Feb 2016 Archive, part a

I'm not sure what getting "stuck in to the community" means, but I'm glad you're excited to be here. Here's a pack of erasable colored pencils, a green Snuggie, and a fantasy-themed coloring book! Perfect for rainy days!

Welcome aBoard! Have this cake with rocket boosters instead of candles! (Totally safe, I swear. As long as you don't flip it upside down.)

Thanks for all the warm welcomes from you all. To answer a couple questions;I've read my fair share of the Wiki, and the Constitution and other Official Stuffs, and I've just started the original series - I'm loving it - and I'll probably be reading a lot of other missions, especially ones in my fandoms!
Which brings to said fandoms, which are, mainly:
-Primeval
-Supernatural
-Sherlock
-Harry Potter
-The Flash
-Dan and Phil
-Studio Ghibli
...and I've just started watching Merlin
Thanks for all the gifts!

Have a shovel that digs up... love? Um. I dunno how that works.

Have a Dino Medal-a Spinax, to be precise!

Also, here's a plastic model Stegodon, a centipede preserved in amber, and a live Hylonomus!

Welcome! Nice to meet you! Have a slice of Infinite Pizza!

Hello there, fellow newbie! It's nice to meet you! Here, take this. You will obviously need a Sue-dictionary in order to even try to wrap your head around the confusing language that is Sue-speak. Good luck and enjoy yourself!

Have one of my own shed feathers and a complimentary kit of Spikes!

For this time, I let you choose between black-hole coffee or black-hole chocolate. Hope you're here to stick around.

Greetings, Lee_B, to the PPC Board, where, rest assured, the only baths and blood are digital.
My gift upon you: REAL BLOOD.

Don't let the police find it!

Since I think every one of the important questions have been asked already, I'll just get on to your newbie presents: A Bag of Holding, so that you are able to store the truckload of gifts you are about to get and a Rorschach Book, which can change into virtually any written text in the multiverse. Just close your while holding it, think about what yoy wanna read and then blink three times.

Hope you stick around for a while and enjoy your time around here! :D

Please accept this starter Pokémon:-

Iiiiiiiit's Regigigas!

And your starting item is:-

Dead Sea Scrolls from The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth!

See, here's the thing. Dead Sea Scrolls is a strange, strange item. It basically gives you the activated effect of a random item each turn. This, understandably, makes it pretty powerful, and occasionally horrible when you get a turn of Ring Target or something. However, since there are a lot of Berries floating around, it can help you give Regigigas the recovery it needs to outlast Slow Start, one of the worst in the game. Regi's still vulnerable to phazing, so that sucks, but try a tanky set with Substitute, Drain Punch, Return, and Thunder Wave. But most importantly, have fun! =]

A'ight, youvr answered all the questions, save one. Fandoms? Have a scone, cookies, and read the original series, if you haven't already.

Welcome, welcome, and let's hope you beat the statistics!
As a newbie gift, I give you this cup of Earl Grey tea. No, it's not gonna try to eat you, why are you asking me. It's completely safe.

(PS: The Cute Little Rodent Union wishes to inform you that its members are currently on leave and therefore won't be appearing as newbie gifts for a while.)

Have an urple ocarina (and some wilver earmuffs to block out the sound). I'm glad your friend introduced you; we have quite a bit of fun here. Best corner of the internet, I think.

-Alleb

Hello, and welcome aBoard! For your newbie gift, take this plate of freshly-made SPaGhetti!

If you haven't yet read them, may I point you towards the Original Series and the Constitution? They're pretty much the only required reading around these parts. Another useful resource you might use is the Wiki; if you have any questions, just look here before asking. We like it when newbies do the research. ;) Information about Permission can be found there as well.

Stay a while and tell us a little about yourself! What sort of fandoms are you in? Have you read any PPC spinoffs?

Hope you like it here!

By the author of Elmo and Tarrasque, I give you https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11361386/1/Dirty-Rats

From what I remember, the characters are mostly in-character... except for the poop thing. Maybe that would have happened on the show if not for the moral guardians keeping everything indecent off of the television.

Then again, I can't remember if Uncle ever used magic irresponsibly. (One of the talismans might have been a youth charm.) He might have played senile just to teach Jade a lesson.

I don't like scat, but the fic did get a chuckle out of me.

Panzer Gaming Studio's great hit: Time Ramesside (A New Reckoning.)
An intellectual essay on the influence the government has had on self-expression and the arts since the birth of democracy, and how greed of man kind can turn even the best of us into a demon.

I've got some goodfics to share with you! Some of these I haven't actually read all the way through yet, so they're on my "reading list" instead of my favorites/goodfic list. But here they are anyway! :D

"Dreams of perfection! The wonders of the computer age" Sailor Moon/Welcome to Night Vale crossover. Yes. Good. I found this one through the blog "The Josei Next Door" and her Sailor Moon recaps. Go check her blog out if you love Sailor Moon, running crossover headcanon gags about Sailor Pluto, and crazy nicknames for everyone.

Two stories that I feel raised the bar if not for the entire fandom, then at least for my fanfic goals: Fortitude and Sansûkh. Read them and be completely blown away by humanity's potential for awesome.

A Brief History of Equestria: Exactly what it says in the URL. There are some punctuation glitches, but it's really good at making Equestrian history as complex and interesting (and yes, violent) as World One history. Be sure to read the side stories as well!

All for Family: A Pokemon trainer tries to handle life in his super-famous sister's shadow. I like stories about underdogs, and for some reason the first time I read this I thought it was going to be a Parody Sue story. Still nice and clever, though. :)

Especially since he mentionned it himself... But duck it.

IrregularS, Sergio Turbo's Nanoha x Madoka crossover. It's just that good and fun. Hope you'll find ideas for a StrikerS era sequel.

And the 'concurrence', Twist of Fate, one more Nanoha x Madoka crossover. Darker, but pretty good too.

All of them on the theme TSAB meets Puellae Magi and the Incubators... You would almost feel pity for Kyubey.

What is with agents teasing their coworkers by mangling their names? I would ask if it's a Time Lord thing, but I don't think Orky was a Time Lord.

Why so much Harry Potter fictons need to go at such lengths. Couldn't they just write about Voldemort or better yet, write nothing?

I was right, Librarian is a Time Lord version of Sheldon Cooper. And must admit I'm pretty interested for any future interaction between him and Ave. Will be interesting.

Hope you have being doing ok while you were away. Here's to happy returns, even if you can't be that active for now. Cheers!

Have a brand-new sonic screwdriver!

Guess who's back, back again
Guess who's back, back again
Guess who's back, guess who's back?
Guess who's back, guess who's back?
Guess who's back, guess who's back?
Guess who's back?

You've returned! I hope you're okay after the explosion. There's some hot Bloffee ready - let me pour you a cup. Or five. *offers many cups of Bloffee*

Welcome back Rat, have some snow. It's just normal snow. It's melting in your hands.

I don't remember how long ago you moved out, so you probably missed a lot. I hope you're OK after whatever exploded. *hugs*

Have this pot of black-hole coffee and my apologies, hope too that your move will go smoothly.

*showers you with plates of Welcome Back SPaGhetti*

Hope the rest of the move goes smoothly!

I was hoping it was just my connection.

Rigging up a temporary idol to Kanun and Spelin now...

hS

I was pleasantly surprised. Still not over what happened in episode 2, though. God damn. Just when I was starting to like the character. Sara Lance still has my heart so that's one thing that hasn't changed haha! One thing I found funny about Arthur as Rip was that he (Arthur) said that he didn't want to star in another Sci-Fi thing but look at him, rocking the whole Time Master thing.

It's hard to resist cracking jokes about how the Time Masters are totally not the Time Lords and Rory Rip Hunter is totally not the Doctor. *g* I mean, he's just a guy who stole a time ship from an elite council of time savants and is having wacky adventures with human companions to save Earth, right? They're nothing alike! {X D

But seriously, I am enjoying the show. The first episode in particular felt more like a movie than an episode, which is pretty cool. I find the Captain Cold-White Canary friendship especially entertaining.

~Neshomeh

We saw the first scene with Rory Darvill talking to the council and went "Yeah, this'll do until 2017." :P So we've had it recorded for a while; we'll watch it as soon as he's home from his trip.

Since the link had been removed, I thought it was going to be a story about how the main road had been rendered in-traversable (is that a word? If not it should be), but no, that was too obvious.

no I don't think Baron!hS and Baron!Kaitlyn are cute shh

Well done. :)

This seems related to a "war on Christmas" where people would say "Happy Holidays" and people would get offended. But this is the positive side, where a Christmas practitioner is very easy-going about the affair.

I suppose he has heard of "Christmas Special" out of context?

And the majority vote is, unless I am mistaken, not Legendary.

It's certainly bad enough to be a Legendary, but it doesn't have the reputation. 11 reviews total? Ehh, not very well-known.

Somebody ought to spork it for sure, though. Could be a trollfic; could be just a little kid's first effort. But those random errors and misspellings could make for some rather interesting effects for any agents that went into it.

Feels to me like it's trying too hard to emulate other badfics. Doesn't really stand out to me like the current Legendaries do.

Gonna vote no.

BRING OUT THE CRITERIA!

1. Be at least five years old: CHECK
2. Decent amount of Google hits from last year: FAILED

Unless I did the wrong search, nobody seems to be talking about it. Using both "soulless shell" and "soulless shell redwall" (no quotation marks) shows no links to the fic.

My vote is: NO

Let's look to the past to find ways to improve ourselves in today's society.

Better not leave the house between 3 and 5 AM, after all, that's when the wolves prowl the city streets.
If you feel worried about said wolves, try knocking on wood, that might call a friendly dryad to help you.
Also, smoke lots, because it's really healthy for you, and will give you the deep singing voice of Nat Cole.
But never bathe. That's dirty and all.
God, don't you just despise people with different skin colours? Those bloody animals, am I right?

Calling this website's mode of thinking 'backwards' isn't an insult - it's a statement of fact.
How depressing.

You have two options. You could either-
1. Ignore them
2. Troll them

The second option might be tempting and fun, especially for a jerk like me, but the better option would be to ignore them and let them derail. If they're smart, they'll learn that nobody cares about them, but if they aren't, we can use them as examples of how not to get along with people.

I mean, the guy is detestable, but as always, Snopes is a loyal friend.

http://www.snopes.com/roosh-v-43-countries/

Welcome to the PPC! I'm new as well, so maybe we can help each other out with this interacting with authors thing. I wish you luck!

Have a shovel that digs up...um...eggs.

Big eggs that are basketball-sized...

Hope you don't mind being a harpy's mom/dad! *runs away*

Have one of my own shed feathers and a complimentary kit of Spikes!

Please have this BAg of Holding so that you can store the truckload of welcoming you're getting and also have a Rorschach Book, which can change into virtually any written text in existence in the multiverse. Just close your eyes while holding it, think about what you wanna read and then blink three times.

I was quite a bit of a lurker myself. Hope you enjoy your time with us now that you're here! :D

(I mean that in the best possible way.) Have some sticky notes and a red pen!

Welcome! Welcome! Here, have a slice of Infinite Pizza!

Have my greetings and some black-hole chocolates. All of the important questions were asked, so only thing left is wishing you the best here.

Welcome to the corner of the internet that is disc.yourwebapps.com, also known as the PPC board.
My gift to you is: the first thing on top of my head. Yes, that. Take that.

Good luck with writing your character down. And with interacting with other authors. And improving.
Actually, ignore what I said. Good luck. Full-stop.

For the cool factor! What are your favorite continuums? Have you read the Original Series and the Constitution?

Welcome, welcome, and let's hope you beat the statistics!
As a newbie gift, I give you this cup of Earl Grey tea. No, it's not gonna try to eat you, why are you asking me. It's completely safe.

Oh, also. What is your preferred pronoun?

(PS: The Cute Little Rodent Union wishes to inform you that its members are currently on leave and therefore won't be appearing as newbie gifts for a while.)

Hello, and welcome aBoard! For your newbie gift, take this plate of freshly-made SPaGhetti!

Since you've already read the Wiki, I'll just ask if you've also read the Original Series and the Constitution. Oh, and fandoms! Please do share with us!

Is this an actual thing? Cause there is Mardi Gras,which is on the 9th of the month.
It's a Fat Tuesday not a fat Thursday.

I happen to like the rose filling, so I'll have that. Virtual doughnuts today, real ones next week. I love it. ^_^

Why'd you have to give my husband glitter, though? We still haven't gotten it out of the carpet from Christmas. Heck, I found a piece on my cat the other day. Now we'll never see the end of it.

~Neshomeh

Which is actually next week, now that you mention it. That said, I am more than willing to have a Paczki any day of the week. Alas, there are no traditional plum filled. I guess I'll take a glitter.

-Phobos

Look rather similar to sufganiyot to me. So I'll take one with strawberry jam, please.
...
You have one with strawberry jam, right?

Wish this was really canon...it's so cool!

This is actually really cool. Yeah, headcanon accepted.

I want to go to this school. I really want to go to this school. This school is awesome.

Also, I believe Vølur means 'staff', or some variation of.

Lola grinned out at the crowd. "There isn't much of a speech to give. Eight-day camping trip with a body count of forty-seven? Sounds about average for back home. Thanks for playing, vigilo confido, I'm gonna shut up and get ratted and so are all of you."

And she promptly sprinted off the stage as quickly as she'd bounced onto it, threading her way towards the bar via judicious use of an elbow. Her partner was there, staring at a measure of Bleepka in a crystal whiskey tumbler and looking rather morose.

"Why so glum, chum? You did really well. Like, scarily well, considering you didn't have your magic until, like, the last day or something. Have you been holding out on me?"

"Would that I had, Commander." Algie picked up the glass and held it to the light, inspecting it half-heartedly. "Alas, it is not my skills that have put me in this dudgeon, but my conduct. I was... I was quite mad, by the end. What can that poor woman think of me? What must Agent Library think? What vile things I have done, Commander."

"Algie, listen to me. I've seen people freak out in a warzone before. It's nothing to be ashamed of. You're going to move on, you're going to get the counselling you need, and you're going to get back to full readiness quick sharp. I'll see to it." Lola gave him a one-armed hug that required her to stand on the lower rung of his bar stool. "And that can be a direct order, if you want."

"I'd salute, but this is my eighth glass. I fear I would miss."

Lola raised an eyebrow at him. "Your eighth."

"Indeed. It is not so very strong, once one gets past the harshness of the taste. I recall meeting a Tartar in Rotherhithe who use to make it out of loganberries... though of course, I may be misremembering."

"Really. You might."

"Indeed. It may have been Peckham. Lilianna had business there... I... think... it does not matter. I shall pay it no further mind. Excuse me, madam, might I trouble you to furnish my partner with a round of Sex on the Beach?"

The barmaid gave him a cheeky grin. "Indeed you might, Mr. Wymbourne."

Lola was already in stitches.

"Excellent," replied Algie mildly. "And by way of recompense, two tickets and a hotel booking slip for a weekend in Margate."

It was at this point Lola fell over, for the first time that night and almost certainly not the last.

"Because I'm pretty sure we didn't earn any price, and I'm not exactly sure why we should go meddling with people who were trying to kill us. Even if it was for a brief time and during a simulation," Marina said to her partner while there were going to the bar.

"I said I had to show you Rudi's someday, remember? Besides, it could be interesting to know more about these people without being worried about violence, right?" Richard said.

"Maybe. And I guess we could work with some of them too, if I got this right. Do they have good coffee here?"

"The very best. And who knows? Since they organise this event, maybe these two psychos are the one paying. If they are, I'll make sure to go for a meal too"

"It would be pretty neat," Marina said once they were seated to the bar. And if they don't... Well I could change my choice of test subject for this potion the the Luxray helped me to discover, she thought.

That was probably the best way to describe the demeanor over at the booth containing the members of what once had been District Cynic. The only person who didn't look slightly sour was Xericka, who still wore the same neutral expression that she almost always had. Even so, there was something in the set of her shoulders that gave off a little disappointment.

"Next to last on the district rankings," James said as he perused the final standings scorecards that had been handed out. "No individual agent ranked higher than 21st place. An average of one eliminated agent per day." He paused, then emptied his glass of bourbon. "Definitely not our best showing."

"No kidding," Laura groused. "I still can't believe that the two us — experienced Assassins! — got fewer combined kills than a single DBS agent. No offense, Gremlin."

Gremlin shrugged. "None taken. It's surprising to me, too. Although I should point out that one of those was a mercy kill."

"It seems that does not matter to whoever happened to score this event," Xericka added.

James peered over the sheet again. "Does anybody know why we were named District Cynic? Seems a bit out of place, if I do say so myself." There was a collective shrug from the other people sitting at the table. James responded with a shrug of his own before tossing the scorecard aside. "I'm going to get a fresh glass. Anybody want anything?"

"I could use another beer," Gremlin said.

"Can do. Anyone else?" The other two agents waved him off. "All right. Back in a second."

...three Spies sat together, nursing their drinks. They glanced up at the stage when Kuroko and Aya began to speak, then returned to their conversation.

"So, as I was saying, if it weren't for that flood, I could've easily won," said Harris, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. "You'd just have to lone wolf it from there. I mean, half of the time these people were getting backstabbed-- so the obvious safe route is to work alone."

Spoken like a true sociopath, scribbled Tacitus in his notebook. Yet another thing to add on your raging narcissism complex. The Zorua pushed the notebook to the centre of the table for all to read.

"Why you--!" Harris shot a withering glance at Tacitus, who returned the look with a creepy smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Look who's talking, you creep. You're just mad because you got your head smashed in by Derik!"

Tacitus shrugged and returned to his doggie dish filled with Bleepka.

"Nah, Tacitus is right, man," said Yakov in between sips of his Firewhiskey. "You gotta team up to survive."

"Oh, sure," said Harris huffily. "And look at you: downed by Luxury and her canteen of Single Tears. Working in a group is an invitation to get backstabbed, I tell you. Lone wolf it-- it's better. And speaking of lone wolf..." he looked around. "Did anyone see Gaspard? I thought he'd be here."

Tacitus shrugged and Yakov said: "Iunno. Maybe he wants some alone time."

"His alone time is all the time," replied Harris. "Oh, wait. I see him. He's sitting alone at the counter. Geez, what a weirdo. Can't even sit and socialize properly, can he? I told him already-- I persuaded him to sign up for his own good! Fine, then. Stay in your corner. Have fun over there. Your friends are over here, if you're looking for them."

Yakov shrugged. "Well, if it's what he wants... I don't see why we should bother him."

Tacitus looked back and forth at his two colleagues. I don't even think he has friends, he thought to himself. Not my problem, though.

The former Digidestined spoke to her partner, " You did pretty well in there, Henry. Second place and the same number of eliminations as the champion? That was impressive, specially considering that we are just newbies around here." Suddenly, Aiko started to look a bit down. " I wish I could have done better. Fighting with a Flower over something and accepting "water" after the Arena was flooded weren't my brightest ideas. Should have realized that they would throw something like SIngle Tears in there."

Henry comfortly put his hand on his partner's shoulder and spoke sympathetically, " Hey, most of that wasn't your fault. I mean, maybe you shouldn't have stayed at the Cornucopia and fought with Captain Dandy, but there's no way you could have know the rest of that stuff. There's pretty of crazy, unpredicable stuff in the Hunger Games in canon, so don't sweat it. And from what you said, that Selene woman sounded way too convincing, right? "

Aiko smiled warmly in gratitude to her partner. " Thanks, Henry. So what do you wanna? Do you want to go find us a table? " Henry smiled in returned and responded, " Don't mention it. And well, I kinda want to find Sergio and his partner first. I'm not happy how things went with them inside that thing. I know that killing each other was the whole point of this, which is why I'm glad we didn't end up fighting each other, and those deaths were obviously just simulated, but I really didn't want to end up fighting either of them. So I feel I gotta say something to them." With that said, Henry started to look around the room to see if Sergio and his partners were already there.

Alex, reunited with his beloved fire-lizard once more, laughed and clinked his glass against Zeb's. "It was pretty sick, yeah," he said, taking a long sip from his soda.

"Aside from the... explosions," Zeb continued, his ears flattening against his head. They quickly perked back up again. "But other than that, I had a lot of fun! We totally need to sign up for the next one."

"Yeah!" Alex grinned. He thought briefly about paging Farilan and telling her to come join in the celebrations, but decided he didn't want the atmosphere ruined by her snootiness. Zeke trilled in agreement.

"And we were supposed to be a team," Morgan lamented, glowering at her drink. "But what happens? She -" She waved a hand in Selene's direction " - nicked my stuff, and when I teamed up with you, you got me killed against..." She looked around the bar. "Well, wherever she is. Lo-la." The last word came out in an off-key singsong voice.

Dafydd winced at the sound. "I don't know about that 'team' stuff," he said, ignoring his own (first) drink. "Agent Kaitlyn raided my belongings at least once. And then killed me."

"Heck yeah I did!" Kaitlyn called from the other side of the table. It was only three feet away, but that didn't dampen her enthusiasm. "Elf versus hobbit? Hobbit wins, pants down! Er, hands. Don't want to give Lux ideas."

Dafydd raised an eyebrow and turned it on Selene, as if to say, THIS is your partner?

The vampire shrugged and drained her glass. "We may have been a district," she said, "but that didn't make us a team. There can only be one winner, after all." She chuckled dryly, tried to take a drink, and blinked at her glass in confusion. "And the member of District Huinesoron's-Not-In-This who came closest was the wannabe Hobbit. Who saw that coming? I need another drink."

"Me too," Morgan sighed, pushing her glass around the table. "Or three."

"No, me three." Kaitlyn hopped out of her seat and grabbed their glasses. "Backinasec!"

~

((I'm starting them all off in the same place. Feel free to peel one or more of them off, join the table, grab them when they wander off, or anything of the kind.))

hS

PPC HQ Hunger Games: Season 3

The only things excluded are the pre-game interviews (which I'll copy over from Sergio when he's compiled them) and... ehm... oh, yes, Scapegrace's ficlet with the Doktor going back to his RC.

hS

I've seen RPs where everyone's required to post in a single long chain, RPs where multiple chains are allowed but should be time-synchronised, RPs where people are expected to post an introduction post, RPs where people need to post each character separately, RPs where people need to post all of their characters together...

Relatedly, are people supposed to be interacting while Lola gets her award, or are we standing around waiting for get it?

Plz moar.

hS

...I would bet that at least one tech savvy 4-year old might be browsing whatever archive you might be posting this fic on. So I humbly recommend that, given your description of the fic, to not ruin a child's innocence.

Of course that doesn't mean not to post it, just find some-archive vague enough or not used commonly for fanfiction that the probability of said 4-year old finding it to be extremely slim. Might I recommend Tumblr?

1. My primary team is in Implausible Crossovers, but I kept running into Sues that annoyed me enough to want to kill. I didn't want to keep having to make up excuses for my DIC team to get Suefics, so I needed a team in the DMS.
   
   2. To cover more of my favorite continua, with characters who feel as strongly as I do about them. Nume and Ilraen prefer certain flavors of fantasy and sci-fi, and neither of them has a musical bone in his body. If I wanted to deal with my favorite musicals, I needed other characters for that. (I still don't have anyone I'd easily send into modern, more or less realistic settings like Psych or NCIS, but since I haven't seen any fics there I really want to PPC, either, that's been okay.)
   
   3. To be able to tell different kinds of jokes than I can with Nume and Ilraen. They're both fairly serious, straight-faced people who don't use a lot of modern slang, so if I wanted to crack jokes based on Internet memes, or write about pranks pulled during a mission, I needed someone else for that.
   
   Additionally, I dislike it when people recruit badfic characters and then don't do anything with them. Once I decided I was going to recruit Derik, there was no question that I was going to write about him, and he fit half of what I wanted to do as a storyteller. Earwig didn't work out for me, but then Gall came along, and thanks to her canon's tendency to be anachronistic, she fits the other half and also acts as a balance to Derik's overwhelming tendency to be angsty and grim (which is not how I set out to write him, but characters will do what they do). It's also good for me to have a female character besides Jenni.
   
   As for who gets what mission, it's a simple question of a) is it a Suefic or a crossover? and b) would my characters know/care about the problems in it enough to have entertaining reactions?
   
   I've tried to alternate writing one DIC story, then one DMS story, etc., but it really just depends on what story I'm feeling most strongly about at any given time.
   
   ~Neshomeh

1) They take turns, simple as that.

2) Same as the above, really. I do a mission with one team, then I do mission with the others and if I don't have a fic ready, I go dig one up. My first team used to be in Floaters and now they're in the Department of Improbabilities, so they can work a wide range of canons and badfic types.
My other team is still in Floaters, but I'm making them do bad Harry Potter/Labyrinth crossovers, since that gets them both riled up.

3) MY first pair get along great, so after a few missions with them, I wanted a team that would bicker and fight all the time, just for variation. And then I did a really horrible fic, with a couple of bit characters I thought were salvageable and decided to use them,

Namely, one of my teams gets a little time in the spotlight for a given number of missions, and may or may not have a mini-story arc to go with it. Note of course that this primarily applies to solo-written missions, as my co-writes with others have so far not adhered to the same organization. Secondary RCs tend to have missions done sporadically or as supporting material for other teams, which is what I'd recommend for people who haven't made the mistake I did of writing... *counts on fingers* three major teams (one of which I'm planning to write an epilogue for in due course), one supporting team, and at least five other supporting characters who turn up here and there.

In light of this, having different teams be part of different departments is also helpful for organizing who gets what. To continue using my agents as examples: Rayner and E.V.L. take on fics that have a Suvian character and are part of only one fandom; Sarah, Cupid, and Lapis deal exclusively with crossovers; and Falchion, Rashida, and Ripper get... well, everything else.

If it's not a Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha mission, it's Des and Lump. If it is, it's probably Navare and Amris. The reason is simple — N\A are APD-Nanoha; Des and Lump are Floaters.

Carefully.

My personal advice is to hold off on writing another agent pair until you have an idea of what you're doing with your first set.

There's no need to have a dozen or more agents spread out throughout all the PPC and then basically render yourself unable to write anything because you can't decide.

That said, they also don't have to actually have their own spin-off. You can feature them in your main spinoff, interacting with your first two agents, or use them in RP, and so on. Or in stories set in HQ that aren't missions at all.

Right now I have a bunch of things in the works, spread out over a variety of characters- the thing is to make sure you keep focused on *something* so you have something to show for it, writing wise.

-July, productive lately

1) By having a whole bunch of missions on the go at once and maybe someday finishing any of them.

2) I listen to them all complain about it and whoever's got the funniest lines gets to go on the mission.

3) Because I want to. =]

Isn't that the one where the fellow kills more than half a village of people after burning their food supplies because he was looking for his girlfriend, or something?

Sounds like a fun time.

It looks pretty cool, for a science-fiction dystopia. (Those are a lot more common lately...wonder why.) Is it on cable? The TV reception at my house isn't the greatest, so I have no idea whether we actually get The CW or not. *shrugs*

Generally, wwith things like this, it's in poor taste to announce it when the authors themselves haven't commented or given any notice on availability- they probably haven't because of being busy, waiting for some last minute checks from epople, or any other possible sort of reason.

Going and doing this without their sayso or permission is overstepping boundaries and is a bit stalkery.

-July

It's A Man, An Ewok, And A Baby.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XTqm9X6TxRKe6Uq-4QZCf2Guh3LE6GWwVbes71qBlW4/edit

However, they require different skills. I would normally just say "Rule of Funny," but it's a bit more complicated than that. Normally, it would make more sense to just mention the language so that people are aware, but translate all dialogue, maybe with a transliterated accent – otherwise, it's difficult and obnoxious for the reader to follow. So I would say if you intend to translate, don't bother with footnotes.

But sometimes, IF you think it'll work in text, it can be more fun to leave that dialogue completely untranslated, and let the reader figure it out from context. An example, using my own agents:

"I call this meeting to order," Mohan said, giving a meaningful look at his fellow Cafeteria workers. "All present and accounted for?"
"Aye."
"Rrrnn."
"Good. First order of business– the Agents are complaining about the sentient mold demons in the soda machine again."
"Nnngh ernch, ¥#%••§ warhesch," Jof replied.
Mohan suppressed a snort of laughter. "Don't hold back, Jof. How do you really feel?"
"He's right," Lynn said. "They're always complaining about something. If we get rid of the mold demons, they'll just start grousing about the arsenic on the silverware or something."

----

You see what I mean? A footnote would 1) break the flow of the text, and 2) be less funny than whatever the reader imagines. It's like the rule of horror movies. The more you leave to the imagination, the funnier it is. But if you think the dialogue is central enough that it needs to be translated, I would strongly recommend that you put the translations in-text.

1. If a character is going to use another language, they should have a good reason for doing so every time they do it. Don't chuck in bits of Dovahzul just to show that you can; Za'kiir himself should have a reason to use it. (If he's just showing off, that's fine. If you are, it's not.)
   
   2. If the audience is meant to know something, the author should make it plain. Don't use Dovahzul for important information. If Za'kiir must be speaking it a lot for character or plot reasons, though, you can write the dialogue in English and let the narrative explain that he's not actually speaking English:
   
   "Blah blah blah," he said in Dovahzul.
   
   3. If the meaning of a word or phrase in another language is plain given the context, there's no need to translate it. (And it's always a good idea to make sure the meaning of any piece of dialogue is plain by giving it proper context.)
   
   4. If the audience is not meant to know the meaning of a word or phrase in another language, or can reasonably get by without knowing, there's no need to translate it.
   
   5. If you must provide translations, either do so diegetically (i.e. as Dorano suggested, with further dialogue) or extradiegetically (with footnotes). Mixing the two with in-line author's notes breaks the reader's immersion in the story and is annoying. Diegetic is better than extradiegetic, since it involves less work for the reader.
   
   TL;DR: Avoid the need for translations at all costs, unless you're going to work them seamlessly into the narrative. Otherwise they're just distracting.
   
   ~Neshomeh

...unless it's important what we understand what Za'kiir is saying. If it is, add the translations to the text - footnotes are a pain.

So, something like this...

Zakir: "(Words in Dovahzul)"
Partner: "What?"
Za'kiir: "(Translation of what he just said)"

The translation doesn't have to be word for word (in fact, given how Dovahzul works, it probably shouldn't be), but the gist of what Za'kiir is saying should be made clear.

(Now excuse me whilst I fangirl, I absolutely ADORE the Elder Scrolls series.)

Try not providing translations to the readers. If it doesn't work, you can change it.

If it's just a smattering of words that the reader can figure out their meaning, it's fine to just include them.

If he's talking to someone who will reply, see if the dialog works as a one-sided telephone conversation.

I'm not sure if this is correct writing, but I have seen fanfiction where a character says the non-english stuff and the translation directly follows.

Be careful with footnotes, they are annoying when they get too far away from the text that they are referring to.

If he talks like the Dovah themselves — ie, in a way that the Dovahzul is just added flavour — I think it's OK to leave it as-is. OTOH, if it's actually important for understanding what he says, use footnotes. In that case, though, use it sparingly because having to continuously refer to footnotes in order to understand a character's dialogue is a royal pain.

Are you looking for canon knowledge, SPaG, readability, or some combination of the above? Sadly, I'm not too familiar w/Eleven's run (yet!), but I'll do the best I can.

Because I know the Classic series more.

EKhm... excuse me, I'm gonna to squee my lungs out.

Also, hello and welcome! Have one of my own shed feathers and a complimentary kit of Spikes!

Glad you found your way to us. Here's some popcorn to eat while you read the Original Series and a little black notebook! Perfect for writing evil plans or code in :)

First of all, hello hello, and welcome to our corner of the internet! Please take this plate of SPaGhetti as my welcome treat.

Right then. Things.

The PPC sporks bad fanfics of original works that have been published and are their own distinguished universes. These so-called "Bad Games" are, as you call them, "games that are of shoddy quality, having various qualities akin to that of a bad movie/fic, are notorious for ripping people off and they might even contain [Sues]." But you don't mention if these "Bad Games" are original work or something like, say, a bad Fallout mod. If they're original work, no matter how bad/rip-offy they are (see Eragon and Fifty Shades of Grey for example), they're off limits.

So, could you please define these "Bad Games"?

(And for the record, we already have a Video Game Division of the DMS, so if you're talking about making a separate department, that's a whole 'nother can of worms I can't see going through since departments are for types of fanfics, not genres.)

It's also very familiar. I mean, I wasn't in the navy, but it's very familiar nonetheless. It's got this army-ness going on in it.
Good job!

This is super-cool and clever! I love all the subtle little hints about the seaman! (Do they . . . is there really no seawoman or seaperson? Really?)

And the description of the ship, and the people, and the whole man overboard process . . . I'm pretty sure you need to become the new Tom Clancy! Like, start writing naval novels. Right now.

—doctorlit is much too amused by his creation of the term "naval novel" just now

But that only makes it better. Couldn't help but giggling when the question about Pokemon was brought up.

And hS, this is clearly the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. Why would the Americans would highjack a scrapped English aircraft carrier when there is a French one which can use their aircrafts to take?

I think my favourite part is... pretty much from when we first jump away from the seaman's POV to the lookout. I kind of like everything after that - the rescue, the plan, and then the finale.

(Also the ship is clearly the old HMS Ark Royal, which was not scrapped in 2013 as Britain thinks, but stolen by the US navy and now equipped with alien stealth tech and used to spy on your allies. Oh yes, we're onto you!)

hS

And its use is a complexity in and of itself.

It has and hasn't become more 'acceptable'- more common in visible ways, yes. Things written in present tense exist, but they're in the general minority because of differences in media. There's a growing quantity of fic written in present tense because of the nature of the original media. As far as traditionally published writing goes, it's still part of a large minority with most if it belonging in the children's or YA section of your local bookstore or library.

As far as the PPC goes, present-tense isn't mocked for the sake of mocking present-tense. It's generally picked at because when we write missions, any changes to the word world the agents go into tend to be perceived in any number of ways (we the authors decide) and that includes a surprise shift from past tense to present tense or even (heaven help us) future tense, and sometimes back and forth without warning.

Tense confusion is a strong indicator of a shaky foundation in writing, and one of the basics that should be checked for when anyone writes a story before they post it.

There isn't anything innately wrong with a story written in present tense in and of itself.

Honestly, I'm okay with whatever tense as long as the writer's consistent and the narration doesn't sound awkward. I use present-tense narration when I want the reader to feel really in the moment, ya feel?

Honestly, it doesn't matter if it's in present or past tense; my brain still registers the action as though I'm seeing it happening right in front of me in the present. When I get sucked into a story, I don't see the words; I see images.

And the PPC doesn't mock present tense; it's random tense shifts for no reason that we mock. :P

In fact, part of why I've put off trying to get permission for so long is due to the fact that I just don't pick up on things like tense shifts. I write mainly in the past tense, but I have recently started writing a Black Lagoon fic that uses present tense, in part so I can learn how. It's also the first thing I've ever written in first person, as well.

I, for one, think that each one has a time and a place. I have started using present tense more for personal, character-driven narratives because of the excitement, while I now use past-tense for large, epic narratives. I must admit, writing with it took some getting used to, but now it's practically second nature.

Present tense really isn't a good idea when you want what you're writing to be 'serious' or clinical in some fashion, and it can sometimes limit how you write. Past tense is the same way, but less so, and in a different manner. Since I'm a satirical writer, I still mostly end up using past tense. It can make for better gags and jokes, or maybe I'm just better at being funny in past tense.

Probably a lot more than you were looking for, but since I've had a lot of recent experience with the two tenses, that's just how it went.

I can't remember the last time I read anything in present tense.
It always seemed like one of those fancy-schmancy 'This story's a wee bit weird,' kind of things.
Y'know?

I personally don't like present tense, but that's just my taste. Tense shifts, which can include random present tense, are a charge. Ing disease, which stems from poorly written present tense, is also a charge.

...what happens next? :D

Yush!

I apparently need to reevaluate my sources for news if they all let this go by without saying anything about it.

...Pinkie Pie do the talking for me.

Now that I've had time to settle down and collect my wits, I'd just like to say:

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

{= D {= D {= D

~Neshomeh

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh ... This is so AWESOME!

I'm still hoping we can write that mission! I'm excited to do it with you.

I put Kelly with a generic agent that may or may not shine once I start working with her. I've gone through I think nine prompts sofar and I'm not happy with the results. Kelly's getting so pissed that she's breaking the fourth wall to complain, and I don't want her to be that meta.

I had trouble with the dice randomization and a bit of choice paralysis, so I cut up the prompts and put them individually into a hat. Unpairing the prompts might have sabotaged me.

---------------------------

Is there a keyword for the wiki that will give me a list of recruited but unclaimed characters? Maybe being handed their history would help.

-----------------------------------

I have messed with the concept that Kelly keeps getting partnered with joke characters that either have no business being in the PPC at all, or they clash so much with Kelly that they're not going to last as her partner.

I've got two potential missions picked where I think she'll probably solo them anyway.

Have her be off by herself, away from an unidentified partner. That skirts around the problem and lets you explore a potentially interesting situation.

Also: the prompts were never really intended to be used as canon material. Your agent should be in character, but there is no reason whatsoever you have to work the prompts into your canon.

hS

Alternatively, ask someone else for help. Alternatively, use a free-to-use character such as Luxury. Alternatively, come up with a second agent. Alternatively, create a second agent.