The plot twist was actually a lot weirder

Subject: The plot twist was actually a lot weirder
Author: leafeyes
Posted on: 2016-06-25 07:39:00 UTC

In a high fantasy setting, my heroes were having a problem with every one of their plans being anticipated and countered by the villain, despite the fact that they didn't see any way for him to have known them. However, they then come across a tree, and one of them manages to detect that it is somehow enchanted. They eventually figure out that the villain was responsible, and that she had enchanted the tree so that she could scry the area around it. She would pluck leaves and send them out over the winds, as a leaf blowing through the wind wouldn't arouse suspicion, but would provide her with intelligence on the heroes plans if it was in their vicinity. Someone asked for clarification, and I simplified it as "The leaves are eyes," which is when I got the name.

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Hello? by leafeyes on 2016-06-25 02:03:00 UTC Reply

I heard about the PPC a few months ago (in negative terms), and actually decided to check it out today after encountering a particularly obnoxious suefic, and it honestly looks like something interesting. I can definitely relate to how fun it is to make light of something awful, and there is no shortage of awful fanfiction, though it annoying to wade through all of it if I'm trying to find actually good fanfiction.

I personally am a college girl, studying mathematics, and write both fan and original fiction in my spare time. My screenname came from a nickname I had in high school, which I got because of my green eyes and a particular plot twist from a quickwrite in the writer's club. I'm also squick resistant, though definitely not immune. I'm currently involved in various game fandoms, and not particularly connected to any of them right now.

I also have a few questions about what happens in a fic, mostly prompted by that suefic. What happens if time suddenly flows backwards, and not in a flashback sort of manner? What happens if the fic only passes a few hours but the dates given differ by a few months? Does anything special happen with character replacements of canonical sues? I don't see anything matching the former two in the temporal distortions article, and the last one is just because it seems like the two would interact.

Welcome, welcome! by Badger421 on 2016-06-27 05:17:00 UTC Reply

Come on in, make yourself at home. I see most everybody else has already welcomed you, so I won't won't bother directing you to the usual introductory material.

For your newbie gifts, have this Replica Holocron and some fresh baked pie, straight from Hobbiton. Just don't tell anyone you got it from me.
Welcome to Creation, here's your shovel. by Voyd on 2016-06-26 01:17:00 UTC Reply

This magical shovel digs upNYAAA!

...

...ow...

... it digs up banana peels... dammit Ouran...

(Yes, I actually do say NYA when I'm surprised by things)
Welcome! by The Good Mod Addict on 2016-06-25 21:37:00 UTC Reply

Hoorah, I'm no longer the newest person here!

Read the Original Series by Jay and Acacia; they established a lot of what happens with Replacement!Sues, time skips, etc. PPC isn't just about killing Sues; they do exorcisms, too.

In all seriousness, though, the PPC has a quirky sense of humor. The Original Series gives a good example of how things work.
Welcome! by eatpraylove on 2016-06-25 12:09:00 UTC Reply

I'm glad you think we're cool. Here's a bucket of popcorn to eat while you read the Original Series (linked to at the top of the page) and a box of pencils!
First Fox! by Kitsune106 on 2016-06-25 10:59:00 UTC Reply

Welcome Leafeyes.

Have some bleeprin Cookies. Good for a pick me up snack and to dull the bad images of the Sue.

That plottwist sounds interesting. ALthough, what would happen with locus? And time flowing backwards, well, that would not be fun. The reminds me of one book, ah yes, Piers Anthony, Bearing an Hourglass. There were some.. consequences of that happening. I can explain more of that if you wish. Mind, that book was about the incarnation of time, so there was some logic.
Fee-fi-fo-fum! I smell... a newbie! :D by Matt Cipher on 2016-06-25 08:28:00 UTC Reply

Welcome! Make yourself comfortable, and have a slice of Infinite Pizza!
Welcome? by Larfen J. Stocke, esq on 2016-06-25 06:44:00 UTC Reply

Good day, leafeyes.
Was the plot twist that the main character's eyes were actually leaves, explaining why she was completely blind and in constant pain? Because, if that's so, I love your story and completely relate to it on every level.

And, yeah, Skarmory smashed that nail on the head, especially with the whole 'comic effect' thing. There's an entire department relating to that sort of thing. Sometimes they receive sacrifices.

My gift upon you is: a ceremonial dagger!
Because how can you make sacrifices without a dagger?
Can hardly use an origami swan, y'know.
Just don't go around sacrificing fellow boarders. We sort of look down on that.
Welcome!

The plot twist was actually a lot weirder by leafeyes on 2016-06-25 07:39:00 UTC Reply

In a high fantasy setting, my heroes were having a problem with every one of their plans being anticipated and countered by the villain, despite the fact that they didn't see any way for him to have known them. However, they then come across a tree, and one of them manages to detect that it is somehow enchanted. They eventually figure out that the villain was responsible, and that she had enchanted the tree so that she could scry the area around it. She would pluck leaves and send them out over the winds, as a leaf blowing through the wind wouldn't arouse suspicion, but would provide her with intelligence on the heroes plans if it was in their vicinity. Someone asked for clarification, and I simplified it as "The leaves are eyes," which is when I got the name.

Bugger. by Larfen J. Stocke, esq on 2016-06-25 08:10:00 UTC Reply

Well, wasn't I far off?

Seems awful dependent on the weather, though, doesn't it?
She'd become completely blind on a non-windy day, not to mention winter when the leaves fall off, or when the thing gets attacked by caterpillars.
Suppose that's why we use CCTV instead of leaves these days, eh?

I still think I relate to your story on many levels, of course.

You're correct by leafeyes on 2016-06-25 08:29:00 UTC Reply

It does have a ton of flaws, but I also had only an hour to come up with and write the entire thing. I did realize it wouldn't work in winter while writing it, but just ignored it because I didn't have enough time to put in a proper explanation. Also, the villain still has her regular, non-leaf eyes, she only used the leaves to see things when she needed to not be seen.

Well, figuratively blind. by Larfen J. Stocke, esq on 2016-06-25 08:44:00 UTC Reply

Intellectually blind. Intelligence blind. Blind in relation to intelligence. Er. That sort of thing.
It'd be horrible to go completely, literally blind every winter. It'd be even more horrible to have leaves for eyes that also go completely blind at winter. It'd be even more horrible if you had normal eyes, but they fall out of your head every winter, and splat nastily onto your carpet, getting eye-juice all over it and your socks. And then you go blind.

It's one of those high-fantasy things, in the end. Could probably just take the 'magical leaves' thing further. Nothing like a little sprinkle of sentience to solve your problems!

Hello newbie. by Hardric on 2016-06-25 06:30:00 UTC Reply

Please have this black-hole chocolates please. I also wish you welcome in this madhouse, given the fact you already answered all the essential questions (Yeah for another Persona and Fire Emblem fan! What games in these series did you play?)

Last point. Would you mind posting the link to the glitterbag you mentionned so I can see if I could make a mission of it? From what you said, it would be a Persona 4 fic with uncanon sister of Narukami crashing in, right?

The suefic in question by leafeyes on 2016-06-25 08:09:00 UTC Reply

It's called "*~*Inaba’s New Light*~*" and starts exactly as you think it does. Other highlights include screwing up dates, both by giving impossible dates in section breaks and by having canon events happen at the wrong times, calling Chie "he" (which is especially bad because this is when she's super insecure in her femininity), having everyone including the sue use the wrong Japanese honorifics, making Yosuke fall in love with her before he's really over Saki (and in just 4 days), making everyone at least a bit OOC, and having a non-Japanese name (though at least it sounds vaguely Japanese). She also might be the female protagonist of Persona 3 given her family name, backstory, and her memories of what appear to be SEES members.

I've played Persona 3 FES, Persona 4 (not golden), Persona Q, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, and Fire Emblem: Awakening. I haven't been able to play Fates yet, but it's on my list.

Oookay... by Hardric on 2016-06-25 08:29:00 UTC Reply

Glitterbag have got an appointment with my agents now. Especially if she rips off Kotone Shiomi. A shame TV World spits back the body... Oh well, like Overlord List said, 'shooting is not too good for my enemies'.

So, you've got Persona Q and Fates in your future. Color me (a bit) jealous. Golden and Fire Emblem GBA were the one who made me discover these series, and now I cannot imagine not playing these games.

Now, did you try to get the other Persona or Fire Emblem with emulators (the only way to get the Japanese-only games or even getting the ones)? I can assure you it's totally worth it, and FE community is doing really good modes with the GBA ones.

Don't just take my word for it (Persona 3 Spoilers) by leafeyes on 2016-06-25 09:24:00 UTC Reply

It's not a particularly long fic at the moment, and I might be biased simply because it's been a while since I've seen another sue, so it might be best to avoid putting a mission in the queue just yet. But if she does encounter your agents, I'd suggest shooting her during the Dark Hour, which should have come back if she is indeed Kotone, either as a character replacement or simply there by bad writing/resurrection.

Also, I've already played Persona Q, but have no even attempted emulating older games. It's generally something I don't do, I prefer trying to play things on actual hardware, though I can understand the appeal of playing older games through emulation, especially as there's plenty of games where every legitimate copy has failed.

Hello, hello! by DCCCV on 2016-06-25 04:28:00 UTC Reply

If you've been lurking around, you may have seen that I've been giving out Black Dragon Boxes. Here you go....

Strange, it was supposed to hatch four days ago.

If you eat it, it's supposed to taste like honey and mackerel.

It's an interesting combination.

I tried it today.
Hi there! Have a Black Cloak of Swirly Awesomeness! by Silenthunder on 2016-06-25 03:10:00 UTC Reply

So you'll always look great without trying! What are your fandoms?
Hello! by Granz the Ice Cream Monarch on 2016-06-25 02:54:00 UTC Reply

Let's see... Your Newbie gift is a Royal Ice Cream Container. Simply ask, and receive the ice cream flavor of your choosing. It's sort of like Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, except with infinite refills and flavours of your choosing.

Hmm... Yup, I'd say the other two have got it right. The first one's probably just like a normal distortion, but I don't know what the second one would be. I know of fics that tell a story backwards to a degree, but it's usually periodic hops back in time, not actual backwards time. You couldn't pay me to be an Andalite or a Time Lord if that happened, though. A replacement is a replacement, really. Doesn't seem like it'd matter, though some replacements might be more tolerable than the actual characters and leave agents wishing that they could just keep the originals down a plothole.

Since, given your questions, it looks like you've at least read some of the basics, any agent pairs you're particularly fond of?

I'm not fond of any agents in particular (nm) by leafeyes on 2016-06-25 03:34:00 UTC Reply

Welcome aBoard! by SkarmorySilver on 2016-06-25 02:30:00 UTC Reply

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

To answer your questions, temporal distortion happens pretty often in missions; we register it as scene transitions, sped-up fast-forward-style action, and other fun stuff. Whatever produces the most comical effect, basically. And as for replacements of Canon Sues, I think they'd be no different from other replacements, seeing as they act so OOC that it doesn't really matter who they're replacing.
Welcome! by 1visible on 2016-06-25 02:29:00 UTC Reply

Nice to see another new face around here.

I am in no position to answer your questions, but my best guess for time flowing backwards is that natural functions would go horrifically in reverse. Waterfalls could flow upwards, food moves upward the intestine as it is un-digested, weird things like that.

I'm having trouble parsing your second question. Were you referring to the posting date of the chapters in question?

For the last one, I'm not sure anything would happen. A canon character is a canon character. However, the average agent wouldn't touch a fic with a replaced canon that was already a sue.

P.S. your newbie gift is additional temporal weirdness.

It's dates in the fic. by leafeyes on 2016-06-25 02:39:00 UTC Reply

The fic actually mentions specific dates, typically as section breaks. The fic starts April 30th, 2012, and has the sue moving in with her canon brother and uncle. The sue wakes up the next morning, March 1st, 2012, and magically makes friends with the canons she isn't related to. That afternoon, May 1st, 2012, she grabs her chosen guy's attention. So I'm referring to in universe date not making sense with the action, I'm sorry if that wasn't clear.

Quick amendment: she is the uncanon sister of a canon by leafeyes on 2016-06-25 02:42:00 UTC Reply

Her brother and uncle are canon, but she isn't, and she moves in with them.

First of all: Newbie! *glomp* *poke* by Iximaz on 2016-06-25 02:55:00 UTC Reply

Second of all: Have your welcome gift of a fresh plate of SPaGhetti!

Thirdly: 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

Re: First of all: Newbie! *glomp* *poke* by leafeyes on 2016-06-25 04:44:00 UTC Reply

I've already read the Original Series and PPC Constitution. As for fandoms, there's quite a few, but the ones I think of first are Pokemon and Fire Emblem, though I should also mention Persona since that's where the suefic that prompted me to come here was found.

Yay, another PokÃ©-fan! by Iximaz on 2016-06-25 04:56:00 UTC Reply

First of all, favorite game(s) in the franchise? (FR/LG, DPPt, and XY are mine.) And what do you think about Sun and Moon? (SUCH HYPE OVER HERE.)

I'm personally divided between RSE and DPPt by leafeyes on 2016-06-25 05:40:00 UTC Reply

Admittedly I'm also somewhat involved in competitive, which hasn't been doing very well for the past two generations, with 5th generation being ruled over by weather teams consisting primarily of one type, as well as a number of disgustingly overpowered additions (Excadrill springs to mind immediately, though there are plenty of others).

While the 6th generation fixed weather, it added a huge amount of horribly unbalanced mega evolutions. In competitive terms, "Ubers" basically means banned, and prior to 5th generation this was inhabited only by version mascot and event legendaries, Wobuffet, Wynaut, Garchomp, and Salamence. It grew a lot in the 5th generation, and got even bigger in the 6th generation. But Mega Gengar and Mega Salamence were both so overpowered that there was actually a serious discussion about banning them from Ubers, though they did not actually get banned. Mega Rayquaza however, did end up getting banned, with a special battling tier above Ubers (called "Anything Goes", abbreviated AG) was created for the sole purpose of having a place to ban it to.

I'm worried that the new generation is going to continue the trend of power creep and that AG is going to get bigger, meaning that everyone trying to play a more normal match is going to have to deal with massive balance problems until things get sorted out, which can take over a year. I switched to mostly playing Little Cup, which has avoided most of the problems mentioned (except for Swirlix). I still would like to be able to play standard without being forced to have 3-5 specific Pokémon on my team just to stand a chance at winning.

I'm sorry that this turned out so long, but that is how I feel.

Hey, no worries! by Iximaz on 2016-06-25 05:48:00 UTC Reply

That's one of the cool things about this place—getting to rant about your fandoms to other people. :D

And funny you should mention competitive play; I started the Annual PPC Pokémon Tournament two years ago, actually. Both times used OU rules, though this past year was a monotype format. I think the reaction to that was kind of "meh", so we'll be going back to traditional battles next year.

Unfortunately, power creep seems to be a feature in such games (though considering I mostly play only Pokémon and World of Warcraft, I probably can't comment on how common that is), but that's why we have self-imposed rules to keep things interesting. (Hello, Nuzlocke!) I'm very much not a serious competitive battler, though, so I'm afraid I can't really hold a discussion about the competitive scene; you'll probably want to talk to Scapegrace about that. She's crazy good at coming up with teams for RU. :)

I'll have to be on watch for the tournament by leafeyes on 2016-06-25 07:21:00 UTC Reply

Power creep is a problem in most long lived games or game series, and it's generally a major problem. As for challenge gaming though, I am definitely a fan, though the only thing I've done with Pokémon was a starter only run of Blue (with Bulbasaur). I've also been somewhat out of LC for a while, and it looks like my old Priolu team is going to need to be rebuilt as the strategy the team was built on no longer works. But having a place to talk about fandoms is nice.