Aug 2014 Archive, part b

Happy birthday, KittyEden!

As is par for the course with me and birthdays, have a Delibird! The Delivery Pokemon is a ton of fun to have around, especially since you never know what's in that pouch-like tail it has! Be careful, though, there's an 80% chance of KABOOM!

Here's your complimentary banana split! And napkins so you don't get chocolate sauce/ice cream all over you :)

Have a happy dance!

('-') ('-')/ (/'-')/ ('-')/

Welcome to the teens! And thanks for making me feel old. ;P

Congratulations! You made it to the teens. You are entering a very important stage of your life, and that needs to be celebrated! Indeed, this needs to be celebrated in the largest, most special way possible. You know what that means! Yes! It's time for another FANON PINKIE PIE PARTY!

What is a Fanon Pinkie Pie Party you may ask? What makes it any different from a regular Pinkie Pie Party? Well, I'll tell you!

As you probably know, the My Little Pony brand is made primarily for little girls. Unfortunately, this means Hasbro forces canon to restrain Pinkie's parties to those for a five year old little girl. While this is all well and good for said five year olds, those much older then that can only find so much enjoyment from them that is not based on nostalgia.

Enter the Fanon Package, where we use a dash of Fanon and a drop of OOC to break the shackles enforced by corporate onto our favorite Party Pony. Now she can be the Super Duper Party Pony she was meant to be, and throw you the BEST PARTY EVER! Music, lights, snacks, party games, and quite simply the most delicious cake you will ever taste!

BUT WAIT, there's more! Pinkie Pie uses a mixture of her fourth-wall breaking abilities and a Remote Activator we managed to acquire to bring in ANY CANONS YOU WANT! Just choose you location, provide a list of your favorite fandoms, and we provide the rest! Dance with the Doctor, shoot pinatas with Katniss Everdeen, even get to glomp without consequence!

By the end of the party, specially programed robots with Neuralyzers will sort out all of the canon mess left behind, so don't worry your little head over any damage to the continua. They will even neuralyze you, making the party seem like it never happened and that all you were doing was reading about this fantastic party! The robots even have time travel abilities, due to being based off of the T-1000, so you won't even notice the time difference! This is quite simply the best party you will never remember!

(The next time you have a special event to celebrate, just remember: There Ain't No Party Like a Pinkie Pie Party!)

-Has immediate Crazy Ivan associations-
Bad Des.
-Offers a nicely-wrapped pack of Mao Feng jasmine tea-

Old enough to post on the Pit!

Have a dancing Pinky Pie.

*tosses KittyEden a medium-sized Generic Gift*

Have a cake! It may not be a very good cake, but hey...

And... I guess happy birthday to your principal too?

You rafted the Grand Canyon? Wow, that must have been really scary. Tell me/us more about your adventures. Please?

Because I previously semi-gushed about the art in GND while barely mentioning Roommates, but...

I like some of this art, too

The fact that only the least-recognisable member of the main cast is in this one might be relevant... as might the fact that in both comics, Aziraphale and Crowley are among my favourites.

hS

On the one hand, I really love both these comics; GND is hilarious and really pretty, and does an excellent job of making the characters believably themselves. The art in Rm doesn't grab me as much (though the text is easier to read - that's my one complaint against GND!Jareth), and isn't as big on the humour, but the storylines and dramatic moments blow me away (though that one doesn't really have its impact without the background, and is a massive spoiler - don't click unless you've read it!).

But... legendary? I hadn't heard of them until I stumbled across GND by accident (which, by the way, is probably why I prefer it - I read it first). That may be because I'm not in the relevant fandoms, but to my mind, a Legendary Bad/Goodfic should be known by everyone in the fandom. The entire LotR fandom knew (at one point) what 'legolas by laura' and 'Clbr__n' were; do these meet the same standard?

Or maybe I'm just being old-fashioned and over-thingy. I'd agree that they're good enough certainly; I'm just asking about 'well-known'.

hS

Definitely for Girls Next Door, at any rate. (Hands up if you knew that Pika is also the artist responsible for drawing many of OFUM's Black Leather Alliance back in the day!)

I haven't been enjoying Roommates as much in recent arcs, unfortunately. I kinda feel like it's gotten so wrapped up in its own mythology and drama that the characters' distinct personalities and the sense of fun have been lost. I miss the wacky hijinks, which GND still brings in full force.

I'm not sure if it's possible to have one without the other, though.

~Neshomeh

Hello and welcome!

I give to you now a lined Infinite Notebook, complete with urple covers and wilver binding. Don't look at it straight on!

-Aila

Have a hissing gerbil. He's much friendlier than he looks, I promise. ;)

-Points to the Constitution and the Original Series-
-Offers tea, scones and jam-
Don't let the leaves eat you.
Also... I must say, I've never heard of this animé... what's it about?

It is good to finally see Jenna brought to justice finally. I may be slightly biased about anything that puts Jenna in her place though. Although that does remind me that under PPC standards the fic is still out there waiting to be killed.

Since it is semi-related to this would it be at all possible that I claim My Inner Life for a possible ( yet long into the future) mission? I must admit that it would be quite interesting if I was the one to finally end Jenna Silverblade for the PPC considering it was me lurking around the Tv Tropes page for the fic that lead me here.

(At least for a little while.) You're a pretty good writer; the only real flaw I noticed is that you tend to go for long stretches without a pause (comma, semicolon, et cetera). That lack of punctuation makes your story look unfinished.

Thanks for the scented candles. What's the overall theme here? Fruits? Wildflowers? Incense? (Also, hello, possible newbie! Your gift is a Blue Purse of Holding!)

I just watched Dead Poets Society yesterday... O captain, my captain.... Rest in peace.

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

And what tragic irony that someone who brings so much laughter and inspiration to others should suffer from depression himself. It's not fair.

~Neshomeh, who intends to rewatch Patch Adams as soon as possible. And then maybe Hook. And The Final Cut....

I cried a lot last night - as eatpraylove says, we 90s kids (and probably more than just us) have known Robin Williams as a genius of acting and comedy.

Grant to him, and to all those we love but see no longer, eternal rest. Let light perpetual shine upon them. May his soul and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

(From the Book of Common Prayer. It was the words of Robin Williams that were quoted to me, over and anon, when I came to this church. His laughter and personality and work were enormously influential; I cannot say how deeply saddened I am by his loss.)

As a depression sufferer I know that it can take you to some very dark places, may he find peace and joy in the next life.

Tumblr user PhemieC has some great filk; it's mostly Homestuck but lately it's been a smattering of other fandoms, such as Dragon Age, Ib, and Hannibal.

http://phemiec.tumblr.com/tagged/music

If you want catchy Doctor Who-themed songs, look them up. (Also, read this webcomic: http://comics.shipsinker.com/archive.php?arc=10doctors)

Here's an 8-bit Zelda medley.

Great to be Different by Forest Rain. 4-minute song that also inspired a fanfic. Warning to my fellow awkward people: you will cry during/after the video.

As EileenAlphabet mentioned, Peter Hollens and Lindsey Stirling do some excellent musical covers, Peter Hollens in particular seems to be working his way through some songs from LOTR.
Peter Hollens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P24fsThGWSg&list=UUgITW_70LNZFkNna7VsXbuQ, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YnEMw3c_RQ&list=UUgITW_70LNZFkNna7VsXbuQ&index=3, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqD70Ivw7b0&list=UUgITW_70LNZFkNna7VsXbuQ&index=4, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYxDKUGyNDg&index=34&list=UUgITW_70LNZFkNna7VsXbuQ
Alongside a very good song from Assassin's Creed 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hMdoGet2A8&list=UUgITW_70LNZFkNna7VsXbuQ
Alongside a number of medley's and other popular songs and themes (including Skyrim).

Lindsey Stirling links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCL94-MsxYc&list=UUyC_4jvPzLiSkJkLIkA7B8g, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLnL63cXmD8&list=UUyC_4jvPzLiSkJkLIkA7B8g, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oNpmSAvpGQ&index=26&list=UUyC_4jvPzLiSkJkLIkA7B8g, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSLPH9d-jsI

The Piano Guys are the creators of the best version of "Let it Go" I've heard, by combining it in their normal style with Vivaldi's Winter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dakd7EIgBE&list=UUmKurapML4BF9Bjtj4RbvXw They've also got some other very good bits of music including "Cello Wars" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgAlQuqzl8o&list=UUmKurapML4BF9Bjtj4RbvXw.

In a completely different vein of music to the other, I can;t go without mentioning Sabaton's awesome Shadows. When a metal band do a song specifically about Nazgul's it's gotta be good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlsRsRo1PI4

That's all for now
Storme Hawk

Fanmusic:
ShaDoWCa7 does wonderful covers. For the Tolkien fans there are her 'Misty Mountains' (all 27 verses) or 'Edge of Night'. She has also done songs from Dragon Age and Skyrim.
https://www.youtube.com/user/ShaDoWCa7

I'm also partial to artist like Lindsey Stirling and Peter Hollens, who will on occasion do covers of popular themes.
Here are The Rains of Castamere. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvMhyO51Jv0
And a Zelda medley. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3KUyPKbR7Q

Fanvideos:
I like good music/crack videos. A lot.
I can recommend jess9191 who does long but really funny videos. Here's one for Game of Thrones. (Warning, spoiler for third season.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZY5bxPuzbE She has also done Once Upon a Time and True Blood. Her serious stuff is also good.
Same recommendation goes to Katrin Depp. Here is her Doctor Who song-vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYozkvT5ubU&index=4

Fanart:
There's these Tolkien fanart paintings, which I posted a couple of weeks ago, but which are good enough to post again: http://breathing2004.deviantart.com/gallery/30260599/art-of-Tolkien

There are some really good cosplayers in the Legacy of Kain section, but this was is mindblowing. http://sketchmcdraw.deviantart.com/art/Raziel-Soul-Reaver-Legacy-of-Kain-Cosplay-394485344

Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls, especially. I dare you to listen to Open at the Close and not cry. End of an Era, Flight of the Prince, Lupin's Tale, Just a Hufflepuff, Mischief Managed, and Train to Nowhere are my favorites.

My brother and I made a playlist (at our blog) that compiles a bunch of music videos that are truly A-W-E-S-O-M-E....

http://kittyandkay.wordpress.com/our-playlist/

If you focused on reading stories to learn PPC basics like what World One is and how CADs work, and fleshing out your main characters by means other than writing PPC stuff (which, I remind you, you should not be doing), you might be able to get Permission. Then people might be willing to loan you their characters if you asked, and you could invent new NPCs without having to ask about every single one.

Like Dann said below, I am getting increasingly uncomfortable with you talking about all the things you're writing without Permission. We can't stop you from doing it, and as long as it never sees the light of day before you get Permission we don't actually care much; that said, would you please keep it to yourself? If you really can't operate without feedback, it would be more appropriate to discuss your ideas with a few friends or willing acquaintances privately, not in front of your entire prospective audience.

~Neshomeh

Please accept this HP robe and Grover plushiee. Also try to avoid the cuckoos, I'm training them to become my own personal army.

Hello and welcome!

I give to you now a lined Infinite Notebook, complete with urple covers and wilver bindings. Be careful where you look!

-Aila

Uh...those aren't anime series. I know you know that, but that's kind of what your post is implying. Also, as far as survival tips go, you really can't go wrong by reading the links at the top of the main page.

So, tell us a bit more about yourself, Bicker. How'd you find out about the PPC? What anime do you like? Do you play any video games or just watch videos of them on the Internet?

Finally, for your newbie gifts, I have some movie-theater popcorn (extra-buttery) and a small green ocarina. Because why not.

Bicker, I present to thee a Sentry turret. Yes, the kind from TF2. It's reprogrammed and redesigned to shoot a Bleeprin-based mist at you on request (not randomly) and has been painted urple.

...but, uh, speaking as a fan of both Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, I can honestly say I don't think they're animes. ;)

Anyway, as as a welcome present, have a growling Pygmy Puff! He's colored urple, but if you don't look at him directly, you should be all right.

Tips: just be familiar with the Constitution and ToS, be polite, be yourself, and have fun!

... But neither PJ nor Harry Potter are animé series.
Anyway, I'll point you toward the Constitution, Wiki and Original Series (links are on top of the page), and offer you a gift of tea, scones and jam. Just don't let the leaves eat you.

Or, rather, this.

Since it seems like a good idea, I'd like people who usually give the same thing to remind me what it is; at the moment, I only remember my tea, Tawaki's plovers and Ailavyn Siniyash's infinite lined notebooks.

Might want to say something on the bumper stickers page about how those have fallen out of use. Just suggesting it.

I'd say yes to the new page, although I don't see any real wisdom in overwriting an older one.

Any betareaders available? It's right here.

I'm not sure about the RC number, since letters aren't used except for mathematical signifiers like i and e. I don't know if we have an official statement about RC numbers that begin with letters, but just to be safe, what about 13DD? Or do the Ds have to be in the first position for the hexadecimal thing to make sense?

Also, I'm afraid "Cheerilee's Garden" is already taken. I know it's not on the Claimed Badfic list (yet; I'll go fix it when I'm done here), but here's where Tawaki stated his and Tungsten Monk's claim, and I hear they're getting close to the beta stage. Sorry about that.

I like the idea of seeing the exact moment when a Sue replaces a canon character, though. I hope you find another way to do it, when you get Permission.

BTW, I think zdimensia might've been referring to one of my missions below: "Family Ties" actually features Severus Snape and Snape's niece (confusingly referred to as his daughter in the fic's summary), not Dumbledore's daughter, but it does feature a scene where canon!Snape walks into a potions supply closet and doppelgänger!Snape walks out.

~Neshomeh

There's a list of claimed RC's but it looks good if it's available.

Hmmm, I can't remember where I saw it... replacement!Snape and Dumbledore's daughter. It showed that the real Snape walked into an ingredient cupboard and the replacement came out. That's the only time I've seen the switch happen.

I think I've mostly seen that geographical aberrations just happen because the writing said so.

I think my favorite technique involves using the fire boomerangs to pop the Balloon of Disappointment until it explodes into the Lasagna of Adequate Fulfillment, triggering the lions and the unicycle races. If you really want to throw a curveball, try launching the pigs and washing cars until the cat wakes up.

Long story short, it ended with mud all over both of us an a score of Pi to Rubber Duck.

I'm all for this becoming a thing in HQ!

Actually, just like the PPC. When I get permission, can one of my agents play?

It's not tied to any particular continuum other than C&H, which has very little impact on the PPC otherwise, and should be playable by a wide range of species, etc.

On the subject of it being too "out there", if you look at how Calvinball is played in the comics, while the rules are fluid they are all still recognizable as reasonable game rules in any specific given configuration, they don't just include random objects and ideas. I think keeping them that way would effectively deal with any "too zany" problems.

This is awesome! A bit too crazy even by our standards, but awesome!

Kagamine Len or Silver, I can't remember which. Len because the first video of his I ever saw (and my first Vocaloid song ever) was "Monochrome Dream-Eater", which features him in a nice suit and with awesome powers. Also, he happened to look like my real-life crush at the time. I've since grown to like/love a whole lot more Vocaloids, but Len and Rin (twin sister) have a special place in my heart.

I started liking Silver around the time HGSS came out. Of course I remembered him from playing Silver and Crystal as a kid (like, obsessively), but his sprites looked dumb even then. (Also, like everyone else, I named him "???" every single time.) But in HGSS, he looks much nicer, almost like your standard Bishonen (literally "beautiful boy"). I feel like he got a little more personality in the remake, too, but that might just be the character development I never saw as a kid because Karen was evil.

The first Lust Object that wouldn't trigger a major psychological breakdown to mention?

One Fara Phoenix (origin: Star Fox, mandatory disclaimer: eww furry), mostly because the canon's other hero-assigned love interest has turned into...well, the common term seems to be "doorknob".
Also because I'm capable of generating retroactive nostalgia. I was too young to really appreciate much of the game's story back then, but she was just better than what followed her and I don't mind the lack of hair...
...well, "hair" is a matter of definition here.


No original challenges here, I have to work on my shrine.

New challenge- where I come from, we had a version called Truth, Dare, Double Dare, Promise to Repeat.

TRUTH- What was the one badfic you enjoyed guiltily and only realized it wa bad once the PPC mentioned it?

DARE- Make a text-based movie trailer for a Legendary Badfic.

DOUBLE DARE- Grab a microphone, kid, and record a song! Any song, as long as its fandom-related, a cappella or otherwise. Then post or link to it. Don't worry, we won't laugh.

PROMISE TO REPEAT- You must use he word 'sesquipedalien' in all of your posts on the Board for the next 2 days.

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away - right now!" Wolverine has banished his beloved kitten to the Labyrinth, and the Goblin King has given him only thirteen hours to reach the castle and reclaim her. But the gardener has slacked in his duties, and the fairies are swarming...

(Srsly. Labyrinth fairies are nasty)

I guess I issue my own challenges now?

Truth: If you could take the place of any character in fiction, who would it be (and why)?

Dare: Write the first paragraph of a horror story that features any three of: spaceships, the One Ring, Rodents of Unusual Size, legal documents, Superman.

hS

Most of these come from the Recently Updated page on the Pit. Fandoms indicated (like so).

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10144746/1/A-Princess-s-Tale (My Little Pony) Bricks of centered text, missing punctuation. Why can't these people format properly?!

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10622020/1/A-Sexy-Stranger (Chobits) *skeptical/confused face*

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10476192/1/Shifters-of-Shield-Search-for-Answers (Agents of SHIELD) Well, this is...strange.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10534953/1/That-Word-She-ll-Never-Forget (Attack on Titan) Hahahaha, no.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10465603/1/The-Princess-and-the-Thief (The Hobbit) What part of "Never trust an elf!" does this author not understand?

Reminds me of some of Light's stuff. I didn't find that so horrible since it was a tabla-rasa resurrected corpse of an adult man. It seemed not-so-strange that he would act like a little kid even with every other story being smut.

https://www.fanfiction.net/u/5957030/alucard31

Seven stories. Gravity Falls, Dragon Ball Z and Hellsing. I'm honestly kind of baffled by this.

Some highlights (or lowlights, take your pick):

He was short, no parts of his/her body could be seen.

S'hack

"Don't worry, i'll portect you" said Dipper bravefully

*Background Music: Pompeii by Bastille*

"What the heck is doing Gideon in the town hall?" asked Dipper

(A/N Sorry if I can't write how Bill teaches them to fly, it's only idk how to, sorry, now back to the story (lol that rhymes).

Somehow, a bomb was placed on one side of the GR.

Back to the date day

That seems to start out as a simply YKINMK, but the violence just fell flat. I'm calling this shockfic.

I discovered a whole trend of Supernatural fics where the angels are badly-treated slaves. I'm not sure which one I want to do, but this severely NSFW one isn't one that I want. The author admits to being ashamed. fanfiction.net/s/7655473/1/The-Claiming-of-an-Angel

I'm not sure if this is it, but...this might be it.

Admittedly, I wrote that for the Badfic Game, but...

No, wait, you know what's even stranger? My first attempt at a shipfic. Which, um, didn't actually get finished in time to post for the last one, but let's just say it involves a Silmarillion AU and some very odd resultant pairings. And hopefully it'll get posted somewhere around the next shipfic fest...

~DF

Which was a Redwall fanfiction featuring time travel, which was basically a big complicated way to get Rose alive again. It didn't make much sense, though it was written well enough. The few excerpts I had of the sequel to it, though... now that was weird. The time travel stopped making much sense even to me, paradox clones happened, "paradox bubbles" occurred, and I never did manage to get the bad guys out of the way, because every time I inserted another time loop to get them out of a fix, by my own time travel logic we ended up with more clones of them. Eventually I gave up, and it was probably for the best. But it was fun.

Of those attempts, one's main character was basically fem!sane!Sue!Gaara (film), two others were blatant ripoffs of popular movies, and the only remotely promising one centered around anime!Lyra inviting May, Dawn and every other anime character representing a game PC ever to her house for a sleepover party. (Or possibly a "let's celebrate Black/White!" party.)

Anyone wanna play Fill the Plothole? (Not really.)

It started out as an AVATAR fix-fic, but before too long it ended up wandering through the Iraq War and feminism and robots and Battlestar Galactica and a whole bunch of other random topics. It can be found at http://admiralsakai.deviantart.com/gallery/35840256/They-Chose-To-Remain , but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it- the writing is mediocre and it drags on for far too long.


I've written things that dealt with stranger topics, including a sourcebook for playing Men-In-Black-style campaigns in Call of Cthulhu that was basically a crossover with the SCP Foundation in everything but name, but those can't compare to TCTR in terms of sheer "Why did I decide to make this?" factor.

You keep saying that you're writing missions without permission, and keep asking questions about what happens when X happens that are easily findable on the wiki.

I'm a lot like you. I'm impatient, and I keep having to tell myself to wait for permission before writing missions. I missed my chance to write three of the missions I most wanted to write.

I actually, at first, wanted to make my own organization to protect canon from badfic, which I mostly blamed on creatures called "glitches". I didn't even know it was badfic, really, I just wanted to write alternate endings of these grimdark, way-out-of-character fics that explained why the characters were acting that way (they were replaced or controlled), as well as put an end to it. The problem was, I was stuck trying to figure out the setting, the technology, et cetera. Then I found the PPC when reading the TV Tropes article on Cupcakes, which lead me to its being sporked. I'd have a world, technology, a more laid-out reason to fight- er, spork- the fics I wanted to target - but I'd miss out on Cupcakes and Rainbow Factory, two of the fics I'd most wanted to spork. Fair enough, I thought, I'd get Cheerilee's Garden, and there's still others after that...

Then I found out that I was expected to get permission first, and I'd have to do this and that to get it. While I was doing that, I ended up disappearing for a year- and Cheerilee's Garden is claimed now, by someone else. I missed my chance on sporking yet another fic I hated.

So you can hopefully see why your writing missions without permission ticks me off so much. If I did it, I wouldn't have to worry about what's claimed and what's not, I'd go ahead and spork those three, and I'd do it now, instead of waiting for even longer. But I don't, because this isn't my world I'm messing with.

It's the world of Jay and Acacia, not of Cheesy and Haze.

What we write are fanfics. Without permission, it's that much easier for our own missions to be the badfics we're trying to fight.

And if that happens, we're hypocrites.

You've been asking an awful lot of questions that have easy answers to if you bothered to actually do some research beforehand.

You'd find most- if not all of your questions- answered by the wiki, or even better, going and spending some time reading spin-offs.

I can guarantee you the latter will definitely tell you the things you're looking for and the wiki these days is a marvelous source and guide thanks primarily to Neshomeh.

While you can keep asking questions as you please, the number asked (and regarding what) indicates to me at least some level of unwillingness on your part to learn or change.

I admit I don't spend as much time here as I used to, and haven't been much of a presence as of late, but it's pretty telling that a cursory glance shows you asking questions and such over several pages and also ignoring people like Dann and Neshomeh when they ask something of you or bring up points.

Nesh and Dann are probably the nicest people by far in the community, and are also fairly senior as far as that counts for anything- while the PPC community tries to deempathize the importance of seniority, it'd be an understatement to say that between the two of them they possibly have a very excellent idea with regards to what they're saying.

I admit to being brusque here, but I heavily suggest cooling your jets. What you're primarily succeeding at with these threads is making people wonder if you should be given permission when you do ask- not due to writing skills, but if you understand the PPC as a universe and also as a community.

So when she's not on a mission, she's on campus.

Hope that helps?

Samantha will be a Floater, but she's being intern-trained to be the acting head agent of the Legacy of Kain division for an indeterminate time. At the point where she would become official after training, she's humored in her request that translates into doing all those missions plus whatever her partner is cleared for. I could see her getting a RC right away, even the console only says "go to this RC center now for another training mission."

Larry is being properly trained because... I'm wavering on the reason. Right now it's passion and knowledge being worth whipping him into better shape. (Meta reason is that I want Samantha to consider him immature but capable.)

They get cracking right away. The PPC needs every man, woman, and child other life-form on the job at all times!

I don't know what you mean by "wandering" trainees. An intern is assigned a team or department to train under; they always have an RC to go to.

It's the control prompt, for when Rasheeda transfers to Floaters! If you want to beta-read it, feel free to let me know and I'll be happy to send you the link~ :)

Minor gripes aside on how Rasheeda bint Giza should have an Ancient Egyptian name instead of an Arabic name (I.E. "(something) sat Giza", as "Sat" is "Daughter" or "Daughter of" in Ancient Egyptian), these have turned out pretty well.

Just as an aside, when I read that Rasheeda's trigger in a fic is "excessive, unwarranted violence, along with any deplorable and/or explicit variants thereof", two pony fics came to mind, probably a mark of how long I've been looking at the OOC-and-grimdark-as-flapjacks genre of badfic as applied to MLP. Warning: both of them are rated NSFW and NSFB for combined rape and gore. Yes, I said both. The second one links to an MST because I can't find the original page I found it on.

I wonder if one of them could end up the one that you and I collaborate on. (Mainly, I want to see Rasheeda's reaction, but still.)

I especially liked your doodle of Rasheeda yelling at Falchion. Who knew Skarmory could make human O_O faces? XD

...In Rasheeda's bio, you mention her originally in DIA and going into a fic with a partner. Since she's seen some action, I'm going to assume she was either Patrol or Special Response. In which branch was she serving in?

If she was in a 'fic, then she was SR on an agent rescue/assistance mission; Patrol officers usually don't leave HQ. Is this the case?

I remember you! You helped me when I was making my first agents and was thinking one of them might be an ex-Cursor. Here, have a Canim bloodstone made of Sue blood!

I have no idea who exactly you are, I'm kinda new-ish (if you can call being here for a few weeks, then leaving for a year, then returning a few weeks ago "new-ish"). But hello anyways!

Here's a rocket launcher, because everyone needs a rocket launcher. Yours has a Sierpinski Triangle engraved on the side because fractals.

Man, I love having old familiar faces around. Feels more home-like. ^_^

Does this mean we may finally learn the fate of Agent Lucien?

~Neshomeh

I think I read about you on the wiki in a few places. Are you a Permission Giver? Cause I get the feeling you are. Anyway, whether you are or not, have some movie theater popcorn! It's extra-buttery.

And you... yep, come across as just as, uh, 'energetic' in writing. Funny how that works.

Welcome back a'Board. I hope you have a great time and don't engage in too much nefariousnessfulness. This may be a forlorn hope...

hS

Hey, I've read Codex Alera, too! (Tavi. Just... Tavi. It is practically impossible to be more awesome than Tavi.)

Anyways... *showers Fractal with packing peanuts and see-though streamers*

Also, everyone, how was the Gathering?

-Aila

Do I apologize for pun! NEVAAAAHHHH!!!!

Welcome back! I hope that the PPC stands up to how you remember it.

So I'll give you what's becoming my iconic gift:
-Sets up a table-
-Offers tea, scones and jam-
Don't let the leaves eat you.
(PS: The British Museum is awesome. If/when my planned trip to Britain will happen, I'll probably visit again.)

Have a pair of Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses. Designed to help the wearer develop a relaxed attitude to danger, the lenses turn completely black at the first hint of trouble, thus preventing the wearer from seeing anything that might alarm him/her.

Mine.

That was a good day.

Although, when are we all going to get together again for Quidditch practice? That defeat was just embarrassing.

Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any of you here on the western coast of the US. *pouts*

-Aila

I'm definitely looking forward to the full report. Technically I only have to wait one more year before I can go to a Gathering without parental permission *coughdenialcough*, but I'll be in college, so... who knows? I'll be doubling my savings to go, though- it sounded amazing!

It warms my heart to see all your smiling faces. ^_^ That sounds really cheesy, like I'm a kindergarten teacher or something, but it's true.

May I just say, Storme Hawk, you are extremely tall? Wow! Also, I was somehow able to pick out Irish Samurai on sight, despite not having any idea what he looked like. Maybe it was the long coat. Or the facial hair? I dunno. (I already knew hS, Kaitlyn, and Fractal Dawn from Gatherings and Cassie from Gathering reports.)

I'm glad it was fun, and I look forward to reading the report!

~Neshomeh

Yes, I'm only 13 and therefore can't really travel that far from home. But a Gathering in WA would be awesome. Seriously. It's going to be a long, long time before I can meet with you guys, so maybe something a litle closer will happen soon.. *crosses fingers and prays to Starclan*

ANYHOO. Looks like you guys had a fantastic time over there! I'm waiting for the report with bated breath. Also, there's a lot of runing madly in circles going on while I wait. EEK

Prompted by the discussion of Anebrin, I got to pondering whether agents from canon worlds would (or could) use canonical banishment methods. Which, of course, took me back to Middle-earth. In Arda, there are basically two methods of driving out evil.

1/ Song. Finrod duels with Sauron in song, Luthien uses it to bring down Minas Tirith (the original), I believe Sam or Frodo attempt this against Shelob (and fail, but still). The Elven languages actually work pretty well on their own - Aiya Earendil elenion ancalima! - as well.

2/ Eldarin artefacts. The Silmarilli are obviously the number one suspect - they burn unclean flesh, purified Beren's chewed-off hand, glorified Earendil, and - in the form of the Star-glass - drove off Shelob for a time. But there's also the Three Rings - Nenya in particular is depicted as holding evil out of Lorien - certain swords - Anduril, Ringil-which-wounded-Morgoth - and even such trivials as the jewel Arwen gave to Frodo (in the book), which helped him recover to some extent from his Morgul-wound.

Essentially, these two invoke a) the Music of the Ainur, and b) the Light of Valinor, either directly or through the works of the Light-Elves. To cast out spirits of uncanon, we'd need to tweak things. The song we use would have to be a canon song; instead of Elven artefacts, we'd use things made by the creator. Which leads to this scene:

---

Aragorn stretched out his hand. "Oh Leggie, my darling love!"

"Arrie, my sweetling precious love!" called Legolas, running towards him between the trees. Aragorn held out his arms to embrace his beloved, and-

"A Elbereth Gilthoniel!" sang a sudden voice, high and clear, and a figure in black stepped into the passage between them. "Silivren penna miriel!" The figure raised her hand, and the battered notebook she held seemed to snap into sharper focus than the world all around. Legolas stopped as if running into a brick wall, and the slash-wraiths erupted from the canons, screaming in their reedy voices - only to be snapped up in jars as the agent's partner darted past.

"Nice work," Freckles called, lowering the notebook.

"Likewise," said Sandra. She tossed a jarred wraith from hand to hand before slipping it into her pack and squinting at her partner. "By the way, is that...?"

Freckles glanced down at the notebook. "One of the Book of Lost Tales manuscripts," she confirmed, and winked. "Don't worry - the Estate doesn't know I've got it."

"Yeah," Sandra muttered, "that's not what I was worried about..."

---

Which is all well and good. But then it occurred to me that a bunch of the humour of the PPC comes from incongruity. The Flowers are funny because they're giant sentient flowers - but also because this bunch of psycho assassins is being run by a world-weary bureaucracy. So what if we decontextualise this banishment method...?

---

Toby stretched out his hand. "Oh Jarrie, my darling love!"

"Toby, my sweetling precious love!" called Jareth, running towards him down the passageway. Toby held out his arms to embrace his beloved, and-

"Dance, magic, dance!" sang a sudden voice, high and clear, and a figure in black stepped into the passage between them. "Put that magic jump on me/Slap that baby, make him free!" The figure raised her hand, and the bundle of cloth she held seemed to snap into sharper focus than the world all around. Jareth stopped as if running into a brick wall, and the slash-wraiths erupted from the canons, screaming in their reedy voices - only to be snapped up in jars as the agent's partner darted past.

"Nice work," Freckles called, lowering the fabric.

"Likewise," said Sandra. She tossed a jarred wraith from hand to hand before slipping it into her pack and squinting at her partner. "By the way, is that...?"

Freckles glanced down at the bundle. "The original too-tight leggings," she confirmed, and winked. "Don't worry - Bowie doesn't know I've got them."

"Yeah," Sandra muttered, "that's not what I was worried about..."

---

Which to my mind is actually funnier - partly because the artefact in question is sillier, but also because, well, songs aren't a tool of banishment in Labyrinth (which instead uses That Speech, and I'm not sure how you'd adapt that method). But if Christian banishments work in Middle-earth, then Ardan banishments will work in the Underground...

hS

My thoughts in response fall into, mm, three categories:

1/ The 'bell, book, and candle' description seems inaccurate - most exorcisms I've seen (or written!) don't include bells or candles - just hitting the uncanon with the canon to, as I think you've said elsewhere, overwrite the uncanon/reinforce the canonical aspects. But still, I guess the 'Book' aspect is vaguely Christian-inspired. This is just a nitpick. ;)

2/ Training. Specifically, the 'Christian' exorcisms have been so universal that agents are clearly being trained in them - that's the only explanation for everyone using them. Still, the belief-related aspects of the PPC - such as 'it's a bit of a maze, unless you hadn't noticed' - mean that, essentially, any method you think will work... should work. I think you've had that conversation with Nesh, so I won't take it further; just note that most agents will use the traditional method, because they're trained in it.

2.5/ Which invites the specific question: why are your agents breaking the trend? Cheesy is electronic, so I assume he doesn't have a religion, and therefore wouldn't be inspired to come up with this. I don't know about his partner, but the question is one you should answer to your own satisfaction. Simply a trainer who bucks the trend would work, of course - or even just reading about it.

3/ Time. The reason the 'throw the book at them' method works so well is that it's really, really quick. Take, for instance, Jay's experience in Torment - she had an incantation in there (which we all forget these days, go figure), and it still took too long. How long does it take to cast a circle and do a bunch of calling? How long will the binding take? Those parts have to be done against a possessed canon who's trying to get away from you. And the cakes & ale, releasing, and opening have to be done with an in-character canon sitting in the middle of it. How many of them are going to sit still for that?

To me, this suggests that any agents using this approach will very quickly come up with ways to streamline it. If a physical circle is required, they'd prepare it in advance and lure the canon in where possible. Is there any way to push some of the work off onto artefacts, rather than saying it all 'longhand' at the time? If you can (say) call the Quarters by throwing down four painstakingly-inscribed stones - totally random example - then you could get that done really quickly. Et ketera et ketera.

hS (apologies for abrupt ending; have to go)

This time I'm not posting the link, but instead asking for betareaders. I've learned my lesson.

I recently read the first Hunger Games book, and as a Minecraft player (I'm "Lunamann" in Minecraft, perhaps the PPC could make a faction in some server?) I was struck by not only some glaring parallels to Minecraft in the book (District 12 is a coal mining district, it's protected by a fence from wild animals- just like the fences erected by many Minecraft players to keep villages safe from mobs, et cetera), but the glaring differences many Minecraft implementations of Hunger Games had to the book.

First off, the Corn (Minecraftian short name for the Cornucopia) rarely actually looks like a cornucopia, and in FPShg, the Hunger Games from MCBrawl, there isn't a Corn.

Second, in the Book, when players enter the game, in the book they are in spots around the Corn surrounded by mines, and if they step off thier square, in Minecraft terms, they explode. Upon the minute being up the mines are turned off. While most implementations in block form include the spots around the Corn (and indeed, this is probably a good reason why the Corn typically is accessible from all sides instead of the one side a book-style Corn would have), you're either stuck and unable to leave your spot until it begins, or you can move but the game pulls you back like a leash- this is most noticeable in Mineplex, where it's the latter, and players often abuse it, resulting in players teleporting to where they actually are when the game starts and forgets to pull players back where they're supposed to be.

Third, chests. In Minecraft, almost all Hunger Games games are "find chests outside the Corn to get supplies". This NEVER happens in the book, the closest being Rue's homemade slingshot. Also, supply drops in the book (where essentially, a "chest" of something parachutes to where you are) only are implemented in FPShg, where you get one after so many kills.

I could go on and on about this, but you get the picture. Hunger Games as it's implemented is a lot of fun, but I also want to see a more canon-correct version. I often see a lot of things some servers do canonically right while others don't- like the Deep Freeze in Mineplex's Survival Games, which is a parallel to the game coordinators creating natural disasters like forest fires and droughts to push the contestants closer to each other instead of simply warping them to the Corn like other servers do (not that that doesn't happen anyways), or the supply drops in FPShg, which unlike Mineplex's renamed Feasts, actually act like the supply drops in the book. However, they always do something wrong, and 9999 times out of 10,000, usually it's the random hidden chests of items that appear absolutely nowhere in the book.

Your thoughts on this?

As others have said, the possibilities are quite interesting, and none of my Agents have any reason to stick to the, um, "Christian" way of banishing Sues (Agent!Des is atheistic, Anebrin probably believed in some sort of nature believe - he's an elf - and the Librarian is a Time Lord). While I didn't write any wraith banishing scenes yet, I will keep this in mind when the time comes. Thanks for bringing this up.

I had never thought about non-bell-book-candle exorcisms in the PPC before now. It's definitely something I wish I had considered, if only for the fact that it opens up the possibility for new and interesting twists on the old familiar formula.

Agents should theoretically be able to use any method, whether from the real world or fiction, to bind and banish author-wraiths. The main issue is making whatever you choose pragmatic enough to neither risk the lives of the agents nor require a great deal of time consuming clean-up. You could use the mood slime from Ghostbusers II as an exorcism method, for example, but they you have to deal with canonicals that are covered with goo.

Like Nesh said before, exorcism is one of those PPC things that "works because you want it to." Neither of my Bad Slash exorcists have any backstory-supported reason to believe in the Christian trappings surrounding the bell, book, and candle ritual (and I am definitely one of the worst offenders when it comes to not including the bell and candle parts in the actual exorcism.) Their reasonings seem to be "this will work because this is how I was trained" for Xericka and "this is how they did it in all those dumb B-movies I watched when I was a kid, so why shouldn't it work" for Gremlin.

There was a story involving a botched exorcism and it being explained that perhaps the exorcism failed because she didn't believe it would work. I can't remember enough details to find it now.

I did find some stories where they put the author-wraith in a jar. They're linked from the Department of Bad Slash page.

I'd definitely be interested in seeing alternative banishment methods put into practice. It falls more or less into the category of "it works because you want it to," so there's really no reason why not. The challenge, as you've discussed, is to simplify it enough to be practical.

For the cakes and ale, what is the function they serve in the ritual? Kinda seems like it's just to make everyone feel better after what could be a harrowing experience, and may not be necessary, but correct me if I'm wrong.

You might be interested in reading Phobos' mission "I Know What You Did Last Night," in which a Sue-wraith breaks out of a binding circle and attacks the agents because one of them, a Potterverse witch, thinks the "bell, book, and candle" ritual is silly. (She discusses it with a FicPsych nurse in the next mission, "Cosmic Love.")

~Neshomeh

Sorry, Lycaenion and I were in the Lakes till today so we missed all the fun stuff... HAVE SOME CAKE TO MAKE UP FOR IT.

(Sorry, missed this for a few days)

If you'd said earlier, we could have brought cake to the Gathering...

...

WAIT.

MEME REFERENCE TIME.

Actually, we did bring cake to the Gathering.
hS

Let's see what the good ol' bag of holding has for you today!

*rummages*
No, let's not give another Delibird this time...

*rummages some more*
Hmmm... no, a Raticate won't work...

*rummages some more*
Aha!

*Pulls out a Poke Ball*
In honor of your 20th birthday, have Pokemon #020 from the Coastal Kalos Pokedex: Swellow! I hope that you enjoy your new fine feathered friend.

Your gift is a bag of Bleepolate coins. Just in case you want to replace bad Suvian mental images with nostalgia. :)

Have a green Generic Gift!

-Aila

Have some Leftovers and a beginner's kit of Spikes!

Here, have a custom-made rocket launcher!

In lieu of this event, I will share with you a new song that I made up for my friend's birthday last month:

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,
MAY ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE,
DON'T LET ANYONE MAKE YOU BLUE,
AND HOPE YOUR CAKE DOESN'T EXPLODE IN GOO!

*throws cakefetti*

Have this cackling Russian bomb-thrower as a special birthday present. Just don't let him lose his bombs, since you'll probably find them stuck to your back in that case...

Also, all the uses that article mentioned went right over my head. Anybody wanna translate them for me?

We can't charge for "Dark Black" as a Suvian color anymore. It defaults to Vantablack.

However, we can charge for Dark Black in specific textures (like "fuzzy"), or picking out textures like " crumpled" in Dark Black without feeling it. Remember, this color relys on a specific material (carbon nanotubes) to be produced, and you can't see textures in it.

Wow. That's really awesome. I want some.

-Aila

(But yeah, it will probably make life five times more difficult for the agents.)

...I'm just not sure if ninjas would buy from me or steal their own.

There's a group of neurologists who, while unable to create a surface "painted" in the colors, have developed methods of making people see "bluish yellow" and "reddish green".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_colors

Yeah, all right, I know... I'm sort of hoping everyone will use obfuscated subject lines so's no-one can figure out what the actual colour is until they click. ;) Anyway:

Wow, that... that's creepy. And really impressive. And very... very... black?

I can see how it can be useful, though. Also, my heart is warmed by the fact that Wikipedia wrote to the inventors asking for free-licensed pictures - and got some!

hS

Personally, I was expecting something a little more damaging to the eyes when I read the headline, but this works too.

The knowledge that categories for editors exist fills me with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Do you happen to know what the drama was about?

I admit, I'm quite amused/pleased/surprised to see 'Time' won a Hugo. I followed it as it came out - I imagine lots of people here did - but I haven't gone back and read over it to see how it holds up as a complete story...

hS

Unfortunately, I doubt that I can make a trip to Texas. Perhaps you could be persuaded to cone to the East Coast?

Sadly, my location does not lend too well for any travel Down South. Still, if you all came to me instead...

I wouldn't be able to go to a meetup, due to school. Oh well, I'm sure there'll be fun with the other PPCers!

But I don't get paid vacation, so I really don't like taking time off of work. Eventually, once I become a zookeeper, I'll be able to do things like that.

As of next week, I'll be at the University of Texas at Austin, so I can do anywhere within the range of Austin's public transit.

Cleveland, to be specific, although college is going to be a thing very, very soon and so I doubt I'd be able to make a meet.

Sadly, I will likely have to pass on a potential Gathering because college. :|

Unfortunately, my 40-hour work week (plus random overtime) is spread over six days, not five -- so even a weekend trip has to be planned far enough ahead of time that I can take a Saturday off.

...I'm from Ohio, and I don't do states travel, so a Texas meeting is a no-go unless I move there after my college degree is done ^^;!