Jul 2014 Archive, part a

Haven't played the original C&C games - I'm a little too young for that - but I'm a sucker for Red Alert 2. And 3, if I'll get my hands on it...
Though, if we're talking about fanfic, I've heard good things about this piece of writing.
This, however, is bad, NSFW, and beige-er than an old picture.

Typically, agents (or at least assassins) are supposed to disguise themselves as something that would canonically harm whatever the fic's Mary Sue claims to be. I can't see a Titan disguise working very well, but a Walker disguise would be perfect. *g*

As for AoT, the agents should absolutely strive to avoid attracting the attention of any rampaging Titans. The canon's cloaking effect should help there, but Titans seem to have excellent senses, so it may not take as much effort to break the effect.

(Sudden thought: wouldn't it be fun to see an agent actually get swallowed, only narrowly escaping by desperately portaling out, taking half the Titan's stomach contents with them? Could easily be played for drama and laughs.)

~Neshomeh

I'm not sure about this and I don't have any specific examples, but I think there are some canonical entities that can see Agents even when they are "cloaked", usually ones that can detect canonically invisible things or simply ones that are very powerful. I don't think any of those can perceive them through disguises, although there are canons that are simply aware of the PPC outright: http://ppc.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Canons_Who_Know_of_the_PPC

The official page says that non-canons can see through SEP fields...

I've seen agents get within two feet of Sues and stay unnoticed.

And, it says that the Canon protects agents from detection (assumed if they are helping and not hurting.)

Maybe the suspense could be that they would notice someone they bumped into... which might mean agents getting between threats and threatened if they aren't careful.

The first, is - well, yes, the canon should ignore the agents. They don't exist in the Words, and so therefore, unless they draw attention to themselves, it shouldn't matter what species they are.

For the parts where they do need to interact with the canon, as well as simply to make sure they avoid attracting attention by their very existence, there are Disguise Generators. Jay and Acacia basically became orcs (or Uruk Hai, I forget) for one mission.

A Thousand apologies

...of these time travellers. I will go and make J.K. Rowling write more Harry Potter> books and it will be absolute...ly.. ama...zing...

Nope, changed my mind. I don't want to risk a repeat of Lost. I guess some things are better left untouched.

You've certainly given me something to think about!

Does that take into account all the ways Firefly has continued anyway? Now there's comics, a video game, the two tabletop RPGs... it's not on TV any more but it's still going strong.

(Tough given what's been said of the plans for season 2, like what Inara's needle was really for, it was probably for the best there was only one.)

The original Star Trek and Farscape both went through similar ordeals of cancellation due to low Nielsen ratings, massive fan outcry, and partial revival. TOS got syndicated (I think is the word), and the popularity of the reruns led to movies and the launch of the gigantic franchise we know today. FS got a two-part miniseries and continuation in a line of comics. There are reports of a Farscape movie in the early stages of development, too, but I'll get excited about that when there are actual trailers. Anyway, clearly more time travelers are responsible!

In the case of TOS, I think the time travelers came back to make sure Star Trek lived. In the alternate timeline where it faded into obscurity, the ground it broke didn't stay broke, and the world became a lot less awesome.

As for Farscape, it's possible that we were saved from a really terrible fifth season—things did get pretty weird in the fourth, even by Farscape standards. However, I think it's more likely that it was sabotage. Instead of FS season five, we got more Stargate: SG-1 with Ben Browder and Claudia Black poached from their other better roles. Clearly our time traveler was a Stargate fanboy with dastardly designs. Frell you, unknown Stargate fanboy! To Hezmana with you and all your offspring!

~Neshomeh, who might still be a touch bitter, just a touch.

It as least gives me an explanation and a reason to cling to about Firefly whenever I watch it and wail for the fact we never got to see more... and the deaths in the Big Damn Movie.

But first, I just wanted to challenge your assertion that [This paragraph contains a hopeless Lost fanboy defending the later seasons of Lost. For the benefit of everyone involved, it has been automatically excised by internet protocol 4815162342. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.] And the video game was awesome, too!

Anyway, I wanted to talk about was a particular novella. It was written by Morgan Robertson, about a humongous ocean liner that smashes into an iceberg in the middle of an April night while sailing from England to New York. Unfortunately, people had been so sure of the massive ship's indestructibility, it hadn't been equipped with nearly enough lifeboats, and many lives were lost.

If only people had paid better attention to the story when it was published in 1898. Alas, Robertson's attempt at time travel wasn't enough to prevent the RMS Titanic disaster fourteen years later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futility,_or_the_Wreck_of_the_Titan

(Was that too dark? I apologize if that was too dark. >_> )

I do have a question (about a Marvel-verse OC I'd like to adapt), but I'm not entirely sure where to ask it. (I've been informed that, due to timezone differences, you tend to be on the mibbit chat at a time that's several hours past midnight for me). Is email or something similar a possibility?

~DF

Looks interesting, been a while since I've been in a good character based RP as well.

Well, comedic purposes might work. Is there a reason to use that instead of the DORKS?

I didn't know the PPC had an acting troupe! Next time, I will find tickets!

This was awesome. I actually thought for a few minutes that it was real and I was so disappointed that I hadn't heard of it. You did a fantastic job! Good for you!

This is very, very amusing. Fake PPC advertisements and playbills and other stuff like this is great, and I feel like more things of this nature should exist. Really makes HQ feel like a real city or town as opposed to just a headquarters.

Though whether casting Morgan as Caessilon serves as a warning to her should she abuse her power as Tigereye Castellan, or a subtle encouragement to her should she attempt to gain supreme power... sure, she was forced to regenerate - but then she got to kill the two people who killed her!

(It is very tempting to start TekTek'ing up cast images at this point... curse you)

hS

-Attacks with a great big hug- You havn't been around much

You really put a lot of effort into this... Wow.

Seriously, though, I'm still waiting for this to become a thing.

Have you noticed all the link-fixing Rotlink is doing on the wiki lately? I can't keep up with all of that, and these things are time-sensitive! When it comes to backups, redundancy is a good thing. {= D Though, if you wanted to maybe focus more on non-missiony things which I might have a hard time fitting into The Lost Tales, I've got some files I can copy you...?

I haven't read the OFU things yet, because I'm coincidentally neck-deep in some Lost Tales work, the exact nature of which I'm keeping secret for now because I'm hoping to blow a few minds. As for the site itself, it's hard to comment, since it's a journal. It's legible enough, though a bit drab. Maybe some color in the links would help? I'm pretty sure you can customize stuff like that with Dreamwidth. I worry that you might find yourself somewhat restricted with how you can organize things and provide navigation, but tags should prove useful. (Note to self, improve TLT's navigation.) One thing, though: Use cuts. It can get really hard to navigate a journal-thing if every long post appears at its full length in the queue. Plus, if anyone decides to follow the journal, they won't want to have huge posts taking up their entire reading page.

BTW, PPC Historians Club? You, me, hS, Calista if she's around, anyone else who feels like helping? We can have leather chairs and fancy jackets and sit around sipping tea while looking at old stuff and periodically going "Fascinating!" *g*

~Neshomeh

Let us know if you find any other old PPC stuff, kay? Our history is important.

I thought that was how you got the Canon Cannons to go off. *ba-dum-bump-tish* In all seriousness, powdered canon would work for any troublesome OCs/remaining OOC canons. Like pixie dust from Peter Pan; you blow it on the character, they think happy thoughts, and suddenly they're canonical (again)! (Song optional.)

I'm thinking it acts like a pesticide, something that can repel or kill weak Suvians. I.e. you could dust a forest to kill off a large number of Cute Animal Friends, or introduce some into a ship's water supply to eliminate fawning bit-character crewmen. It'd probably just blind or discomfit a main Sue, but it could have an effect similar to what a line of salt does to various occult entities.

Yes, Alaska is indeed part of the good ol' US of A, despite what UPS tries to tell us, and we are going to celebrate our Independence Day just as well as our fellow Americans down in the Lower 48! We shall set off our fireworks while riding our moose around Town Square! The northern lights shall shine red, white, and blue tonight! Our grills will melt our Igloos, but that's OK, BBQ salmon burgers are worth it!

In other news, IM BAAACK! Ya miss me? Don't answer that, I know you did. And, I have a whole lot more time on my hands now, so hopefully a certain crossover mission can be completed soon, along with other missions. It's good to be back, folks. Good to be back.

Now, tune in to our Nation's radio station, sit back, and enjoy these America pics, patriots.

Yes, Alaska is indeed part of the good ol' US of A, despite what UPS tries to tell us, and we are going to celebrate our Independence Day just as well as our fellow Americans down in the Lower 48! We shall set off our fireworks while riding our moose around Town Square! The northern lights shall shine red, white, and blue tonight! Our grills will melt our Igloos, but that's OK, BBQ salmon burgers are worth it!

In other news, IM BAAACK! Ya miss me? Don't answer that, I know you did. And, I have a whole lot more time on my hands now, so hopefully a certain crossover mission can be completed soon, along with other missions. It's good to be back, folks. Good to be back.

Now, tune in to our Nation's radio station, sit back, and enjoy these America pics, patriots.

And make pretty lights in the sky, of course, as well as loudness and a bit of danger for idiots. What better way to celebrate America?

I'll be heading over to Randa's house to finish our next mission in celebration! :D

Watch out for the fireworks, everyone- don't get burned like my brother did last year!

"How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!" — Thomas Jefferson

"Happily for America, happily, we trust, for the whole human race, they pursued a new and more noble course. They accomplished a revolution which has no parallel in the annals of human society." — James Madison

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." -- Thomas Paine

Famous quotes from some of the Founding Fathers regarding what we Americans, and possibly others as well, celebrate today. Fire works, barbecues and the National Anthem in store for me tonight, and more fun writing for all of us!

(That was a lot of talking)

Hooray for freedom to write whatever crazy things float into my head! Hooray for being able to talk about anarchy without being arrested! Hooray for peaceful rallies!

Also, no fireworks for me. It's pouring here.

Well, I do that most days anyway, but today I remember the people that are under extra stress because of fireworks.

Go ahead and celebrate while we have riots and stuff. I'm sure most people won't mind.

The next-door neighbors put out some paper lanterns that look a lot better than my nets, but I'm still beating them in luminosity and coverage by about a factor of 10. Running more in parallel this year, I've decreased blowouts and small fires by about 75%.

Though it does seem a bit like you were wasting your time, no? I mean, whatever your definition of 'free', I'm pretty sure your former incompetent overlords have got at least as much of it as you...

hS

If the characters behave like actual people, with deep and rational characterization in a well-described and well-thought-out scenario, I don't think it matters if they're somewhat OOC- generally, I see that charge used when a character is specifically warped to make them do something stupid, nonsensical, gratuitously evil/good (depending), or shallow, not necessarily just that they behave slightly differently from their canonical appearance. Serious OOCness is I think always chargeable not necessarily because it exists on its own, but because it is nearly impossible to make a character such without poor or inadequately-explained writing.

Similarly, if the rest of the fic is bad, I don;t think it matters how OOC the characters are. Heck, judging by "From Another World" and its clones, directly re-enacting canon with nothing new to add should be a charge in and of itself!

Therefore, nobody needs permission from us to write one, and we're in no position to tell you what age you have to be, either. Back in Ye Olden Dayes, one had to ask for Miss Cam's blessing, but even that is no longer the case—simply credit her for the original idea and do your best to live up to the legacy, and you'll be fine. {= )

I do recommend coming up with a complete outline before you start, though. LOTS of OFUs never get finished, whether because the authors run out of ideas or they simply get distracted by other things, and it's really, really sad. If you're committed enough to plan ahead, you may stand a better chance of not joining the legion of the incomplete.

I don't know enough about the current fandom to give any specific advice, but a couple of my friends were really into Sonic back in the day, and I role-played with them despite knowing practically nothing besides what they told me, so I do have some ancient, ancient fan characters, complete with god-awful art from back when I was twelve or something. I could certainly sign one or two of them up whenever you're ready to accept students.

Good luck! {= )

~Neshomeh

Interesting idea. Personally, I have little experience with the Sonic fandom and its alleged brokenness. I suggest that you read lots of existing Official Fanfiction Universities for inspiration beforehand, particularly OFUM, IAHF (International Academy of Hetalia Fanfiction), and HFA (Hogwarts Fanfiction Academy). (Those are the three complete ones I can think of off the top of my head.)

Since you don't have Permission yet, I would say that's a prerequisite. (Heh-heh.) OFUs in general address canon languages, names (and why you should spell them correctly), personalities, shipping, and general rules. There's also usually a GrammarBootCamp, which is just what it sounds like. >:)

(For those of you unfamiliar with Sonichu the "webcomic" or its creator and legions of adoring trolls, just Google it. I'm not linking any of that here. It's not what I would consider remotely NSFW (at least at first...) but still, be warned. Out there be monsters.)

That unpleasantness aside, I can see where you're coming from on this. Being a devout member of the Halo fandom, I am occasionally accosted by people whose only knowledge of the game is that one Stufic and can't tell their Sangheili from their San'shyuum, so while my initial reaction to Sonic is to ignore it and imagine some ungodly morass, I will freely admit that I am in no position to make that judgement.

I'd say go for it- I like to think that I've done a markedly good thing all on my lonesome by directing some of the hatred for J.C.'s AVATAR to better targets, and I don't see why you can't help bring the Sonic community the recognition it deserves.


I realize this is more motivational speech than analysis, but I really do think it needed to be said...

How long have you been here?

And then...

How can I help?

I'm not up on the video games, but I can learn the cartoons.

I seem to recall reading a comic panel where it says Sonic is the only creature that can whistle at that pitch, and Dulcy the Dragon is the only one who can hear it.

I remember Cupcakes and Pattycakes. I have Pattycakes on the Claimed Badfic list, as a matter of fact. Truly disturbing, in an admittedly entertaining way.

That's a good question. Maybe they target the MLP franchise because that's where nobody will expect to see it, because of its refreshing cutsie, innocent-ish nature. It's like hiding a bomb. Malicious intent meant for the enjoyment of the planter, and those others out there sick enough to enjoy them, such as myself.

I suppose they are worth commending, in my own opinion. I did some research into the Cupcakes Pinkie Pie, and discovered parallels to the notorious BTK Killer, Dennis Radar, and Ted Bundy. That in and of itself means that the author did some research, some very serious research. I like fan fiction, and regular fiction, for that matter, that has a basis in reality, like Cupcakes did. Now, I'll admit, the torture was nothing more than improbable blood porn, but my point still stands.

... at least around the PPC, that nobody would shed a tear if such 'fics were designated for repair missions. Correct?

I've only read two of his fics sofar, and it's really hard to tell if he's trolling or just doesn't see the world through the same lens as other bronies. Warning, this is his only non-sexual fic and it is a nazi not-bad fic. http://www.fimfiction.net/story/714/whats-good-for-the-goosestep

I think it's got to do with the way guys kind of bash each other for not being tough enough. Like, if a guy dances ballet or bakes cookies, other guys (well, not all other guys, but the nasty sort) will pick on him for it because he's not manly enough or something.

Well, isn't this a lot of the same thing? Guys who like ponies are "betraying" the "man club", so other guys feel like punishing them by writing about the cute ponies getting tortured or raped or whatever. Or maybe they feel threatened by the fact that some guys like cute ponies, and feel like they have to write something like that just to "set things right" and prove they're Real Men in all the wrong ways.

Seriously, as the wiki article on MLP (FiM) states, "Going against the show's themes and tone in fanworks is considered a cardinal sin by some, and some folk [Troll] can't help but use that to provoke negative reactions in others."

Also, DAVD seems well equipped to handle this.

There's been a discussion on this before- something about how the more innocent something is, the more likely people are going to twist it in horrible ways to make it extremely wrong.

I think the reason why people don't target Barney is because nobody would read any fanfics for that. So there wouldn't be anyone to freak out. Most of those fics are more than likely trolls... I hope.

Rather... Well, if you've ever seen the documentary with John de Lance...

Bronies are a bizarre type of people that are misunderstood by outsiders.

People who like Star Trek or AVATAR don't subvert expectations as much, and they don't need the actors to stand up for the fans or talk to their parents. Barney doesn't have any fans that you'd want to show shock fic unless you were a monster.

I have a couple Nazi crossovers on my badfic list, but they're not old enough yet.

Nice to see you've done the required reading. I recommend Welcome to Night Vale (podcast set in a desert town where every conspiracy theory/paranormal thing is real), the fanfic "Follow Me" (it's on deviantART), Free! (high school swim club/coming-of-age tale), and most Chuggaaconroy Let's Plays (YouTube).

Anyway, your newbie gift is a holographic chess set like the one on the Millennium Falcon. I hope you know the rules to alien chess!

Nice to meet you.

Hi Darkotas! I'm Day and I'm new here too! We can be newbies together! Here, to you I bequeath a pocket watch. It can stop time for two minutes if you shake it hard enough, but it only has twelve charges. Good luck!

So, a voracious reader like myself, eh? Have you ever read the series The 39 Clues? It's a pretty interesting series, if I do say so myself. (I vaguely remember being introduced to it via this very Board!)

If you're into fantasy, have you read the Artemis Fowl series?

As for your newbie gift...
*rummages through bag of holding*
Here, have a Glite-colored replica Death Star!

Hi, have some fudge!

Here take this pet Titan! Careful he eats people.

Hello and welcome!

I'm going to second Des's recommendation of Mistborn, and then add the rest of that author's books to the list. Especially the Cosmere ones. As for other rec's, I could go on for ages, so if you want fantasy literature, just ask!

Now, for your present, I give to you a lined Infinite Notebook, complete with urple covers and wilver bindings. Avert your eyes!

-Aila

Since you already read the stuff I usually point newbies to, I'll just offer you a cup of Earl Grey (don't let the leaves eat you) and a plate of scones.
Oh, and I recommend Mistborn, the Dune series and the Culture series.

Have a pair of Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses. They work by turning completely dark at the first sign of danger, thus preventing you from seeing anything that might alarm you. --lifted from HHGTTG wiki.

I'm a Legacy of Kain fan, but for you I recommend Star Trek and Sherlock.

Aw crap, I didn't even think to get you a present... uh... Here! An urple moose that quacks like a duck! Welcome aBoard!

That was pretty good! I think she blended all the versions of the song for smoothness, but whatever.

(Oh, someone called RainyMeadows did another parody of that song, focusing on a cartoon called Storme Hawks. It's fun.)

The only thing I didn't like is that all of the songs from Frozen are going to be stuck in my head after reading it. Other than that, it was quite enjoyable!

The Playscripte!

Well, not the one hS did, but another Playscrpite, written by Twiggy Papaya (beware of popups):

http://www.angelfire.com/rings/ppcdcup/playscript1.html

Which never seems to have gotten moved from Twiggy's angelfire site to the Webs one, ironically keeping it preserved without the need of an archive. Yay!

--doctorlit kind of wants to voice Samwise

Good find with that list! I was super-excited when I found that Directory, but it's super-hard to read, and a lot is ambiguous. It's good to have a potential double-check now.

I'm glad to see I didn't actually imagine Origins and the Unfinished Tales, after all! I think I read them around when I first joined, but could never find them again. I was beginning to think they were a hallucination!

I was super-happy reading through "The Misadventures of Talia" and seeing some of the details I had picked out of her journal being confirmed in an actual published text. And OMG, it's when she first met Dúros! It's great to have such a major event in two agents' lives recorded again! (That Sue is rather intriguing, too. I guess the "class" she took in Mordor *snerk* was taught by a ringwraith.) It is disappointing to learn no BRD missions were ever written, as I've always been curious as to how they would go. But I guess I shouldn't miss something that never existed, so . . .

Can't wait to see some of the other stuff you've got waiting! Speaking of which, I responded to your email, but never heard back from you. Did something get "lost in the mail"?

Wow. Nesh, you are amazing. That's...wow.

There you go; you've achieved your goal. My brain is officially blown.

Now, time to go through and see what we've got...

-Arti's list. The Big Two trivia from this, for me, are: a) Bast's Agent Mary Sue is in both the DRD and RDR, so I can steal her if Rosalind or Aella need a friend. b) Agent Suzine is in DAVD. Is this the same person as Nurse Suzine?

-No comments on the charge list/Litmus Test, since they were sort of never lost (even though I'm proooobably the only person who could have found it)

-The substances list: it always baffles me that bleeprin is canonically made by mini-Aragogs in HFA. It occurs to me that the Ispace Wars might have interrupted the supply somewhat...



I also wonder where we get our Pink and Purple Stuff since the Great Goddess left... and also whether this means her temple was technically a front for a drug-distribution ring. :D

-Origins and UT: no, you can keep them up. 'Origins' is actually still hosted as a summary version on the Webplex, and... well, the conceit behind the UT and this version of Origins is that Dafydd wrote them. Slight divergences from the later facts are to be expected. ;)

-The BRD: you fiend. ^-^ Well done. As far as I recall, there never were any actual Bad Roleplay missions.

Of course, the existence of these missions means two of our latest Featured Agents are no longer up to date... and one of my goals is to ensure that they all remain so. I guess that means I'm going to be going through these with a fine-toothed comb. Oh no, I have to read PPC missions, how will I ever cope.

There's a story I remember from... somewhere, which has an agent getting thrown into what she thinks is a badfic, but is actually a goodfic (possibly by Thalia Weaver), and she's only barely stopped from killing it. In my head, that was 'The Misadventures of Talia', but since it isn't... any idea what I'm thinking of? Or if we still have it?

Anyway... awesome, and well done!

~~~~~

Webs: sometimes, yes, they delete things arbitrarily. According to their tech support (who always fire off the same boilerplate email in reply to your first attempt to contact them), their shutdowns of me were at the request of some outside authority - I forget what, and they were never very clear.

They also shut down websites which haven't been logged into for a certain amount of time and which haven't been viewed in a shorter amount... but it's all a bit random. Fortunately, archive.today seems to be fairly comprehensive, which is why the Multiverse Monitor is entirely preserved (except for one Page 3 image, but I might actually have that somewhere...), and almost restored. Starwind's high-rated PPC fanfics are probably lost forever, though.

(Which reminds me that I need to think about making a thread on that subject... Are NC-17 PPC Stories Okay And Should They Be Posted?)

Once again: thank you and well done!

hS

Awesome!

I can't say I remember the exact point that started me shipping them--I'm on season 3 and don't seem to do much rewatching of this show--but there's this one part where Moira and Walter (from Arrow are about to meet for dinner, and it just made me remember just how much I ship them. I mean, Walter wasn't even onscreen, but Moira and Thea both looked so happy and expectant and--well, I found myself sitting there grinning, so...keep going, Arrow. You're doing something right.

(Also, Oliver and Felicity, aaaah. They keep getting cuter and cuter with every episode, and I'm talking about a vigilante/superhero and an IT girl, here. And no, I don't really remember when I started shipping them, either, though by now there are so many lovely shippy moments that you can take your pick.)

~DF

Homestuck:
No spoilers:
I started shipping Dave and Jade during one of their pesterlogs, when Jade was trying to make a reference to Dave's webcomic and she got it wrong. She realized she got it wrong, but Dave said, "no its alright. reference secured" and I started shipping them like Chinese goods to the U.S.

Homestuck:
SPOILERS AHEAD
There were actually two moments for this couple. During the [S] John: Reunite with your loving wife and daughter flash, while Karkat is watching John, Terezi bolts up, shoves him aside, and starts pointing at his screen and presumably giggling. The look of annoyance on his face is glorious, but more on that presently.

The second one is after Terezi watches a doomed Dave die. She's almost crying and Karkat comes up and looks at her from way in her bubble. Then he goes to poke her.

These are cute enough by themselves, but not necessarily indicative of romance. That's just how Terezi behaves around everyone, and Karkat is later seen to be poking Sollux in a similar manner. What got me shipping them is the fact that they behave almost exactly like my brother and sister-in-law... whose favorite colors are red and teal, respectively... which is weird...

But think of how awesome it is that I get to ship my brother and sister-in-law as fictional characters, and aliens, no less!

Doctor Who:
SPOILERS AHEAD
Amy and Rory. I have to admit, for the entirety of Series Five and the beginning of Series Six, I though Amy was just plain annoying, and might possibly have had an unspoken rule to sleep her way around the universe. Or maybe just the TARDIS. Then, The Curse of the Black Spot happened. The interactions between Amy and Rory were so amazing during that episode! I think, though, that the part that especially got to me was when Amy was trying to convince the Siren that she was legally responsible for Rory and the short bit where Rory was teaching Amy to do CPR. Now I just think they're really cute together and I love them together.

That's actually pretty much my shipping life. I just don't ship that much.

Spoilers will be marked ((like so)). Read at your own discretion.

I don't tend to ship characters too often. I started shipping Makoharu harder after I watched Episode 6 of Free! ((you know, the one where Haruka gets that close to giving Makoto mouth-to-mouth?)). It just made sense; the show was already teasing that pairing anyway.

I also started shipping Lyra/Silver when I got SoulSilver back in freshman year. Two reasons for that: first, Silver looks prettier in that game than he did in GSC, so it was easy for me to fangirl over him; second, I actually beat Lance in SoulSilver and thus got to witness more of his character development ((especially at the double battle with him against Lance and Clair in Dragon's Den))

To answer your actual question, though, I remember really wanting to ship Sherlock/Irene for a while the first time I watched "A Scandal in Belgravia" (or was that Sherlock/Molly? I can't remember, the episode kinda sorta teased both.) I guess it was the way they interacted; neither side willing to give ground (at first), both parties on each others' intellectual level...yeah.

I mean, I was reading a lot of the ship-tease in Star Trek:TNG, but I wasn't interested in that sort of stuff.

There's Alphonse Elric and Martel, with full knowledge that it wouldn't have worked out, especially as anything sexual.

I have feelings against one popular pairing, but I wasn't watching The Last Airbender in any specific order and pretty much got stuck on the official couples.

Well, I was recently watching Doctor Who, and in specific the Season 2 episode The Idiot's Lantern. And the ONE MOMENT when he realises what they did to Rose (took her face and dumped her in the street) and his Tranquil Rage...as well as their reunion at the end... well, I'm now a 10Rose shipper. In a simular vein, Rose being so mad/terrified for him in Fear Her really got to me.

And the Amy/Rory ship only really kicked in for me in The Angels Take Manhattan when Amy decided to jump off the roof with Rory even though there was a tiny chne she might survive. Plus she ignored the Doctor just so she coul be with her husband.
The one line that really got me was this-
"We're changing the future. It's called 'marriage'."

Plus-
"Raggedy Man- GOODBYE!"

definitely Act IV scene iii for Brutus and Cassius. Didn't help that the first production I saw of them had them kissing in it.

But going back to my other ships? Imma have to go with the 'because you are my friend' scene for Kirk and Spock, because even though I would love to rip the scripts of the Reboot to pieces, I have to admit that particular bit got me going OH YOU TWO I SHIP IT.

And for BBC Sherlock, I definitely shipped John and Sherlock by the end of PINK. Whoops. Probably the instant when John looks at Sherlock and is all 'oh god yes' to seeing more crime scenes. The acting is phenomenal in that bit, the tension extremely palpable. And I'm pretty sure most people don't say 'oh god yes' in the tone Martin Freeman used in that scene when they're going to go see a crime scene with someone they've barely just met.

...but I found that Kellam (a knight in an oversized suit of armour that everyone seems to forget) and Maribelle (a snobbish upper-class lady that is an expert medic/combat mage) from Fire Emblem worked vey well with each other. Each is the polar opposite of the other and they just play off each other so well, IMO.

You can watch the support conversations on YouTube here.

Lycaenion and I are likely to get there first by virtue of already being in London at the time. If possible I'll make a sign so other PPCers will recognise us.

If they don't somehow notice the large blonde Brit and the petite dark American ladies squeeing to each other. :P

Guess who actually learned something in history class? That's right. True, I only remember this fact because of Monty Python, but still.

Have a fun Gathering, guys! {= D

~Neshomeh

Wait- dangit, Kitty got to it first! :(

Anyway, you lot have fun! Next year I'll be on my own and able to make decisions for myself for a change, so if I'm not a poor college student, I'll definitely go to the next gathering!

*gets flung off the Bridge of Doom*
AAAAAAaaaahhhh...

Yeah. Anyway, the plans do sound great, but unfortunately (or fortunatly, if you hate me) I can't make it. Darn. Maybe when I finally leave school, but that isn't for a while, so. Have fun, take pictures, write a report and tell us all about it! ^_^
By the way,

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow!!??

I really couldn't get into your writing sample at all. It feels like it's going through the motions without any interest or emotion, a marionette show rather than a story. It's relatively sound from a technical perspective, but there's far more to writing than crossing all your 'T's and dotting all your 'I's.

I have no sense of who your characters are, what makes them tick, or what they like or dislike. I don't even have any sense that the organization in the recruitment story is the PPC - beyond the explanation that Agent Lowe gives, it feels nothing like the PPC. An interrogation room? A human in a suit? The line about Fisher being "made to be a cafeteria worker"? This is not what the PPC feels like.

Secondly, your behavior has been uninspiring. You rushed into your first permission request - which, in all fairness, happens a lot - but even your reply there showed no indication that you recognized what had gone wrong. I quote: "I suppose that it is professional to send a standard rejection notice when a manuscript has been chewed up by the post office" - a third-person-passive response that accepts no responsibility.

This permission request seems to have the exact same problem - rather than take the time to put together an organized request, you just dumped a link to a gdocs folder. This shows an active lack of respect for the PGs and process, and I would like to take this excellent opportunity to remind you that the PGs are both doing this in their spare time and are some of the more respected members of the community. Demonstrating that you don't respect people that the community tends to respect really doesn't do much to argue in your favor. (For that matter, your inability to get along with Neshomeh, who is one of the nicer PGs, is a significant point against you.)

And then there's this thread. You made a mistake, certainly - just about everyone has. However, you then doubled down and tried to defend what you had said, rather than admit that you had made a mistake.

On those two considerations, I'm going to have to deny permission.

Finally, there is this thread and its fallout. Your exchanges with Neshomeh, VM, and Ekyl were irrational, bordering on incoherent, and completely out of line with what is expected of you on this forum. Furthermore, you have demonstrated no willingness to accept any responsibility for what happened. Your first "apology" message is nothing more than a list of excuses - it contains neither acknowledgement that you were out of line nor a single mention of the people you attacked. (For comparison's sake, you mentioned yourself in it no less than sixteen times.) Your behavior in the last two days would, on its own, be grounds for denial of permission.

The interrogation room was similar to its counterpart seen on many cop shows. It was a box with a

single door, the entirety paneled in generic surface. On one wall, where a large two­way mirror

should be, were instead a series of tiny windows that did not try to disguise the darkened room

beyond. A large table with a bar affixed to its surface stood between two pairs of chairs that were

bolted to the floor.

A female humanoid with dark hair and pale skin was chained the table's bar. She perched on the

edge of the chair so that the manacles didn't dig into her wrists. She shot to her feet and bared her

fangs as the door opened, but the chains prevented her from going anywhere. She seemed

embarrassed as she sat again and tried to arrange herself for the least discomfort.

A bipedal bull in a black uniform entered, followed by a bearded man in a business jacket.

“Hello, I'm Agent Phillip Lowe,” the man said. “I'm sorry about the wait. There was a slight

paperwork issue, but we've got it sorted out now.”

“I have the right to legal counsel. I am an American citizen,” the prisoner argued.

“Unfortunately we are not part of any country, and your rights are limited. The good news is that

I'm in charge of reviewing your situation. If you are open and honest with me, we should be able

to find the best outcome for you.” He gave her a broad smile.

He didn't mention that they had already determined that she wasn't really a person, according to a

record­search of World One. This time it was merely a formality, thanks to her author's self­insert

avatar. Lowe's job was to judge if she was a redeemable character or should be disposed of as a

Mary­Sue.

She glowered. “The woman who brought me here said that she would take me with her, but she

neglected to mention that it would be to a jail.”

“We'll get to that eventually. This temporary holding area is for your safety as well as ours. Don't

worry, leaving that world willingly is a point in your favor,” he said, flipping through the folder

and scribbling a note.

Lowe pulled out his CAD. The agents had been using an analog CAD for that mission, so their

recorded reading was a non­standard “needled out and broke.” Even if they had been using a

model that he was familiar with, he preferred to trust his own readings. Hiding his trepidation, he

pointed his CAD at the prisoner. [Samantha, female vampire, original character, 20% non-
canonical.] Lowe frowned and scribbled his finding in the relevant margin.

He flipped back to the first page of the file to remind himself of the important details. The

summary read: standard “sucked into known media” plot, class five reality disruption that

stabilized quickly, naturalization occurred, but in a non­canonical AU.

“Well, we have the agents' report, but we are interested in your point of view. Keep in mind that

this discussion is a small part of our process.” Lowe flipped to the second page, smiled, and said,

“Let's begin at the beginning. Tell me about how you arrived in that world.”

It was a moment before Samantha spoke. “I remember not knowing how came to arrive in Janos'

home. I am unsure if it was because I felt sorry for him and made a bad wish, or if that is how I

justified it afterward.” She paused. “When I arrived there, I only had a moment to think. I

recognized where I was, but did not have time to consider the repercussions before I acted.”

Lowe made a mental note to ask about the repercussions later. “And then what happened?”

“Thanks to me, Janos survived what was supposed to be his death, and the Sarafan took me to their

stronghold. I lost consciousness when they were torturing me, and when I woke up, Kain had

rescued me. I hoped that by helping him, I would be allowed to return home.”

“Why did Kain help you, and why did you focus on him?”

“Kain said that something drew him to me. I believe that he could sense whatever was allowing

me to defy the temporal laws of his world. He would have used my strange influence whether I

was willing or not. I was fortunate that he did not hurt me when he learned that I had knowledge

and refused to share it immediately.”

“You said that helping Kain might take you home?” Lowe prompted.

“It is his game, well, also Raziel's. Kain is where the story began, but he was also standing at the

end. The fate of Nosgoth rests on him.”

Lowe scribbled a note about “helping the hero” in the file and said. “You mentioned something

about breaking the rules of that world.”

“There are two forces in that world. Destiny dictates the important events in their lives, and there

is almost nothing they can do to escape it. History will prevent a time­traveler from altering

significant events.” Samantha clenched her fists. “I should not have been able to save Janos

Audron. There were too many events that were tied to his death.”

Lowe gave her a moment as he turned to another section of the file. “It says that you kept

influencing the main characters even after that.”

“The damage had been done, and the consequences would have been far worse if I had said

nothing. I could only convince them to follow the path that they would have taken without my

interference. I am glad that Raziel did not learn the truth of his Destiny from me, but there are

events that would have been difficult. I eventually would have been responsible for my own sire's

murder.”

He noticed how much angst­fuel Samantha had, and wondered how much therapy it would require

to make her well­adjusted. “It says that you asked to be made into a vampire.”

“I would not have chosen the dark gift if I were not dying. All souls are consumed by a horrible

creature and I was desperate to avoid that fate.”

Lowe decided that he couldn't stand much more. He decided not to ask about a tragic childhood

because her present was depressing enough. The file indicated that she had even suffered an

existential crisis about being a vampire. “Let's talk about what you did when the agents read your

charges.”

“I fear I that got distracted when they mentioned 'trans­dimensional.' I imagine that I interrupted

them when I demanded to know if they were responsible for my predicament,” Samantha

admitted. “I should have been more wary. They wanted to remove me from Nosgoth, and I

happily followed them when they assured me that the original time­line would reassert itself once I

was away. Was this the case?”

“Don't worry, restoring canonical time­lines is the primary mission of the PPC,” Lowe assured

her. “Reading the charge list is more of a formality, but I have a copy right here if you are

curious.”

At her nod, Lowe flipped to the appropriate page and began reading. “Being a Self­Insert and

causing a Class 5 reality dysfunction, having such a high Sue reading that it broke the CAD,

creating an alternate universe, causing main characters to care about and fight over you, causing

main characters to have rule­breaking powers, asking to become a vampire, having an important

vampire change you, having angst about having to drink blood, having angst in general, posing as

an oracle, using time­travel to create a deus­ex­machina, having main characters confide in you

above other canon characters, causing a character's girlfriend to cease existing, and telling a main

character about said girlfriend to instigate romantic feelings but pretending not to be interested.”

Samantha's nails dragged on the table, producing an unpleasant screech. “I certainly was not

interested in Kain! He is a monster, and preventing his doomed romance had very little to do with

my intentions.” She composed herself. “There were times that I regretted interfering, and I

sometimes did question my choice to become a vampire. Of the rest that I understand from that

list, there are things for which I could not be held accountable.”

For the first time, Lowe stopped smiling. “We determined that the charges stand, and the only

thing left is decide what to do with you. We can't remove your vampirism, so we can't send you to

any place other than Nosgoth. But if the rules of that world don't apply to you even after we

remove your memories, we will simply have to dispose of you.”

Samantha snarled as she stood, but she only bruised her wrists on her restraints again. She

breathed heavily as she stared at Lowe in anger. “I do not wish to die. However, it is preferable to

die here than to be sent back to Nosgoth, even if I become ignorant of what will happen when the

inevitable comes.”

“There is one more possibility. We at at PPC are always recruiting new agents; people who go

into other worlds and remove intruders. The hours are long, the pay is nonexistent, and in my

opinion you would go flamethrower­crazy in less than a year. But I could ignore my better

judgment and forward your file to the Marquis de Sod. There's no guarantee that you'll be

accepted, but it may be worth a shot.”

Samantha was silent for a moment, then made a sound between a cough and a laugh. “Yet another

choiceless choice. By all means, send my file. It would not do to refuse this opportunity.”

This is from a deliberately bad meta­story where the canon characters know that a crazy fangirl

runs the world with inconsistently godlike powers. What they don't realize is that she's affected

their minds so that they are happier and more maliable.

Stats:
Name: Lawrence Fisher (Larry)
Age, Sex, Species: 32 years, male, human
Home Continuum: 21st century Earth, unknown origin
RC, Department, Partner: RC 387, Floaters, Samantha

Appearance: Chubby-muscular. 5’10, Sandy-blond hair a couple inches long, medium skin tone, medium brown eyes.

Character Reference: Joey from Full House.

He’s eager. Not intellectual, but also not stupid. He tends to reference TV tropes when talking about something. (Note: make him say an entire sentence that is hard to understand unless the person knows tropes, and then make him repeat it in more layman’s language.)

Larry is a fan of anime, good animation, Sci-Fi, kid-friendly movies, and fun movies with a lot of special effects. He tends to be excited about missions if they don’t look too horrible at first glance. He likes meeting canon characters and helping them get back into canon before neuralysing them.

(Animation: Batman, Spiderman, Avatar, Gargoyles, Green Lantern, etc. Anime: both versions of Full Metal Alchemist, Pumpkin Scissors, Aquarion. Movies: most of the Pixar and Dreamworks, Transformers, First Knight, Men in Black, both versions of The Time Machine.)

(Find an excuse for him to watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Haibane Renmei. Also watch Sword Art Online, Hellsing, and Attack on Titan to see if I can learn the universes well enough to add them to his interests.)

He came from a “real” world through a plothole, but no one knows which world it was. (He’s a muggle from an American Harry Potter ripoff. Or he’s a muggle from Skin Deep.)

He has an academic interest in medieval weapons and how well fantasy weapons would work. (Watch Cloud’s buster sword in real life videos.)

He was shown how to use a handgun during his PPC training. This makes him handy with a tranquilizer pistol, but he needs to hit his partner at least once. (Samantha’s flesh necrotizes around the impact site quickly, and she doesn’t go unconscious. She recovers with application of the whatsit.)

Larry is afraid of spiders for no good reason.

What department would get him used to the PPC, but still make him long for the excitement of actually going into the Word Worlds? Was he a dissatisfied Intelligence Agent, or was he made to be a Cafeteria worker for several months before training to kill Sues?

AMSCES? Don't you mean ACMSES? (Anti-Cliche and Mary Sue Elimination Society) Why would that require a name change?

The second permission prompt for Kimberley and Hue seems a little short. Try adding more detail. (Samantha and Larry's second one is still missing.) I like the ones you have up, though, especially the one where Samantha and Larry get hooked on Madoka Magica.

I'll repeat what I said earlier--you're very good at building character backstories. A potential agent from Rainbow Brite is interesting as well. Remind me, what role does Elizabeth have in all this? Creating multiple characters makes them a little confusing to us.

Stats:
Name: Samantha Frankson
Age, Sex, Species: Female, 23 years as a human, plus about 450 as a Nosgoth second-generation vampire
Home Continuum: Her childhood memories are from a “real” 21st century Earth, but she’s lived in Nosgoth for most of her life
RC, Department, Partner: RC 387, Floaters, (focuses on the Legacy of Kain continuum between her partner’s interests,) partnered with Lawrence Fisher.

Appearance: Petite, about 5-foot 4-inches. Black hair to mid-shoulderblades, pale skin tone, yellow eyes, pointed ears, dark lips, and fangs. When disguised as her human self, she has curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

View “Vampire strengths and Weaknesses that apply to Samantha” to see the justification for my head-canon vampire template.

Samantha was a twenty-something inhabitant of the “real world” and a fangirl of the Legacy of Kain video game series. She then was sucked into Nosgoth and was a Mary-Sue for the full five minutes it took to realize what was going on and save a main character from dying. Then some flavor of reality kicked in and she had a horrible and miserable week of being a less-than average human in Nosgoth. Then she became sick, had to beg the canon characters not to let her die, and the only way to save her was to turn her into a vampire. She then spends the next 500 years being an ally and adviser to the canon characters.

Her memories and official PPC file show that she was confronted for breaking the universe. She apologized that she didn’t mean it and said that she wanted to be human again and taken home, but also showed concern for the reality she was in since she knew about the damage. (The C-CAD popped before giving a good reading.) The main reason that she wasn’t killed as a Sue was because Despatch took her mission and Legal offered her a choice.

Samantha has some difficulty relating to people, especially young humans. She has an internal thought process that artificially prompts her to treat everyone as a person even if she sees them as walking prey. (She consciously thinks about how she smiles, whether or not she wants to show her fangs.) She is used to being subordinate, so will follow instructions from someone she respects as more-knowledgeable. Samantha has imperfect self-control. She can get angry without showing it, but will occasionally lash out, even if she apologizes for being so blunt immediately after.

Character reference, Florence Ambrose from Freefall. A little bit of McGonagal’s prickly on the outside with even less softness on the inside.

She is competent in defending herself unarmed against pikes and swords. She can somewhat handle a sword. She can kill someone with her bare claws, and needs training in non-lethal unarmed fighting. She is fairly helpless when disguised as a human or anything similar, but will insist on more training after her first mission gets her shot.

She has no self-agency. Things happen to her instead of her making things happen. When she graduated High School, she still didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up. Fate had her witness a crime so her attention to detail could be noticed by an investigator who told her he’d hire her if she went through the right training. She said yes. Since then, she’s been presented with choices that had a clearer “right” answer, and has the gall to be angry when the other option is death. It is strange when she expresses a desire to do missions outside of the Legacy of Kain fandom.

She has the ability to memorize well. It is not eidetic, but rather a study and recall habit. This means that she has to notice something and consciously decide to remember it, and she might forget something if it has been a while since she last thought of it. She cannot decide to forget something on command.

She could have been smart, but she is under-educated and never bothered to learn some of the more useful knowledge. There is also a difference between memorizing something and comprehending it. One of the talents she developed was to draw recognizably from memory.

Sometimes she gets OCD-like tendencies, but it never gets bad enough to become a properly diagnosable issue. Usually it doesn’t disturb her when something is out of place, she just notices it and manages to stop thinking about it. Sometimes she will be unable to sleep if she has left something unfinished or starts worrying about the mini-squids escaping.

Because she was trapped in a video game, she has a slight anxiety when something reminds her of that. Not really a weakness because the anxiety is easily manageable. She is also afraid of the Elder God, but that is a sensible extension of being afraid of dying.

I can’t. The problem may be that I may need a Google account, but I’m not sure about this.

HG

Since the Disguise questions didn’t distinct between headcanon and what has been described in mission reports, and my non-existent agents cannot actually do anything, I may need to list my rather random answers here, so that the numbers for “actually mentioned” may be decreased appropriately:

D1: Do your agents use disguises?
Yes, but only when they don't already blend in or spend the entire mission hiding under a bed (in a closet, behind the walls, etc).

D2: What are your agents aiming for when they wear disguises?
They try to blend in with their surroundings with something that will be at least probable throughout the entire mission (unless I get an idea that’s more funny).

D3: How thoroughly are your agents changed when they wear a disguise?
It depends on the particular agent. (As far as I can see now, my agents will be a World of Warcraft night elf druid and a human from World One, and their missions will mostly be in the potterverse, where the night elf needs a change of species, but the human doesn’t.)

HG

My agents have toyed with the 'canon characters not seeing them' effect a fair bit. Of particular interest would be my final interlude to date, involving the Blackout.

Don't forget about Fourth-Wall-breaking canon characters!

I've gone for the minority (of one) opinion that there's no such thing as SEP fields and sticking wires on the back of a bit of fabric is a bloomin' stupid idea. However, I'm not adverse to other people claiming there's SEP fields in the PPC (it would be quite difficult to claim they haven't), and will merrily theorise about how they work. Just don't expect me to mention them in my stories. ^-^

hS

I can't take it if I haven't done any missions? Aw...

Oh well. Soon.

Sorry I wasn't involved when this was being discussed in the first place, but:

You ask a couple of times, "Do your agents directly mention X?" Does that mean strictly in the agents' dialogue, or do you mean something like "Is X directly mentioned in your missions?" or "Do your agents know about/believe in X?" 'Cause my agents never mention SEP fields or canon-cloaking in their dialogue, but I do mention them in the narrative, sometimes obviously as part of the agents' thoughts (e.g. "[Nume] trusted the SEP field to keep [himself and Brightbeard] from notice"). I would answer No to the first question, but Yes to either of the other two.

~Neshomeh

Man, I am definitely getting this novel. There's so much I like about these two chapters!

The world-building is just straight-up fantastic. It does get a little prosy here, but it's a reasonable way to introduce the reader to the characteristics of the world. (And it sure hooked me in, too!) I love that the action so far is mostlyly dominated by female characters. We've got Waslo and Master, and one dead dad, and even those two living men are more peripheral compared to Governess' influence over Livia's life.

I can't wait to see Livia and Lex unite and tear down this wretched society!

Also, did anyone else see this in the sidebar?
http://www.mtv.com/news/1862915/jk-rowling-new-harry-potter-story/

The society in the book appears to be a bizarre combination of future dystopia and Victorian England (governesses, debutante ball, Proper Young Ladies, all that rot).

It's not terrible, I'll give them that. The narrator (Livia; maybe the second one is harmless) never shuts up, so there's one key problem. You're also quite accurate about the plot formula, and I didn't even finish the first chapter.

Bright spots include the idea of a floating dystopian city. (I'm sure there are others, but I didn't finish.)

-Grabs his head-
Why in present tense? Why?

I don't follow celebrities closely (too little advanced mathematics to hold my interest, I'm afraid...), but I don't recall entities by the names of "Kylie" or "Kendall" doing anything particularly groanworthy, so I'm coming into this with a completely open mind. The premise seems dull and the prose uninspiring, but the Space Gods know my first attempt at a novel was worse. If they want to do something productive with their lives, more power to them.

Well, it caught my interest, anyway. Not bad writing, actually, and I'm a pretty big fan of dystopian perfect societies. Sure, the "I hate being so privileged and awesome" thing is done to death, but I'd imagine someone from that background would have a pretty dang accurate insight into how it feels living in the shadow of Very Important Relatives, because of whom you have more wealth than you could possibly need, and a status you did nothing to obtain and probably don't really want.

I'm interested, anyway.

I'm starting to think this quiz might be poorly weighted. {= P

Lots of the answers didn't really fit me, though, so I had to go with the best of a bad lot. For instance, I'm pretty sure my friends think I'm well-adjusted and confident. They're mistaken, but that's not the question.

~Neshomeh

Although in reality, Hamlet is probably much more like me. (*shrug*)

'Cause I'm one too.

I also got the Doctor... It's because we plays with time, precious. When we're not wasting it, that is.

Check out this one!

http://www.tolkientrail.com/madlibs.shtml

Unfortunately they never update this game, but it's still pretty fun. There are others to be found around the web too - do a search!

George Takei posted this one. If you don't follow him, you should. He's hilarious!

One saga to rule them all

1) This is actually a fine line. On one hand, you have the "Voldemort looked like Voldemort from the movie" style of writing where referencing source material is used as an unsuccessful crutch for beige prose, on the other you have ridiculous redundant description. As for the name, Herr Wozzek used "plot regurgitation" to describe it, although I for one am fond of saying "If I wanted to hear about I would just read/watch/play ", which could be condensed into some comedically large acronym?

2) See above.

3) Yes and yes.

4) Heck yes. Multiple charges, for stupidity, insert knowledge itself, and pointless plot regurgitation. Moreso for randomly returning to canon (because the author is lazy?) after diverging.


You are sporking PR, aren't you?

I mean, five goals in fifteen minutes? And my roommate said that she'd been talking to someone and they'd expected it to be completely different...well, anyway, it was pretty amusing. But then again, I'm neither from Germany nor from Brazil, so I've got no stake in this.

(Is Canada in the running somewhere? Does Canada even have a team?)

On the plus side, this is the summer I learned what FIFA is...

~DF

There should not be any problem, just remember to add that it's pending Permission (I assume I haven't missed you getting it. If I did, disregard this).

Unless you have problems editing the wiki, and I'd be willing to help if you give me the info.

Welcome back?

You forgot to add the mission to the main page of the wiki (I noticed it now).

This was a fun read, as the badfic features some of my biggest peeves about Potter romances. (I won't turn this into a rant, but I'm mainly referring to the whole "magic bond" thing, and also making a huge deal about the money Harry's parents left in Gringotts. He's still a teenager, after all, and his "wife" already owns a house. What does he need all that money for?)

Anyway. I have to admit, I actually like Harry/Tonks, but only after Harry is older, so they're both adults. Fourteen vs. nineteen is a bit too dramatic a gulf for me. (There's a nineteen again. I swear they're everywhere.)

Sorry. I know I'm discussing the fic more than your mission, but I think everyone else has beaten me to the interesting comments. I am embarrassed to admit, I didn't get the joke about Luna seeing the agents until I read Nesh's comment below. Now that I get it, I must recognize it as sheer brilliant genius! I also like the research you put into it; I never would have recognized that Nundu thing as a canon monster, since it wasn't in the main series.

I agree that the easy swaying of Vilma/Mindy is the main weakness here. Other than some odd phraseology, the original author actually had her pretty in character for an average house elf (at least in the lines you shared in the mission). She would need a lot more convincing to abandon her masters, I think (although that logic bomb of Tonks not inheriting much is a good way to start).

I do like that you recruited not only the house elf, but Dogwig as well. Despite being a flagrant blasphemy against existence, it doesn't really do anything too obnoxious. It behaves just like a regular Potterverse owl--at super speed, but that could just be geo/time distortions--and didn't show particular loyalty to the replacements. Good to see some restraint and pity where it belongs! but seriously has the author never heard an owl

One thing I was wondering about is when the agents interrupt a question from Mindy. She never brings up whatever it was again. I was expecting something terrible to happen later, and then see Mindy say, "I was trying to ask about this . . ." but the line never payed off. Was this something that got cut, or am I just paying too much attention to that exchange?

There's also a part where Rina has dialogue split into two separate paragraphs. (Starting with "'Putting my curiosity to know that aside,'") I don't think there's any real reason for those two paragraphs to be split up as they are; nothing happens in between, so why should Rina pause there?

Things I like:

The agents taking the mirrors too soon and having to put them back, and recruiting Mindy too soon. Nice to see them making rookie mistakes and learning their lesson.

Having Luna seem to see them for a minute. I dig the idea that Luna sees things that are actually there. Nice, kinda Discworld-y.

Lots of little things, like "Way-the-Hey-Out-of-Character Land" and the agents being immature and laughing at stuff like "Number 69" and "stud muffin." *g*

Also, I try to avoid commenting on the badfic in mission reviews, but dear god was the dialogue in that fic painful. Just... ew. Not to mention how ~*special*~ everything was. I'm pleased that the ridiculous amounts of OOC and uncanon were addressed, and I fully sympathize with the agents' nausea. (BTW, they might consider carrying some candied ginger around with them. Ginger is good for nausea.)

Things I am not sure about:

How come Mcgonagoll is a he? I think the minis tend to take on the gender of their namemistakes. Related: I always thought mini-Aragogs were approximately human-torso-sized. Big enough to haul fangirls away. I can't back that up, though. Has anyone read HFA recently?

What, nobody reacts to the Dursleys being randomly killed off by terrorists? I mean, sure, no one likes them much, but I still think the fact that no one reacts at all is deserving of comment.

Mindy seems to give up on her perceived masters a little too easily for the average house-elf. It's not something they can just choose to do even if they want to, and I'm not sure merely explaining that she's in a bad story makes it not count. Also, who's she going to take care of in HQ? House-elves want masters, unless they're Dobby.

Typos:

* ad nauseum - Should be "ad nauseam".

* After biding Lupin farewell - Should be "after bidding Lupin farewell".

* "We is ABPDW, precious" - Shouldn't that be "We is ABPWD"? Or is there another messed up acronym?

* "Harry gives his want to Ollivander" - Should be "Harry gives his wand to Ollivander".

* Katie Bell,Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team - Missing a space: "Katie Bell, Chaser"

* ... and spawning an army of mini-Aragongs" - Should be "an army of mini-Aragogs". (How embarrassing. ^_^; )

* "But he's a Cute Animal Friend!" - Should be "But she's a Cute Animal Friend!"

* There was a period in place of a comma in someone's dialogue somewhere, but I forgot to note it down and I can't find it again. {= (

All in all, a very enjoyable read. Keep up the good work!

~Neshomeh

Only two glitches in the whole shebang! Well done! (I agree with Randa about doing a continuum where the minis aren't giant spiders.)

Mindy is the cutest house-elf I've ever read. :) Where do you think she works now? Cafeteria? Personnel?

You made good use of Mindy / Vilma there, and the agents’ mistakes show that they are not very experienced yet. I also like how you handled the missing transition from dinner to morning.

But there is one (in numbers: 1) issue for the Repetitive Department of Repetition: “this one was named named Godrick”. And the badfics title is Harry Potter and the Tails of Cange. (I wondered whether you quoted a misspelling there and why you didn’t spork this, so I looked it up.)

Getting Not!Harry when he is wandless is a brilliant idea.

HG

"Viower excretion" should most definitely be "Reader discretion".
Also, what do the curly brackets around some of the badfic quotes mean?
Also, "Uncle Siri"? Lel on the Apple-influenced Stuthor :P
All-in-all, I enjoyed the mission. The badfic seems to be of the funny sort and Rina & Randa's reactions make it even more funny. It isn't too long, which is also a plus. Well done, Ixi.

So Sirius is one of Steven Jobs' partners?

There's a typo in your disclaimer, but that mission was a fun read.

I think my favourite part was the recruitment and subsequent interactions with Mindy, although the actual mention of physically writing a mission report at the very beginning was pretty great too. We don't see that kind of thing enough, in my opinion. And ooh, the recitation of canon is another trick that isn't employed as much as it should be. I loved that bit.

Really, like your last mission, this one had a very strong Original Series vibe to it, which is definitely a very cool thing.

-Aila

Finally! I've been sitting here and frothing at the mouth waiting for it to be done. :)