cold pile of tater tots that make you go nuts on one of my missions, and these guys get an entire castle of good bread! -
I didn't really understand the bread joke. by
on 2013-12-11 05:02:00 UTC
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I mean, Mortic explained some of it, but that just made me even more confused. The bread was apparently spawned from the not-there-in-canon castle having a "rustic beauty", and... nothing else. I checked the spot in the badfic, just in case I was missing some context, and it said nothing about the "Pain Rustique" that, from the mission's point of view, was all too visible. I know what pain rustique is now(Thanks, Google!), but I just didn't understand why it was there.
I mean, the Word World is impressionable, but it seems to have more of a "grasping at straws" sort of mentality than the "let's look for the most obscure definition that could apply here" mentality. Less work for it when it's already exhausted by badfic, and potential joke material made when it decides to cut corners and start taking things literally. "Rustic" might create a rust-covered castle, or a castle that looked as though it was owned by hillbillies, but again, I have no idea what the link is between "rustic beauty" and "the whole thing is made of bread".
I was going to just have my post contain that commentary, but now that I've spent a while on it, I'll add in some brief review commentary, as well.
I didn't like Agent Huinesoron. Don't get me wrong, I liked his role in the story, his retroactive importance in DOGA's history, and the like, but he seemed like the sort of person I would generally not like spending time with. In a way, though, that's a good thing. If there's enough personality present in his first major appearance for me to make an opinion on him as a person, it's good use of character.
Mortic was more enjoyable, though, particularly in the parts where he intersects with the progression of the story. I was particularly fond of the scene where he convinces the character replacement Luthien all is normal by improvising dramatically and making up Rohirric names for his and his partner's disguises on the spot.
There was a lot of the agents discussing what the story was doing wrong, but not a lot of actual badfic quotes backing that up and providing context for that commentary. For example, during the the bit where Agent Huinesoron mentions how OOC it was for Eomer to not know who Morgoth was, there was no connection to the original badfic at all, and I would've thought that it was a reference to one of his previous missions if he'd had any records of them, since deprived of context it seemed more like a "but I've seen worse mischaracterization on this one, oh yes" than a comment on something that only happened a few seconds ago. This got better in the second half, though, but there are still bits like "Only after the dialogue was over did they comment – to each other, on the fact that Eowyn seemed to be falling in love with Luthien" where I wondered where it was coming from and what in the badfic prompted that assumption, and then said assumption was never mentioned again.
I liked the varied forms of the time skips. At the beginning, it's treated as though they're no big deal, but as the badfic goes on and the time skips get longer and the agents have had to deal with more of them, the story treats them differently. The bit that Irish Samurai mentioned earlier, where the time skip is marked by the "it" having no attached punctuation, and the time skip itself only being represented by a tilde, was actually my favorite of the time skips. It felt fresh, and really got across the suddenness of the temporal alteration in a way that "(Agent's name) almost threw up" tends not to.
And three more miscellaneous bits: 1) Why does Mortic have a CAD on the first page, when he scans the two "princesses" with it, but then mention thrice later that neither he nor Agent Huinesoron has one? It's possible that he might be using one of the TOS-era CADs when there were two or three different devices that measured different parts of the canon, and he only brought one of them, but if that's the case, why wouldn't Agent Huinesoron bring the others? CADs are standard PPC equipment, after all. Or alternatively, Mortic could be using the modern CAD and this could just be a continuity error.
2) The agents at different times say that the author has done none of the research, and almost enough research to make the scene canonical, and don't even seem to notice the dichotomy. That just bugged me. It feels like a continuity slip-up of some sort.
3) It's good that you added in the section where Mortic and Agent Huinesoron realize what sort of a mess the badfic is making of Middle-earth's timeline. In part because it drives home exactly what sort of damage this fic could potentially perform unchecked, and in part because I'd been wondering since the first mention of the fic's defining offenses why WhatThe was involved here when it seems to be much more the DTO's speed. True, possible total collapse of the timeline is also something that the DTO would be interested in, but the rationalization still holds. -
Ah, I like the brief ones! by
on 2013-12-11 09:53:00 UTC
Link to this
Pain Rustique/Rustic I'm afraid appears to be a cultural thing - or maybe just a me-tural thing. For about five years we bought the stuff every single weekend, so it was definitely my first reaction to 'rustic beauty'. It's actually the only context I've really heard the word rustic in here in Britain (I know what it means, it's just never used). (And as a chemist, I would never abuse iron oxide by making your 'rust-covered castle' joke. ;))
I would say I'm sorry you didn't like Agent hS, but I guess it depends why. Could you say a bit more about why you didn't like him, so I can see if it's his intended character or just bad writing on my end?
Badfic quotes... I've never been a fan of the sort of mission where people practically turn it into an MST. My philosophy (insofar as I have one) is to stick in the actual quote where there's something amusing about the words. In the two examples you mention, that doesn't seem to apply. For instance:
Luthien said "I guess we must be really far from our homeland, I have never heard of Rohan before" then she added in a serious tone "as your kingdom have troubles with Morgoth's armies?" Eomer nodded "Morgoth? I don't know who he is, but right now my land is in peril by the work of Saruman"
There's nothing there that seemed worth quoting - having the agents discuss it instead is, as far as I'm aware, standard practice.
The 'falling in love with Luthien' thing is a typo, I'm afraid - it's the princesses discussing Eowyn falling in love with Aragorn. Oops!
The miscellaneous:
1/ CADs! The relevant portion is this:
Mortic fished around in his pack for a moment and produced a metallic object. "I can do Character Analysis – what've you got?"
I grimaced. "The same," I admitted. "We probably ought to have checked that before coming."
"Elanor always- well. We'll have to make do." Mortic pointed his CAD at the two characters in turn.
Per the Original Series, there are two types of CAD - Character and Canon Analysis Device. Due to not checking in advance, both hS and Mort brought the Character version, designed for checking OCs. Neither of them have a Canon Analysis Device, which checks, uh, canons. I'll tweak to put in a mention of the Canon Analysis Device in that first section, but the difference is entirely deliberate.
2/ The research. If I write a story wherein I have my characters speak perfect Elvish, but where I also place Gondor to the north of Lorien, surely I can be said to have both done, and not done, the research? The two discussions were in different places, and one of the repeated themes of this mission was that the story was well-researched, except where it really wasn't.
3/ There were a few things that brought the fic to WhatThe's attention: the timeline distortion is one, but they also discussed the fact that the Princesses don't do anything (literally - the entire story follows the movie plot despite the presence of probably the most powerful sorceress ever to have lived), and the fact that one of the main characters is a mini-Balrog.
And as a general comment: thank you for your review! It's always great to hear what did and didn't work, and to make changes where they need making.
hS -
On Agent Huinesoron by
on 2013-12-16 05:09:00 UTC
Link to this
Not sure why I held off making this particular response for so long, when I had already responded to several of the other posts in other topics.
Before I start and veer off-topic from the other points in the last post, I stand by what I said about the Morgoth quote. The words themselves aren't amusing, but their presence provides context for why Agent Huinesoron started talking about Morgoth all of a sudden. Without the presence of those words to serve as a basis, people viewing only the mission and not the original badfic will just see the response to the non-present badfic words as coming out of nowhere.
As for why I didn't like Agent Huinesoron, well, there's not really an individual word for it, but it seemed more to be his personality not matching with what I see as likable rather than a problem in your writing him. I'll just list some traits.
He kept voicing opposition to the smallest problems, for one. I can't remember the exact amount, but there were several points in the story when I found myself inwardly rolling my eyes and saying "Dude, let it go." Most of this was tied into the movie-bashing PoorCynic mentioned, which I suppose can be connected to him being bitter that his home canon was adopted into a series of popular movies or something of the sort, but several more seem to be tied to a set of near-unattainable expectations that he seems to view as unassailable, like the part where he says "Are the Rohirrim Arda's greatest masters of understatement, to call Luthien the Fair 'pretty'?". That was a major "dude, let it go" moment. What, would he rather the badfic have described in purple prose how "her glorious raven hair and divinely sculpted features bewitch both the minds and senses of all around her", or something of the sort? "Pretty" is a perfectly acceptable adjective. Or any one of the parts where he seems openly irritated or confused at the idea that people would write fan fiction of the movies and ignore the contradictory details in the book. Yes, Agent Huinesoron, people are going to do that. The books, classics as they may be, are considered by many people to be nigh-on impenetrable, and the movies are a much more accessible medium and are very popular right now. Movieverse fanfic is going to happen, so you don't have to act as though the very act of writing it is a sin. It can be called that if it's bad, but not simply because it exists. You've got several sizable, actual issues that you've been specifically assigned to clear up; you don't need to go passionately after problems that are really differences in opinion more than anything else.
Also, he just seemed to have weird ideas of how personal respect works. This was more pervasive than the previous paragraph's issues, so I can't really tie it to a specific cause, but there are a few instances where it surfaces more prominently than others. For example, when Mortic quotes a piece of badfic that references a slang term for Galadriel, Agent Huinesoron immediately jumps on him for it, but when he's interacting with the bit characters, he treats them like obstacles and refers to them as "things", despite them being just as sapient as he or the other Agents or Galadriel are. I'm not going to go into detail on the terminology mix-up with Mortic where his apology comes across more as an "I'm sorry that you didn't know what I was saying instinctively based on translation conventions between my language and yours, human" rather than an "I'm sorry for my vocabulary faux pas, and I will do my best not to have it happen again", but that description should basically sum up my feelings on it.
This might possibly be linked to his Elven background, as sympathizing with other Elves and simultaneously seeing himself as being better than everyone else who is not an Elf is the sort of demeanor that created decades of elvish stereotypes despite not being present in a majority of Tolkienverse Elves, and could mesh with him being recruited from a badfic or something of the sort, but it's never explained and it's never even addressed, which adds "and he's getting away with this attitude" to my list of marks against him. Granted, we don't get a chance to see if Mortic's groaning silently and thinking "Elves" or "This guy." to himself, since this is from Agent Huinesoron's point of view, but still, it seems like he'd at least be told off.
Those are some of the main problems, at least. I'm almost certain there was something else I didn't bring up here, but I'm not remembering it even as I'm scrolling through the original Google Doc of the mission, so it may not have been major. -
Thank you. by
on 2013-12-16 09:25:00 UTC
Link to this
For the most part, yeah, that's his personality - and a lot of it centres on being of the Noldor. You say this:
sympathizing with other Elves and simultaneously seeing himself as being better than everyone else who is not an Elf is the sort of demeanor that created decades of elvish stereotypes despite not being present in a majority of Tolkienverse Elves
And that's true - to a point. But think about the interactions of the Galadhrim and the elves of Mirkwood with dwarves. Even they have a fair amount of the 'well, we're clearly better than you' thing going on, as well as the massive feud thing.
But the Noldor? One of Morgoth's big arguments during the time he was interacting with them in Valinor was that the Valar had brought the Eldar to Valinor in order to make space for those weak, sickly, short-lived, and above all, malleable mortals. And the Noldor like to think that they didn't really listen - but then you have things like Caranthir's interactions with Haleth, not to mention Cel'n'Cur's 'Your king sucks because he wants to die for this mortal' thing - and remember, out of all of Nargothrond, only a handful thought Beren was worth enough for them to follow Finrod.
Heck, the Noldor aren't just arrogant about Men - they get the same way about the Sindar. It was, what, 25 years? 50? Between the Return to Middle-earth and the Noldor actually bothering to tell Thingol that, oh, by the way, his brother's city was attacked by most of the people here. Oh, wait - they didn't tell him. Melian did.
And specifically about Galadriel - she's the only surviving member of House Finarfin in Middle-earth, and sister to Huinesoron's king. He's very sensitive when it comes to her. ;)
(And specifically about Luthien - no, you don't call her pretty. Her canonical description is that she is literally the most beautiful person in the world. And, though this didn't occur to me at the time - this is Eomer. At a later date, he is willing to duel with Gimli if Gimli won't let him say that Arwen - the spitting image of Luthien - is fairer than Galadriel. You don't need urple prose to do her justice)
But yeah - most of the things you've said stem from his heritage, and his... almost possessiveness over things he likes. Distaste for movieverse anything certainly falls into that category.
The one thing that's not intentional is Mortic giving him a free pass. I guess Mort's feeling rather more relaxed than he used to - though, to be honest, he always was fairly laid-back. Comes of being older than most of human civilisation, I imagine. I'll be sure to have A!hS called on his behaviour next time out.
(You talk about the 'terminology mix-up' - is that the betting scene, or something else? I guess it doesn't matter, since the former apology is totally what he'd say, but I'm curious)
hS
PS: I have a strong feeling the 'arc', if there is one, of A!hS's missions, will be him learning to let go of a lot of that pride. Assuming I can write that... it may simply consist of his character softening over time. One thing that doesn't really get mentioned in this mission is that he's never bothered to sit down and learn to read English - he can do it (elves have a natural talent for language), but not very well. He's never seen it as worth his time. "A plague on the stiff necks of elves!" -
Re: Thank you. by
on 2013-12-17 02:51:00 UTC
Link to this
On the elves-are-jerks matter, I knew that some of the Elves of Middle-earth behaved like the derivative elves that would show up later, but 1) I don't have enough knowledge of Tolkien to determine which ones were most prone to arrogant behavior, so I wouldn't have known whether Huinesoron's actions were more or less abrasive than is standard for his people, and 2) I didn't want to make any accidental negative generalizations, especially since you like the Elves so much.
Related to my lack of Tolkien knowledge, everything from the bit on Caranthir to the bit about Galadriel being the last of her kind just sort of took the shape of "I don't know what any of this means, but Huinesoron sure knows what he's talking about here.", so if I missed the mark on some other details, the dearth of Middle-earth-related information I can easily remember is probably why.
The terminology mix-up was the bit where Agent Huinesoron mentions Mortic's "wife". As for the betting scene, that was one of the few instances where I actually agreed with Agent Huinesoron. If the quantity that the bet was based upon hadn't reached ten when the conditions of the bet were fulfilled, the person who said it would be ten during the initial proposition of the bet was more wrong than the person who said it would be less than ten, and thus Agent Huinesoron had chosen a more accurate number.
(awkward cough) Sorry. I just reread that previous paragraph and realized how excessively formal it was. There wasn't even anything at stake in any case, so I'm not sure why I felt the need to do that.
One other question, though: if this mission is only the first stage in Agent Huinesoron's personal growth, what has he been doing for the last several years, assuming that the Bridge didn't throw him through time and space so that he only ended up back in HQ a few weeks ago? Or did he have an even worse attitude when he arrived, and this mission represents the culmination of years of development?
Then again, it's possible that he might have had some sort of mental block after what the Bridge did to him and his country, has been holding on to the Elven perception of life as perfect to serve as, to use a phrase, a spar in the rough tides, and will only start wearing away at that belief at some point in the near future, possibly due to some sort of personal moment in later missions that brings his nature to his attention, but that's 100% pure distilled speculation. -
Oh, yeah, that bit. by
on 2013-12-17 11:01:00 UTC
Link to this
Yep, that's fairly A!hS typical, I think.
Personal growth! While your Bridge related ideas are interesting, I tend to think that until recently, Agent Huinesoron had a partner who pretty much indulged him, or possibly was another elf and didn't see anything wrong with his attitude. It's only now, with said partner missing for reasons undefined, that he's actually spending significant amounts of time around other people.
Actually, yes, I'm guessing they were definitely an elf. It explains the lack of learning English, and also other personal quirks and blind spots - as a later mission will reveal, he doesn't know what a DVD is. His console apparently uses memory crystals, and he's never seen anyone else use one.
hS -
Chemist? by
on 2013-12-12 02:24:00 UTC
Link to this
Sorry if I'm sounding ignorant, but are you a "chemist" in the literal sense of the word, i.e., a person who specializes in chemistry, or a "chemist" in the Britspeak sense of the word, i.e., what we Americans would call a "pharmacist"?
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I am an analytical chemist. by
on 2013-12-12 07:25:00 UTC
Link to this
The sort who makes things blow up, only that totally wasn't my fault. This, I mean. Absolutely nothing to do with me.
hS -
Interesting... by
on 2013-12-12 08:51:00 UTC
Link to this
Just wondering, how much overlap would you say there is between 'analytical chemist' and 'mad scientist'?
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I would say... by
on 2013-12-12 09:30:00 UTC
Link to this
... mad? Mad? They called me mad? I'll show them mad! I'll show them all!!!!!
hS -
Then I would have to reply... by
on 2013-12-12 09:38:00 UTC
Link to this
'All those exclamation marks, you notice? Five? A sure sign of someone who wears his underpants on his head.'
Pratchett knows best :) -
hS, I think it's story time. by
on 2013-12-12 08:06:00 UTC
Link to this
What the heck did you do!?
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Honestly, nothing. by
on 2013-12-12 09:29:00 UTC
Link to this
I don't even work at that particular site. But the equipment in question is part of an electrolyser, which splits salt water into chlorine, hydrogen, and sodium hydroxide (or 'caustic'). Normally it then releases the hydrogen to the air (because it's light and harmless), and reacts the chlorine with the caustic to make bleach.
Thing is, we added a new system, one that would take the hydrogen and chlorine and make hydrochloric acid. To get it to work, we had to skim off a little bit of the chlorine, which left an excess of hydrogen. We then scrubbed the removed chlorine, leaving only the tiny amount of oxygen that's in it... and then piped that oxygen into a confined space with the hydrogen excess.
Yeah - that wasn't too bright. We used to have a 2-storey tank of caustic - now we have bits of said tank. Turns out hydrogen + oxygen = bang.
(The reason we did this? No-one bothered to think about where the excess hydrogen would go. They/we just sort of assumed it would vanish into the ether. Oops)
hS -
Ah, I see. by
on 2013-12-12 16:58:00 UTC
Link to this
However, the use of "we" still makes me question your levels of involvement. (I'm kidding, I believe you.)
Well, I'm no chemist, but I can safely say, "Well, duh." Sheesh, I know professionals make mistakes, but that's a rather silly, and dangerous, one. Then again, tell me this story about two years ago, and I would have asked why water was not made instead of an explosion. Though, it is a humorous thought to see a bunch of chemists standing in front of the wreckage, smoking bits of metal everywhere, and one of them says, "At least it's not raining." Then the water made from the Hydrogen/Oxygen mixture pools up on the roof and starts to drip. -
Well, since I am not a chemist, by
on 2013-12-12 17:38:00 UTC
Link to this
I'll ask instead: Why wasn't water made? Last I checked, hyrodgen + oxygen = water!
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Oh, it was. by
on 2013-12-12 17:47:00 UTC
Link to this
The problem is, hydrogen + oxygen = water + KABOOM (or 'energy' if you prefer). That's why it's one of the things people are/were looking into for powering cars.
In this case, we were specifically not told what the acid unit put out - just sold it as-is and told it needed excess hydrogen. Apparently no-one in the history of ever has been stupid enough to pipe the output into the cleaned skimmed-off chlorine before...
hS -
Wow, my definition of brief is broken. (nm) by
on 2013-12-11 05:04:00 UTC
Link to this
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...are you only realizing this now? by
on 2013-12-11 18:35:00 UTC
Link to this
Because I think I realized it approximately two posts in to talking to you :)
Although, not speaking of which, what's going on with Agent Ariel's backstory? I can't remember who was last meant to do what, and I don't want to see it fall through the cracks of...the...writing verse? Bah, can't think properly. At least I'm not switching languages...
But yes. What's the status of that story? And who has to do what to get it finished? Because I honestly can't remember who's meant to be doing what with it right now, and it would be a shame not to finish it.
(Hurrah! My thoughts made it to the screen coherently! At last!)
~DF -
Oh! The backstory! by
on 2013-12-12 03:33:00 UTC
Link to this
(facepalms) I had completely forgotten it for the last... has it already been a month since I last thought about it? Dang. This has been too long and must be corrected as soon as possible.
But Christmas break starts tomorrow, so I should have plenty of time to find it, finish up whatever needed finishing up, and send it to you for looking over within the next few days. It'll be from my Gmail account, since my Yahoo account has been having "scheduled maintenance" for the last three days now, and I can't get into it. Actually, I think I only ever emailed you from my Gmail account, so that works out, more or less.
Oh, and sonofheaven176, if you're reading this post, that's why I only responded to one of your three e-mails. It was really annoying, too, because I'd finally had time to actually write them continuously instead of in short bursts like I usually end up doing, and then the "scheduled maintenance" happened. You'd think that if it was scheduled, they'd tell the Yahoo users about it beforehand. (grumbles away) -
So, you've noticed by
on 2013-12-12 17:41:00 UTC
Link to this
that I stalk you like a ghost! I just lurk the PPC Board, waiting to pounce when I see your username pop up!
Muhuhahahahahahahaha....... -
Re: So, you've noticed by
on 2013-12-13 22:54:00 UTC
Link to this
I'd just thought that you might read new posts on the Board when they come up and are still covered in that gray "RECENT POST!" highlighting. Some people do. Well, I do, and I thought it would be something others might do as well. If you saw it, then you would have gotten the message, and if you didn't, I'd have just needed to tell you in another way some time afterward.
I'm not sure how much sarcasm was in that reply, so I don't know whether I should have spun this off into an "oh, no, sonofheaven176 was a ghost the whole time" whimsical spiel, or feel bad for expecting someone to do something that they might not necessarily be doing. In retrospect, the way I chose makes the end response neither of those, so I suppose I'll flip a coin. (flips)
Oh, no! A ghost! We can't do a Christmas Carol parody yet! It's only the 13th!
"I am the Ghost of Beta-Readings Past! Look, here you are two weeks ago, watching episodes of Atop the Fourth Wall when you had e-mails to respond to!"
NOOOO!
"And here you are five days ago, trying to finish your Vivillon collection instead of finishing one of the beta-readings! Little did you know that Yahoo was going to lock you out of your account shortly afterward! Do you feel responsible now? You should answer that question with a 'no', because you are not being responsible!"
Wait, what would the Ghost of Beta-Readings Present be showing me?
"He would be showing you this Board post that you're writing right now instead of finishing yet another e-mail you claimed would be done by last night!"
NOOOOOOO!!! -
Re: So, you've noticed by
on 2013-12-14 00:36:00 UTC
Link to this
*laughing out loud at Outhra's ghosts*
A little of everything. Of course, I was trying to be funny, but there is some truth behind it. I do visit the PPC Board about every day, so I do catch up on new replies to threads that I am following. But I also do take notice when you show up, especially when I am expecting an e-mail from you. IIRC, that's when I show up with one of those "What's taking you so long?" posts.
(Especially since your e-mail seems to love to give you problems nowadays, I want to make sure that you know I'm still waiting...)
*sees "Vivillon collection"*
You have the 6th Gen Pokemon games? Which one? Are you EV-training? Can't wait for PokeBank to come out, huh? Can you give me your FC?
...
*ahem*
Oh yeah, I'm still waiting on that e-mail. But I won't pester you longer, since you already have the ghosts to do that for me! Muhuhahahahaha... -
One of them should have been sent a short while ago. by
on 2013-12-14 05:25:00 UTC
Link to this
As for the other, I'm not entirely sure what I was supposed to be doing with it. I don't have an FF.net account(good thing, too, or I might have unleashed my freshman-year Bionicle fanfics on the world, and the world does not deserve that), so do I just send the commentary on the Yumeí fic to you, and you send it to the Suethor? Should I be looking for her e-mail address, introduce myself as a friend of a friend, and offer to beta? I wasn't entirely clear on that.
I've had Pokémon Y since about two weeks after it launched. It's been fun, though I wish they had put more effort into the story. Three out of four of the "friend" trainers have no personality, and about two-thirds of the lore is dumped on you in five minutes right before you finish Team Flare's last base, which is disappointing. The postgame story's upturn in quality almost redeems that, though. I like how Essentia's arc is practically a superhero origin. It made me step back for a second, think about the world Game Freak's been making for the last fifteen years, and realize that it can tell pretty much any type of story it wants. Now if only they'd capitalize on that. I heard they were planning on releasing some sort of urban fantasy detective spin-off starring Looker at some point, which is a step in the right direction.
I've used the new EV Training methods, but only on a few of my main party. They certainly make it easier to EV train than before, since I don't need to go on Serebii and look up optimal places to train a specific stat, infect whoever I wanted to train with Pokérus, and run around for hours looking for specific wild encounters, but I have no idea how the Super Training reward system works. This isn't as bad during the EV training portion, since you get the same number of EVs so long as you finish the challenge, but it gets really annoying in Secret Super Training, since it's the only way to get more of most of the stones, and they're given out alongside comparatively useless items like Soda Pop and Hard Stones. I thought I was done with an overpopulation of Hard Stones when they cut out the Join Avenue, but nope, all I got from Join Avenue's loss was the loss of the Nursery. I miss the Nursery. It made breeding so much quicker and more efficient.
I finally finished my Vivillon collection yesterday, when some lucky GTS coincidences gave me Hawaiian, Singaporean, and Puerto Rican Scatterbug that evolved into the last three forms I was missing. I am still celebrating! (blows noisemaker)
As for Pokébank... once it comes out, I will finally be able to transfer my unstoppable horde of Milotic to the sixth generation! Which is a special bonus, since you can't get Milotic there, even though plenty of those green garbage cans keep giving me Prism Scales.
Seriously, though, my Ruby Version has something like twenty Milotic, and I've been looking for an excuse to move them up. I don't even know why I made that many. Maybe because Feebas were extremely rare in the third generation games, and I just wanted a lot of their evolved form to offset that? I don't know.
Wow, this was a lot of me going on and on about Pokémon, though I won't say I expected otherwise, knowing myself. -
I got that email by
on 2013-12-14 15:57:00 UTC
Link to this
and I should have sent a reply to that one.
As for the Suethor, my only question was if you were willing to help her. I'll introduce you to her if you are.
Regarding 6th Gen, note that I also asked for your FC. What is it? Mine is 4227 1030 6411. My Friend Safari is Ground-type, with Nincada, Diggersby, and Trapinch.
I have a few EV-trained Pokemon and IV-bred Pokemon that I'm waiting to transfer from 5th Gen with Pokebank. As for your Milotic, maybe you might want to surprise someone with it via Wonder Trade? -
I would certainly be willing to help. by
on 2013-12-14 18:56:00 UTC
Link to this
Not entirely sure how the introduction is going to take place, but I'm assuming that it will just be through you e-mailing us both one another's e-mail addresses or something of the sort.
Yeah, I didn't include my Friend Code because I'm not entirely sure how they work, and I wasn't wanting to be of further inconvenience if the transfer didn't work properly. The one time I tried to add someone through Friend Code alone, it just created a blank gray "provisional friend" card that didn't give me a new Friend Safari. Still not sure what went wrong there.
But, since you're probably better at this than I am and might be able to make it work:
FC: 5000-3090-5782 Fighting Friend Safari: Throh, Mankey, and Breloom -
As for the Suethor, by
on 2013-12-14 19:42:00 UTC
Link to this
I'll be e-mailing her your information. You'll get a BCC (blind carbon copy).
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We both have to enter each other's FCs. by
on 2013-12-14 19:35:00 UTC
Link to this
Until the other person enters your FC on his 3DS, he's only listed as a "provisional friend" on yours.
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Wait, wait, wait. by
on 2013-12-10 21:58:00 UTC
Link to this
Wasn't Swan's Egg already over and done with?
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Swan's eggs? They can't taste half bad! by
on 2013-12-11 02:16:00 UTC
Link to this
I'd better get to the cafeteria before they're all gone . . .
(I realized I forgot to mention something in my review, and decided this was the most amusing and elegant way of bringing it up. Sorry to be confusing.
--doctorlit) -
Good story! by
on 2013-12-10 20:44:00 UTC
Link to this
Speaking about Agent Huinesoron, is he supposed to be a Tolkienverse Elf? What's his backstory?
And more importantly (though only Andy and Saphie can really answer this question), how did he get out of Suedom!Arda? -
He is indeed a Tolkienverse Elf. by
on 2013-12-10 21:08:00 UTC
Link to this
His backstory - insofar as he has one - will be revealed in a later mission (it's not a secret, just that it's already mission). Essentially he's an Exilic Noldo who died in the First Age, was allowed to return to life (probably a long time later), lived in Eressea, and then - somehow and for some reason, which I don't know - joined the PPC.
As for Suedom - I have to assume he got out the same way Jay and Acacia (and Architeuthis, I see) did - by waiting until Kate and Kira found the Bridge and, er, fixed things.
hS -
Ooh, I like it! by
on 2013-12-10 20:03:00 UTC
Link to this
I don't ever recall seeing a mission written in first-person before, so that was an interesting perspective. I chortled at a few bits, and definitely enjoyed the whole mission. it was good to see Mortic again, and I think I rather like Agent Huinesoron. :D
Re: the mini-Balrogs, I didn't have much of an IC explanation because nobody ever really asked for one, but on considering it I would venture that IC, as OOC, Miss Cam had had enough of trying to administrate the adoptions registry and handed the job over to someone willing and eager to do so. I would also venture that the adoptions agency headquarters is based in new Caledonia now to keep that particular pile of admin out of the way of the OFUM staff (and any students who might attempt something silly). -
Mini-Balrogs. by
on 2013-12-11 12:13:00 UTC
Link to this
So, is the adoption agenter (that's a word, right?) the same person as Agent Cassie Young? Is she even called Cassie? And, most importantly, is/can she be referred to as Miss Cassie of OFUM - despite being based in New Cal?
hS -
Reply. by
on 2013-12-11 20:08:00 UTC
Link to this
The lead admin of the agency is not Agent Cassie Young. I don't actually know what her full name is, I've just generally attached the name "Cassie" to the mysterious figure. Which I think is a decent alias, but can be extended if you like. Cass Zandra maybe, I kinda like the sound of that.
I do not think she can be referred to as a Miss of OFUM; Miss Cam didn't give me any permissions regarding the University itself and I'm reluctant to assume any authority in that setting which wasn't expressly given. -
On OFUM. by
on 2013-12-11 21:23:00 UTC
Link to this
Lily actually went out and got a definitive answer from The Woman Herself about what is and isn't permitted with respect to OFUM; the answer is here. I think that could go either way on whether an Extraneous Miss would be appropriate or not; that being so, you're right that it's best to err on the side of
awesomecaution.
I'll probably keep things simple and just direct the mini to 'Cass at the Adoption Centre'. Anything else you want to do with the character is entirely your business (and if you end up giving her a different name, I'll just assume Agent hS knows one of her subordinates).
hS -
Seems like a plan. by
on 2013-12-12 09:30:00 UTC
Link to this
I'd prefer to stay out of the administration of an OFU anyway. XD
And feel free to invent subordinates; they should preferably be capable of managing tha antics of several hundred very lively minis, fire-proof or -resistant, or both. :P -
Nice (spoilers) by
on 2013-12-10 13:46:00 UTC
Link to this
That was a very enjoyable read, and you managed to make it easy enough for me to follow the agents discussing the mistakes in the backstory/family trees despite me knowing nothing about them.
It was interesting to read a mission written in the first person, and I think the direct references to paragraph length and number added to that perspective.
There were some very nice touches in there - the interpretations of the horse and sidecar, and the bread castle, were both very amusing. And Mortic and Huinesoron's discourse on the rules of betting was funny, as well as being a nice bit of interaction between the two. But my personal favourite line has to be Mortic's 'Findulias, didn't you notice you were on fire?' - it just seemed to be a completely deadpan delivery that worked really well.
There was one bit that puzzled me, during the exodus:
'We found ourselves alongside the column of exiles, and had to quickly start walking to keep up. Luthien, apparently having noticed our reappearance out of the corner of her eye, turned to look at her. Thinking quickly, I spoke loudly to Mortic: "Do you think we will be called on to fight, brother?"
"I hope so, Earnescead," Mortic said smoothly. "I long to prove my skill on an enemy's flesh."
Luthien turned away, apparently satisfied,'
Who is the 'her' that Luthien turns to look at? From their reactions, it seems like Luthien has noticed the agents, but they're both male, aren't they?
Also, your smart quotes still seem to be misbehaving a little. It looks like you've used dumb quotes up until the bit about the Glittering Caves, but then switched to smart quotes for rest, which means that there's a few times where someone's speech ends with a dash, and an opening speech mark instead of a closing one. There's also a couple of occasions early on where you've got a single (smart) quote mark next to a double (dumb) one, and the single looks like it's a closing mark when it should be an opening one, such as when Mortic explains why one of the princesses is a mini.
The scene break which causes Huinesoron to invoke Estë looks a little wierd without any punctuation after the 'And then', it sort of looks like you forgot to finish writing the sentence. I'd usually use an ellipsis before and after such a break, but I don't think that would work given that it's supposed to happen abruptly. A dash before and after the break might work. It just looks wrong, to me, to end a line without any punctuation at all.
On a sort of side note, it was nice to see the mission badges again. I like the designs, and having them be for on-loan agents seems like a good way of fitting them in (I also think they'd work well as the TCDA's version of normal flashpatches). -
Thank you! by
on 2013-12-10 16:57:00 UTC
Link to this
Now, I could say that in his original appearance, Mortic was specifically written to not possess either sex or gender, and that maybe the 'her' was a deliberate callback to that... but no, it was a mistake. As were the smart quotes - whether they're on or not depends on where I'm writing the thing. All should be changed out now. Obligatory cursing of Toey has commenced.
As for the Estë scene - normally I would probably write it with a dash or ellipsis, but in this case I really like it that way. The feeling that the sentence was cut off is exactly what you should be feeling (and the next one starts with a lowercase 'it', to finish it off).
And I'm glad you enjoyed it! As far as I know there's no canonical examples of people in Arda betting on anything (which seems weird, actually...), so it was kind of fun trying to come up with a reason for hS to disagree with the outcome.
hS
PS: If you liked the first person format, Narto and Lou's missions are also written that way. Someday I may even finish their final mission... ~hS
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Boarder Names, Act II by
on 2013-12-10 20:58:00 UTC
Link to this
Hello, PPC!
Given that there have been quite a few new people since this question was first posed, I want to ask the entire Board: What is the story behind your username? (I originally wanted to ask because certain oldbies' usernames intrigued me, but alas! as I was typing this, I decided to take a closer look at the original thread, and guess what I should find!)
Since there has been a thread on this very topic before (hence why I've called this "Act II"), and that some Boarders have explained their usernames elsewhere, please feel free to link back to that post if you're one of those people and do not care to retype your story.
That said, I'll ask again: what's the story behind your username?
---------------
Of course, since I asked, I should begin with the story of my username. It traces back to neopets.com; when I first created my account, I did not want to use my usual username. At the time, I wanted my username to reflect on my Christian faith. Though sonofgod would make sense for reasons that might not be so obvious, it just would not do for reasons that should be obvious. So I decided to change it to sonofheaven.
The number is of no significance; it just so happened that someone had already taken the handle sonofheaven, so Neopets recommended some alternates. Thus my username became sonofheaven176, and it is now one of three handles I go by on the Internet.
However, with seven being a favorite number of mine (an oddity, since the sevens were one of my weakest times tables!), it is quite a happy coincidence that the digital sum of 176 is 14, which is twice seven! -
Re: Boarder Names, Act II by
on 2013-12-19 04:32:00 UTC
Link to this
It's a really fascinating story, I was 14 and I was trying to think up the perfect username, so of course I came up with 'Beauty In Disguise'. After a while I started to think it was a bit silly, and I was also sick of typing it out, so I shortened it to BeautyID. Then people started calling me BiD, which someone said made them think of dog food... so there's that.
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*shrugs* by
on 2013-12-15 04:25:00 UTC
Link to this
I honestly don't remember. I think I was browsing the Pit and found a passable author who's name was something like thisblueeyeddemon or something. Yeah, I'm a copycat, but it's been years since I chose that as my mostly default online name so, why feel bad?
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"whose," not "who's" (nm) by
on 2013-12-15 04:51:00 UTC
Link to this
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*flinches* by
on 2013-12-15 18:35:00 UTC
Link to this
Thanks. I don't usually make mistakes like that.
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Mine is really boring. by
on 2013-12-14 20:50:00 UTC
Link to this
It is, simply, my own real name. When I first made my way onto the internet, unsupervised, I couldn't think of a username to introduce myself by on the Board, so I just gave my real name.
I've got variations around the internet, but nothing very extreme. -
Ah, the names, again. by
on 2013-12-12 14:51:00 UTC
Link to this
I already answered this back in the other thread. This time around, I've brought you the quote that first put the name in my head. It is from "Gates of Fire" by Steven Pressfield:
“Answer this, Alexandros. When our countrymen triumph in battle, what is it that defeats the foe?”
The boy responded in the terse Spartan style, “Our steel and our skill.”
“These, yes,” Dienekes corrected him gently, “but something more. It is that.” His gesture led up the slope to the image of Phobos. Fear. Their own fear defeats our enemies. “Now answer. What is the source of fear?” When Alexandros’ reply faltered, Dienekes reached with his hand and touched his own chest and shoulder. “Fear arises from this: the flesh. This,” he declared, “is the factory of fear.”
I'd recommend the book, if you haven't read it. It is quite good.
-Phobos -
So what was the story behind Barid? by
on 2013-12-12 19:04:00 UTC
Link to this
(If there was one, I don't remember.)
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The story of Barid by
on 2013-12-13 00:25:00 UTC
Link to this
Barid comes from Barid Bel Medar who is a character from the Wheel of Time series. He is better known as the Forsaken/Chosen Demandred. He was the most mysterious of the lot and, unsurprisingly, my favorite. So, I stole his original name for my first World of Warcraft character. When, eventually, I joined the PPC, I used his name as my own because I didn't really have any other name online at that point.
-Phobos -
Direct Translation by
on 2013-12-12 14:45:00 UTC
Link to this
My surname can be directly translated to Crimson, or Vermilion, both of which are pretty much "bright red", while my given name: 翾, can be translated as "flight".
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I like your name! by
on 2013-12-13 02:44:00 UTC
Link to this
I'm guessing...is it Hong Xuan?
Mine translates to Thousand Wisdom, but I never thought of making it my Board name. Plus, it'll sound too arrogant anyway. :)
Ssssssoooo, where do you come from?
~Autumn -
Close, but no cigar by
on 2013-12-13 10:20:00 UTC
Link to this
Think "ruling dynasty of Ming China" than the colour.
Australia, although my family comes from south of the Yangtze. -
Errr... by
on 2013-12-13 13:15:00 UTC
Link to this
Hong Wu? I'm not too sure about what you said there, the "ruling dynasty of Ming China", considering the Ming Dynasty is a dynasty itself...
And so, I did a little research on the web, found out Emperor "Hong Wu" ruled for a period of time. My knowledge on the history of China dating before the Qing dynasty is very limited. Which means my entire knowledge of the history of China is very limited. I'm generally more familiar with the Qing Dynasty, the 1911 Revolution, the Cultural Revolution, and its aftermath.
~Autumn -
Let's see... by
on 2013-12-12 08:37:00 UTC
Link to this
My username came about after I decided I wanted something relatively unique to use on message boards and so on. I tend to use it and a variant (steampunk_pretzel) as usernames, but as an online nickname/handle, I usually go with 'Owl', as I've always loved owls, particularly barn owls. Not the most epic of stories, but that's how it goes. Funnily enough, I can't stand most pretzels; the yeasty taste throws me right off.
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So... you're Pretzowl? (nm) by
on 2013-12-12 13:59:00 UTC
Link to this
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Something like that I suppose! ;) (nm) by
on 2013-12-12 19:26:00 UTC
Link to this
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I'm boring - it's just an anagram of my name. by
on 2013-12-11 22:31:00 UTC
Link to this
Originally I was on this community with basically my real name, but I changed it up for security stuff. Basically, I try to keep all my online stuff separate from each other and there was a lot of overlap building up.
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Pretty self-explanatory. by
on 2013-12-11 21:52:00 UTC
Link to this
I was very much Hermione when I was a little kid - brown haired, slightly arrogant bookworm with good intentions. Honestly, I'm the same way now, but without the straight A's. But obviously just Hermione would be taken, and it felt incomplete anyway. So my Star Trek obsession filled in the rest. I'm not really all that stoic, though.
Fun fact, though - if I'd created my online username earlier, it would probably be Dorothy something. Like the Wizard of Oz. It was my first fandom, and even now you don't want to get me started on Oz because I'll never shut up about how awesome it is and how everyone needs to read the books.(Seriously, read the books.) -
The history of a name by
on 2013-12-11 21:24:00 UTC
Link to this
Storme Hawk is the latest (and third-most permanent) name I've used on the internet.
The journey truly begins about 5 years ago, when I first started creating internet accounts and I'd go by the name of Thorn94, Thorn having been the name of the hero in a piece of creative writing that remains to this day one of two bits of work I've ever got an A* in (the other was an RE essay) despite me being overall, a mathematician. That piece of writing was also the start of me trying to write a book/piece of original fiction that is still in work today (see Agent Apollo and my permission piece for proof). 94, because well it's year I was born in.
From there I shortened it to Thorn shortly before expanding it to Thorne, something I still use today on a couple of sites (Pokemon Online being the most used).
When I got Steam and hence worked my way into the gaming community I wanted a new username, and Pulse Eagle was born, birds of prey have always been a fascination of mine and I'd recent begun playing Warhammer 40k as the T'au, their basic weapon being a Pulse Rifle. So there are probably still records on TF2, Dawn of War, BF1942 and a small collection of other games of Pulse Eagle. After about a year I liked the structure of my name but agreed with my best friend that it didn't quite sound right (which sounds weird but we both agreed that it could be better), Whilst trying to come up with a new name I went back to using Thorne on Steam and continuing to use Pulse Eagle elsewhere. I came up with Hawk pretty quickly, following the bird of prey theme and realizing that Owl just wouldn't fit and Hawks are my third favorite type of bird (Eagle's being second). The first part of my name I wanted to be something fast, so I tried various things before I thought of Lightning and from there Storm. Why did I want it to be something fast? because I wanted my name to be a literal description of me, especially in strategy and FPS games, I hit hard, hit fast and get the **** out of there before anyone can realize what hit them, so I needed my name to be quick, strong and potentially deadly something both a Storm and a Hawk can be.
I added the 'e' to Storm shortly after I got to Uni, having joined the uni's gaming society I obviously started to play games with them both inside and outside the club hours, however if you look on Steam for StormHawk, well let's say there's a lot of results and even having a picture of Genghis Khan as your image (long story) doesn't help. However, look up StormeHawk and there's one hell of a lot less people who share the name.
BTW, I did not intentionally name myself after a children's cartoon series called Storm-Hawks that I watched as a kid, I only realized it afterwards (although it may be another reason why I added the 'e')
Storme Hawk
the guy who probably wrote WAY too much, but hey. -
Rather simple, actually. by
on 2013-12-11 20:47:00 UTC
Link to this
I just wrote down a list of possible names and picked my favorite, which happened to be Legacy.
Jesus is Lord. :) -
He is Lord indeed. (nm) by
on 2013-12-11 21:30:00 UTC
Link to this
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It's a song ... by
on 2013-12-11 17:22:00 UTC
Link to this
... by a Danish band called Sort Sol, who are very well known here, but not in the rest of the world. I couldn't even find it on Youtube or find the lyrics.
Anyway, the song doesn't have any special meaning for me, but it's a nice upbeat song with some cool lyrics and I started using it as my username in various places, because it was always free. So when I joined the PPC it was the natural choice. -
I mean for my handle to be a free-use character in the PPC. by
on 2013-12-11 15:03:00 UTC
Link to this
But I forgot to continue and now it's just a dormant idea.
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A long time ago... by
on 2013-12-11 14:30:00 UTC
Link to this
Ok, maybe not so long time ago (like, four years) I was obsessed with the meaning of the Phoenix animal, a bird that rises from the ashes of it's old-self.
I was pretty badly bullied, so I liked to imagine myself as a Phoenix risen from my constantly kicked around old self. Of course, I was also ten so I misspelled it on my original ff.net user "A Pheonix Rises Inside of ME" (caps included) where I then posted a really, really bad series of House fics. I wrote one good poem which I then ruined by writing subsequent chapters. Those were then deleted into oblivion, after thankfully not having been read by anyone. Now I have an eclectic collection of Sherlock fics and omegle RPs posted. -
Wow... by
on 2013-12-11 21:16:00 UTC
Link to this
Sorry to hear about that, but I'm glad that you were able to rise above it.
BTW: Please be more careful not to confuse "its" and "it's." -
Me? Well... by
on 2013-12-11 14:27:00 UTC
Link to this
When I first came to the board I was unsure how much I wanted people who knew me by my other two net handles to be able to trace me to sporkings. Because I used to worry about stuff like that. Also because I used to think that I'd get permission in three months and then spork all the things... which, due to my course schedule and the fact that I now know that my usual writing style is quite different from the usual PPC antics (hooray for self-awareness!) didn't exactly happen.
Long story short, I'd been reading fairy tales for work on some original fiction of mine, and the last one I'd read and seen analyzed was the one where the little sister has to save all seven (sometimes nine, but I like alliteration) of her brothers who were turned into swans.
Also, Seven Swans a swimming... it will get quite confusing if we get anyone named Sixgeese in the future. -
Mine is pretty obvious by
on 2013-12-11 11:44:00 UTC
Link to this
It is my name, although I changed my last name slightly.
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Wait... by
on 2013-12-11 21:04:00 UTC
Link to this
So your actual first name is "Kitty"?
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Yup. I know it's a bit odd. (nm) by
on 2013-12-12 11:56:00 UTC
Link to this
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Well, I covered it once... by
on 2013-12-11 10:16:00 UTC
Link to this
...here, so I won't repeat that. Instead, I might as well put in some more detail!
I have to assume I pulled the two component words - 'huine' and 'soron' - from the end of The Silmarillion, since the name predates my possession of The History of Middle-earth and my knowledge of the awesome Ardalambion. 'Soron/thoron' would definitely be in there - it's part of the name of the Lord of Eagles - but I don't know where 'huine' is in Silm. Rather distressingly, Ardalambion suggests that the term was associated with Sauron's coming to Numenor - so that's fun.
Interestingly, the alternate form of 'huine' is 'fuine', which is apparently Telerin rather than Noldorin Quenya. The older form of 'soron' is 'thoron' (this change was resisted by Feanor). So it's just as valid to use the form 'Fuinethoron' - though I don't think it's as nice.
(As to what the Telerin for 'eagle' would be - I'm not that good of an etymologist, but Ardalambion suggests 'Thoron' may well be the Primitive Eldarin for 'eagle', so this suggests it might be 'foron' - which gives 'Fuineforon', which is just embarassing)
hS (or fTh, or fF... let's stick with hS) -
*groans* Please explain to me why I was able to follow that. by
on 2013-12-11 18:29:00 UTC
Link to this
Oh, that's right--I've spent so long with Tolkien's languages that I actually understand what you're talking about. I don't know whether to headdesk or grin proudly.
Although I agree with the Irish Samurai (okay, what exactly do I nickname him...hm)--Mortic's 'Hunnysoron' works fairly well--
Oh dear. Remember that story I was writing for the Badfic Game before I ran out of time and energy and so on? The one with Agent hS as a villain? Well...my brain may have just more or less guaranteed that someone will call him 'Hunnysoron' at some point.
...behold my writing process:
1. Crazy idea acquired!
2. Keep it? Y/N-->Y!
3.Profit!Write!
Very logical, huh?
~DF -
If we're talking variations on your name... by
on 2013-12-11 13:40:00 UTC
Link to this
...I think that Mortic's 'Hunnysoron' has more chance of sticking than any of those others :)
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Ehhhhhh... by
on 2013-12-11 06:20:00 UTC
Link to this
My name? Oh glod. *runs fingers through hair* I have no idea why I chose this name out of others. But I can give you a vague idea of how I pieced together "Autumn68".
1)"Autumn" Weeeeeeeeeeell, autumn's my favourite season, and it also sounds good as a name. Completely random pick, other than that.
2)"" The underscore serves as division between "Autumn" and "68". Thought it looks better than "Autumn68"
2)"68" 68 is derived from 628, a number that means quite a lot to me. 628 is not only the date of my mum's birthday (28 June), but it also means something about luck in Cantonese (Chinese dialect). However, I thought "Autumn_628" sounded too long, so I chose the two numbers than means most to me: "6", my favourite number, and "8", the Chinese's lucky number.
So there you have it; how I picked my name.
~Autumn -
So...are you Chinese? by
on 2013-12-11 23:22:00 UTC
Link to this
Given your reasoning behind the number, it looks like you are Chinese. Am I right?
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Ah, yes. by
on 2013-12-12 00:54:00 UTC
Link to this
But where I come from, we speak heavily accented (if not, broken) English all the time. I do speak Chinese and Chinese dialect at home, however.
~Autumn -
And where do you come from? by
on 2013-12-12 01:13:00 UTC
Link to this
And which type of Chinese do you speak? I'm guessing Cantonese, since that's the dialect you mentioned in your post.
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A history lesson. by
on 2013-12-12 08:09:00 UTC
Link to this
Um...for the Chinese part, I don't actually speak Cantonese, though my family and my maternal grandparents do. I never seem to pick it up even when I come from a Cantonese-speaking family, though I can understand it perfectly well. Okay, we don't speak Cantonese all the time. It's more of a mixture of Cantonese, Chinese, and English. With a few Malay, Hokkien and Indian words thrown in as well. So you can see how much we butcher the languages. ;) I can speak fluent Chinese though.
For your first question, I come from Singapore, a British settlement from 1826-1963, so everyone speaks English here (some of the Chinese citizens are even brought up speaking English). At first there was only the Malay fishermen on our island, but Stanford Raffles found it and thought,"Hey! This will make a great port for trading ships!" And so, modern Singapore was founded.
Singapore then became a huge British trading post, where merchants from all over the world came here to trade. So steadily, the Chinese merchants started piling into Singapore, plus the people who escaped China during the Qing dynasty and World War II, until Singapore was mostly populated with the Chinese. Our national language is still Malay though, and even though a lot of us (like me) aren't fluent in Malay, our National Anthem is in Malay.
So...sorry for the history lesson, I didn't actually meant for it to be so long, just a brief flash on my country's history, but I got carried away, so...
Oh, and happy birthday, as I say once again!
~Autumn -
Ooh Singapore... by
on 2013-12-12 10:05:00 UTC
Link to this
...Always wondered what it looks like outside of the airport.
To clarify the above statement I've only ever been in Singapore twice, both times as a stop between England and Borneo, the first was a half hour rush to the plane, the second was a long 9 hours stuck in one terminal of the airport, and it wasn't even the entertainment one (or the one with the massive waterslide) :( . On the plus side I can now say I've been in a Hard Rock Cafe.
Storme Hawk -
Something like this: by
on 2013-12-13 02:37:00 UTC
Link to this
http://www.layoverguide.com/2012/02/singapore-layover.html/singapore-skyline
That's the "City". Technically, the entire island is a city, but that's the "financial area", where all the banks, the offices, the big, tall buildings are located, so it's the City.
Ah yes, same with the ships from the past. The ships, when on a long voyage (e.g. England to China. Or something like that.), stop at Singapore for fuel and provisions, and come down to trade. They still do, so now if you look out at the sea, you see the shore of Indonesia/Malaysia, and many, many ships. They do that with the planes now, too.
Ah...I'm guessing you were stuck in Terminal 2. Terminal 3 is much nicer, newer, shinier (ooooh), and prettier. There's a Butterfly Garden, a 5-storey slide, a cinema, lots of branded goods, indoor greenery, natural light, etc. Sometimes they'd built something fun for Christmas too. Like this year, they built Spongebob's pineapple that plays "Jingle Bells" in French once every hour. You can go into the log cabin/pineapple, redeem something from a booth outside, or take pictures.
I thought it was an improvement from last year's Angry Birds.
Ah well, enough of my rambling. Visit sometime! (if you can)
~Autumn -
Wow and Dang it. by
on 2013-12-13 16:37:00 UTC
Link to this
Wow, because, well that skyline looks pretty nice
and Dang it cos I was in Terminal 3, a few of us went into the butterfly gardens and almost bought out one of the butterfly's which was hiding on one of our daysacks. I remember the branded goods and the large amount of shops though.
May do, I'd like to go back to Borneo again, especially Mantanani Island, SCUBA diving off of there and seeing turtles was AMAZING!
Don't worry I ramble too
Storme Hawk -
" Technically, the entire island is a city" by
on 2013-12-13 07:59:00 UTC
Link to this
So, what you're saying is...
... Singapore is basically Coruscant?
hS -
About that... by
on 2013-12-13 09:32:00 UTC
Link to this
well...not exactly. Not as city-dense as Coruscant anyway. There are a few patches tropical rainforests here and there, and a couple of forested islets, but other than that, most places in Singapore is inhabited by people. But I guess I shouldn't have put "technically" in front of the sentence.
The beach is a park, behind the park is a highway, behind the highway are residential buildings. And the government has already reclaimed quite a lot of land, and where my house stands used to be the shore.
So you get the idea. Most of Singapore is a city. :)
~Autumn -
If it weren't already obvious... by
on 2013-12-11 05:11:00 UTC
Link to this
Fasoula is a (almost) phonetic mishmash of the second set of three syllables from solfège. I chose it over my old "Matthew72" handle as I was never quite fond of the nickname-number combo. "Fasoula" is leftover from a relatively recent infatuation with and envisioned talent for music. This notion lasted for all of three months, and I have learned nothing more about music for it! But the name stuck with me, as with its sister "Doureimi" (which didn't seem quite as suitable). This is mainly due, I think, to my huge soft spot for bizarre and silly names!
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A long story... by
on 2013-12-11 03:35:00 UTC
Link to this
My father thought my name meant Divine Queen, so I went by that meaning when I entered Tolkien phase. I translated it and changed the Queen to Lady, because I thought addressing myself as Queen was too arrogant. Erquentien just means Daugther of Sam. Sam is Erquent, One's Word, because I wasn't going to put Eruquent or something so disrespectful.
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Thank you for the respect. ;) by
on 2013-12-11 10:02:00 UTC
Link to this
It's amazing how many people will use the name of the One constantly, despite the canonical statements that the Eldar (and Numenoreans) only spoke it on extremely rare special occasions. I guess it's because 'Iluvatar' sounds rather more impressive than 'Eru', so people assume it's the one to be avoided.
(This actually raises the question of whether 'Eru' is the actual Name, or just another way of avoiding saying it. However, given the opening of the Ainulindale reads 'There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar', I think we have to conclude that 'Eru' is the actual name)
hS -
Names and stuff by
on 2013-12-11 19:57:00 UTC
Link to this
... That makes them rather similar to practising Jews, in that respect: saying the name of God (YHVH, that's Yod-Vav-Heh-Vav) is prohibited. Saying 'Elohim' (which roughly translates to God, but actually means 'gods') or writing the contration ה' (Heh) is frowned upon, so Haredi Jews say 'Elokim' and write ד' (Dalet) instead.
That said... what's the Sindarin version of your name, hS? -
Sorry to presume to know better than an Israeli by
on 2013-12-11 23:56:00 UTC
Link to this
but aren't the letters Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh? You wrote "Yod-Vav-Heh-Vav"
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Woops. by
on 2013-12-12 20:04:00 UTC
Link to this
Quite right, you are, but that's the best you'll get from a pointedly non-practicing agnostic like me.
/Lame Excuse -
Re: Sorry to presume to know better than an Israeli by
on 2013-12-12 02:55:00 UTC
Link to this
You would be correct--I'm guessing Des was a little tired when he made that post. (Mind you, I'd transliterate 'yod' a bit differently--as 'yud', which doesn't actually convey the proper sound much better, to be fair...)
Another thing is that, according to tradition, the Tetragrammaton (okay, okay, sorry, it's just, I learned that in my fancy uni course and I had to use it--okay), that is, the YHVH...well, pronouncing it properly is a very powerful thing to do. Also, the correct pronunciation has been lost. Just a bit more insight into that.
And yes, it really is called the Tetragrammaton by scholars. I swear.
~DF -
No need to be worried by
on 2013-12-12 03:26:00 UTC
Link to this
As a lover of the Bible, I happen to be familiar with the term "Tetragrammaton," which comes from Greek.
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I didn't learn it until this year... by
on 2013-12-12 03:35:00 UTC
Link to this
...although that makes sense, seeing as I normally do my Torah study in, well, Hebrew. I actually sat next to someone reading...it must have been the New Testament...on the bus, and was kind of weirded out by the fact that it was *entirely in English*.
...lookit me, I'm *sheltered*.
/walks off laughing hysterically/
(But seriously, I'm so used to seeing the Hebrew and English side-by-side that a full-English Bible of any sort looks strange to me. It's kind of amusing, actually...at least, to me it is.)
~DF -
Wait a second! by
on 2013-12-12 04:13:00 UTC
Link to this
Unless I am mistaken, you're part Canadian.
*looks through the posts in "The World of PPC"*
There it is: you're American, just born in Canada! So, how long have you been living in Israel that an English Bible seems odd to you? -
I'm very sorry, but I find this hilarious. by
on 2013-12-12 04:35:00 UTC
Link to this
Really, I do. Mostly because it's a wee bit mistaken, and the mistakes are amusing me. This is not your fault at all, though--you don't have the background knowledge, which I shall now clarify...
Basically, yes, I'm from those three countries. However, um, America's actually the country I've spent the least amount of time in--I lived there for all of two years, right before moving to Canada. So I was born in Canada, lived in Israel for just under a decade, moved to America for two years, and have now been in Canada for approximately a decade. And I spent the last year in Israel, which was awesome.
On the other hand...the Bible thing isn't actually related to living in Israel. My encounters with Bible (using that as a simplifying term, since otherwise I'm going into Torah, Tanach, and half a dozen other things--at least if I say 'Bible', everyone knows what I mean...*refrains from going on about why a Bible is called a Bible*) when I lived there were more in the form of children's versions of some of the stories, until last year...okay, it's slightly connected. Most of the Bibles I saw last year were purely in Hebrew, except for the one I brought with me (it was recommended for the program I did) and the ones that the other girls from abroad brought with them.
Mostly, however, it's just that the Jewish Day Schools I've attended in Canada have taught any Bible--oh, blast it, Tanach--classes in Hebrew. All my textbooks for those classes were pure Hebrew; I didn't even own a purely English translation until it was required for a class I took in high school (at home we have it with the Hebrew and English side by side). So, you see, it's not that I've been living in Israel so long that an English Bible seems odd to me--it's that I didn't have a purely English edition at home until, oh, grade 10 or 11 (or maybe 9, I don't know), and that every Tanach class I ever took in school was taught in Hebrew and with a Hebrew text. So I'm just much more used to seeing only the Hebrew, or to seeing the Hebrew and the English side by side.
And that's why it was really weird for me to glance over at what that woman on the bus was reading and find that not only was it about Jesus--she was reading one of the gospels, I think--it was also completely in English. And I caught myself looking around for the Hebrew before realizing that while I'm pretty sure the original is in Aramaic or Greek or another language that isn't coming to mind right now, it certainly wouldn't be common practice to put it in. And I don't think I'd ever actually considered that before--I mean, you hear about people using the King James translation, or something, and I used to see Gideon bibles in hotel rooms sometimes, but...I don't think I had really properly considered it properly before.
And on that note, I really hope you don't mind getting long answers, because that happens rather a lot when people talk to me--especially if they get me talking about my own experiences or about something else that I really care about and/or know a lot about. So...yes. Hope this clears things up...and, uh, get used to long answers if you keep having conversations with me, I guess :)
~DF -
Don't worry about giving long answers. by
on 2013-12-12 06:07:00 UTC
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One can learn a lot from long stories; sometimes the answerer actually anticipates a question that the questioner would otherwise have asked.
And in actuality, it would be weird to see someone with a New Testament in both English and Greek (the New Testament was originally written in Greek). In fact, if you see any Greek, it's either purely Greek or an "interlinear," that is, the Greek text with English words under the Greek ones. (Here's an example of what an interlinear looks like.) If you find someone reading from a Greek New Testament, then it's a good bet that that person is studying to be a pastor. Otherwise, that person might just be someone weird like me, who actually is interested in ancient languages (recall that I took classes in both Latin and Greek). -
I imagine that's deliberate. by
on 2013-12-11 20:57:00 UTC
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It's exactly the sort of thing Tolkien would have done, after all, drawing on real-world mythology* to build his secondary world.
Argh, Sindarin, you had to, didn't you? Well, 'thoron' is still 'eagle', so at least that doesn't change. And, wonder of wonders, there is actually a direct cognate of 'huine' in Sindarin - it's the 'fuin' in 'Taur-na-Fuin' (Forest under Nightshade, or Mirkwood - originally Dorthonion after the Sudden Flame, but I think it was also applied to Greenwood later).
Grammatically, the adjective should follow the noun, so it would be Thoronfuin ('f' isn't affected by soft mutation); however, grammar is boring, so let's go with Fuinthoron ('th' is similarly unmutated).
fTh
*'Mythology' is not used to state either truth or falsehood of any given set of beliefs kthnxbye. -
Yes, I had to. by
on 2013-12-11 21:56:00 UTC
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I like the way Sindarin sounds. Probably because it's somewhat based on Welsh.
Though I think I'll stick with calling you Huinesoron, which sounds better.
Or hS when I'm lazy. -
Ah,you see... by
on 2013-12-11 01:45:00 UTC
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I do like cats a lot. In drama class, we were required to do an animal impersonation and I meowed like a cat for about half of the class period. Ever since then, I have received the nickname "Kat".
I chose Kittythekatty because I wanted to be a kat, but not any. I am a KittyKat. Or Kittythekatty. -
Weeeeelllll... by
on 2013-12-11 01:21:00 UTC
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See, I used to go by Starpetal, but then I got tired of that, and, since I hadn't really started making accounts until then, I was perfectly able to change my handle. I picked Ailavyn Siniyash out of my language that I'm idly making (though I feel like I really should restart it, or something, because it's going nowhere except places I'm not sure about ---that is, boring and trite, as much as a fictional language can be---) It means Light's Daughter, which, looking back, is incredibly pretentious, and I sort of wish I could change it. Maybe I'll just change the meaning of siniyash to something other than daughter... Yeah, that sounds more plausible...
...As for Aila, well, it's a very long handle. I needed a nickname.
-Aila -
Have I actually never explained this? by
on 2013-12-11 01:21:00 UTC
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Hm, maybe not on the Board. Oh well.
Basically, my friend and I used to be really into the Warriors books--you know, the ones with the cats. They were pretty good, actually. Anyway, one day we played a game that ended up giving us two names--Brightshadow and Dawnfire (funnily enough, I was Dawnfire. I was also in ShadowClan, I think.*) Soon after that, I ended up needing a screenname, so I started using Brightshadow (I don't remember everywhere I used it, but I definitely commented on Deleterius once or twice under that name). At a slightly later point, I needed another screenname for some reason, so I chose Dawnfire...and wrote it as DawnFire for some reason. And that's the story.
You may also have noticed that my wiki handle is DawnFire360 (and that that's also in the email I give for beta-ing). Why 360? Very simply, I'd recently been dealing with geometry in school, and no one else had taken the username. So...DawnFire360.
Of course, now my name seems to be heading more towards simply Dawn, which I'm okay with (not least because I keep having moments where I feel that DawnFire is a little childish. I have been using it for at least seven years, though, so...makes sense :) I don't have any plans to change it, though--too confusing...although I suppose I could take a hint from hS, and translate it into Quenya or Sindarin, or take a hint from Neshomeh, and translate it into Yiddish. Although the Yiddish isn't looking very exciting or English-friendly...I suppose I could be ShacharEsh--the Hebrew--but it looks kind of odd. I think I'll just stick to DawnFire.)
And, with that bit of storytelling/rambling completed...peace out, guys :)
~DF
--
*My memory is apparently very bad right now. I'm fairly sure I was actually Brightshadow, from ThunderClan. Makes a lot more sense, as I wrote that parenthetical statement feeling that it was rather ironic. -
Well, I explained it last time... by
on 2013-12-11 01:13:00 UTC
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...but this time? I'll go ahead and link to the opera itself. So here it is, guys. It's a scene from my namesake:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcVAAyP7Vhw -
I know that you've explained it twice by
on 2013-12-11 01:56:00 UTC
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so I apologize for asking, but could you please give a bit more detail? Namely, why did you choose that username? Was it simply because you were a fan of that opera, or did you find a sort of affinity with the titular character?
-
I was a total fan of the opera. by
on 2013-12-11 02:15:00 UTC
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Berg was a friggin' musical genius, and it shows most of all in his musical treatment of the subject.
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Thanks. by
on 2013-12-11 02:26:00 UTC
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And in hindsight, I could have been a bit more specific in my previous subject, since if you went in so much detail twice, then I would not have needed to ask. By "it," I meant the general background behind your username.
-
Gather 'round... by
on 2013-12-10 22:47:00 UTC
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Back in '08, I really wanted this game called Spore (just search it up) and got it on its day of release. After a few weeks if playing singleplayer, I wanted to sign up for online. Since I was obsessed with Sonic, I tried "Hedgehog" as my username but it didn't work so I put "99" in front of it and that has been my online handle ever since.
I also discovered the Internet in general through a group of RPers (THE Spore RPers), since my interactions with it were minimal at best.
The Emperor Protects!
P.S Spore is dead, I left it a while back. -
You were a Sporumer? by
on 2013-12-11 14:34:00 UTC
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I wasn't myself, but I can tell you something awesome.
Svenolutions still exists, under a different name and different moderators, here. I'm actually a moderator, though rather intermittently due to school and health issues. I'm not 100% up to date on the current progress of the actual game (I'm the science officer/lady queen of biomes, chemistry, and translations, and can't program my way out of a paper bag) but the spiritual successor of Spore still lives, with a greater focus on actual evolution.
/shameless promotion of Thrive, AKA the game that we will finish sometime this decade. -
I didn't hang around the Sporum... by
on 2013-12-11 22:10:00 UTC
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...I hung around Sporepedia & the official website. We RPed with creations.
The Emperor Protects! -
Well by
on 2013-12-10 21:54:00 UTC
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I just liked the word "Armada", and since I usually put some sort of adjective before nouns when it comes to names, I choose "Green" (because it sounded better than other colors and because I like green).
-
Well, I explained it a few places... by
on 2013-12-10 21:20:00 UTC
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...but I might as well say it again.
My name comes from a character I was, and still am, writing when I first found the PPC: Jumper. I created him out of a mixture of wanting a character that could travel to fictional worlds, and and wanting to prove that such characters could be written well. Unfortunately, the first incarnation of Jumper was very much a Stu. Just take a look at Jumping In to see why. When I found the PPC, I was looking for multiverse-spanning organizations on TV Tropes and found the PPC entry. Because Jumper was the reason I found the PPC, I thought I might as well introduce myself with that name. Ergo, World-Jumper; the guy who keeps talking about ponies insistently and insists he is this close to finishing his mission after 8 months of 'writing.' By the way, first mission, this close to being done! -
Well... by
on 2013-12-10 21:13:00 UTC
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Since I'm lazy and have nothing to add, I'll just leave a link to my reply to the old thread. And a plate of Belgian pralines.