Subject: What Scape said, but with one addendum.
Author:
Posted on: 2016-12-15 23:11:00 UTC
I'm not writing any new agents or characters anymore until I get rid of some of the ones I currently have. I do feel awful that I'm probably the only one around here who's introduced no less than twelve agents over a two-year period. @_@
Not telling which ones I'll be axing, though. That'd ruin the surprise. XD
Chicago's getting a blizzard tonight, and a good blizzard needs some good holiday tunes to go with it. Therefore, I'm starting the PPC Holiday Filk Game a little early this year. ^_^ (Maybe this will give me time to actually finish a piece!)
As usual, the following guidelines apply:
1. Pick a seasonal tune that strikes your fancy—anything you like, even if it's been used for this before.
2. Write new words for it with a PPC theme.
2a. As usual, I encourage you to seek for a topic that does not involve Sue-slaying, because we have lots of filks about that. If that's what the muse dictates, though, go for it.
2b. What I'd really like to see are more tunes about actual holiday stuff in Headquarters. There are lots of holiday filks about PPC stuff, but not too many holiday filks about PPC holiday stuff. Odd, ne?
3. Post your filk here in this thread for us to enjoy and comment on.
4. If so inclined, share a recording of yourself singing a filk or two.
5. When all's said, sung, and done, I'll add this year's entries to the PPC Holiday Songbook unless you specify otherwise.
BTW, notice anything different about the Songbook? {= D
~Neshomeh
To the tune of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
You know Delta and Lily
And ShyIon and Kitsune,
Comet and Cipher
And July and Ixi.
But do you recall
The most unknown returnbie of all?
Maslab the Unknown Returnbie
Popped onto the Discord one day
And if you ever saw him
You may even recognize his name
All of the other Discorders
Had to deal with all his puns
They all wanted Maslab
To make a post on the board
Then one random December Day
Comet went and said
Maslab with your puns so many
Could I make a filk on this?
Then he went ahead a returned
And we shouted out with glee
Maslab the Unknown Returnbie
You'll go down in history!
You will never know how hard it was to find semi-relevant returnbies
To the tune of "Up on the Housetop" by Benjamin Hanby
Down through the roof, do raindrops fall?
We are the ones you should give a call.
Is the Four-S now in the blink?
We'll fix it; that way you can think.
We maintain PPC grounds,
Be it in HQ or the town.
And if aught breaks, we shall come quick.
And what needs fixing we shall fix.
Crisis supplies we keep maintained
And make sure that they're up-to-date.
Parks are maintained by greenspace teams.
And th'HQ pool we keep quite clean
We maintain PPC grounds,
Be they in HQ or the town.
And if aught breaks, we shall come quick.
And what needs fixing we shall fix.
We're not called when Doctor Four's not odd,
Or Pinkie Pie's written as Sweeney Todd,
Or Arwen's sister woos Boromir
And makes Gimli's wits disappear.
But if we were not around
The PPC would fall to th'ground
So, let's maintain the PPC
That Sues may not victorious be!
Are you murdering in festive black and red?
Are you dragging canons out of Santa's bed?
Are the Snowman and the Snowdog
crossed with Call of Duty Three?
Is an alien wizard doubling as your tree?
Yes, here it is, Merry Christmas
From the generator crew.
Please go kill more badfics,
We are all begging you-u-u...!
Because Conan-Doyle is spinning like a top
And Disney's endless whirling just won't stop
We've got Tolkien, we've got Lewis,
And they're dancing a gavotte;
They're all turning and creating gigawatts...!
So here it is, Merry Christmas
From the generator team.
Please cut down our workload;
We all need to let off ste-e-eam...!
So while rivetting the tinsel to your walls
(And fleeing Building Maint'nance down the halls)
Spare a thought for those who keep you
In light and heat and such,
But please don't come to visit; we are shut!
So here it is, Merry Christmas
From the generator mob.
Please don't call us 'Shrinies';
That's not really our jo-o-ob...!
Yes, one more time, Merry Christmas,
From the generator peeps.
Please make your resolution
To leave us all in pe-e-eace...!
Not about Sue-slaying: check.
Infrastructure department: check.
Holiday-themed: check.
Reference to obscure trivia: check.
Sneaky fandom ref for Neshomeh: check.
I think we're good here.
hS
With thanks to Iximaz for the song.
Because Dafydd felt like joining in.
(I have an idea for a song of my own; we'll see if I get round to it.)
hS
Hm, did you mean Iximaz's song is the most Middle-earthy this year? 'Cause that is true—but if you wanted to make an annual thing of this, I know there are others that are pretty LotR-centric. Everything from 2003, for starters; and then of course I have a couple, one of which is all about Selene and Dafydd. {; )
And yes, I got the sneaky reference in your filk. I love it. ^_^
~Neshomeh
I know it was totally inaccurate, but what can I say? At least Dafydd liked it. :P
And he and Constance are as adorable as ever. Give us more slice of life stories featuring them please
To the tune of "Chanukah, O Chanukah", adapted for possible PPC traditions:
Chanukah, O Chanukah, come light the menorah
Kids have a party, we'll learn what's in store-a
Gather round together, we'll give you some drinks
Dreidels to play with and no missions (we think).
And while we are singing
The candles are burning high
One for each night, they shed a sweet light,
and give us hope that canon is nigh!
*
That's all I've got for now, and it really is more of a PPC adaptation than anything else, but I'll try to think of another tune to adapt.
~DF
A very cozy, holiday feel. Thank you!
--Key
I'm so glad you liked it :)
I actually now have two more possibly filk-able Chanukah tunes that I (re)discovered yesterday through work, so possibly keep an eye out for more!
(But yeah, a PPC Chanukah celebration? Obviously there's stuff for kids, people probably get pretty into the candles, there's almost definitely alcohol fire those inclined to drink a bit of it, and while you *probably* won't get a mission, it definitely isn't out of the question. But, of course, just as Chanukah is a celebration of light in the darkness and the victory of few over many, so could it in the PPC be a celebration of canon within badfic and the hope that a comparatively small and overworked number of agents can make a difference against a multitude of badfic...)
Basically, this would seem to be a holiday that PPCers could connect to *very* easily, is my point. Though, now I'm thinking that Pesach/Passover's theme of 'from slavery to freedom' would feel very applicable to reformed Sues, Stus, and agents who were badficcers or Suethors (or even bit characters!) themselves...hmmmm.
Anyway. 1-2 more filks will hopefully show up from me soon.
~DF
Now that you mention it, Chanukah is a great PPC holiday! I'm sure it's a pretty big deal! I'm working on a Chanukah filk myself. . . I picked a weird song, though with a tune/structure which is a major headache (you'll see!), so expect to see it, er, not soon, unless I get a flash of inspiration.
--Key
You've got me curious now. or possibly I should learn the meaning of patience, but who wants to do that?
~DF
(Sung to "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen")
God help ye hapless PPC
Let none of you dismay
Remember him, the Skarmory
Who graced HQ that day
A crossover of mighty scale
Whose author went astray
Oh bless him of steel, Falchion
Falchion
Like the phoenix he rises again
Incredible, dependable,
A Super girl did rise
To face down a replacement
A beast the bird despised
They tricked the hateful beast into
A deadly hot surprise
Oh bless her of strength, Sarah Squall,
Sarah Squall,
When the Sues come, she fights with her all
There was a man with rainbow hair
Who spread the avian's word
For he too had escaped despair
Or so Headquarters heard
A white-furred beast had saved his hide
And she too knew this bird
Oh bless him of hope, Rayner B.
Rayner B.
And Rashida Mafdetiti
A wraith, a sword, a dinosaur
Would one day join their cause
A former Sue with hair of blue
Would even give them pause
For they all sought a time of peace
No more of badfic's flaws
Oh bless them of united strength,
United strength,
And missions of unfathomed length
And when they came to Headquarters
Where our dear Falchion rests,
His voice was one of welcoming
Despite his thorny nest
He took them in and gave them hope
That they'd complete their quest
Oh bless them of friendship and love,
Friendship and love,
Despite the demands from above
Falc, Rashida, Rayner, Eve,
Together they prevail,
Ripper, Sarah, Cupid, Lapis,
Through rain, snow, or hail,
Whitney, Backslash, are there more?
The chaos this entails,
Due to all the agents I write,
Agents I write,
I'm not getting any sleep tonight~
It all makes sense now. . .
--Key is not doing a good job of keeping up with anything.
I'm not writing any new agents or characters anymore until I get rid of some of the ones I currently have. I do feel awful that I'm probably the only one around here who's introduced no less than twelve agents over a two-year period. @_@
Not telling which ones I'll be axing, though. That'd ruin the surprise. XD
Except I'm not sure how many of mine have made it out here even just in RPs or non-canon stuff as opposed to those in development (you *may* have noticed that I seem to write kind of slowly these days...) and it's a period of almost *four* years for me (wow. Just wow. Four years this January. Should I be feeling like an oldbie yet, or...?) For reference, I've got...uh...my rough estimate for agent and non-agent characters that I've created or (in at least one case) co-created is about 16. Let's go with that. I haven't counted in a while (might be more like 20 by now?), but the number (whatever it is) has been holding more or less steady for the past year or so. Hopefully soon my finished pieces will end up matching the number of characters! :)
~DF
...is that I introduced so many new characters relatively QUICKLY. I don't know how long hS has been around or writing but I'm pretty sure he's been writing PPC stuff for YEARS, so he's had time to put forth new characters at a reasonable pace.
Contrast this poor bird right here, who, in the course of less than ONE year, started with just two agents, then recruited two more from my first mission, introduced two MORE agent teams (four more agents total) as supporting parties, recruited yet another agent and brought in another to round out my SIC team, and Arceus knows how many other characters I've dragged in whom I've barely visited given both my Real Life schedule and the fact that I now have FOUR different RCs clamoring for my attention.
The point of all this is that I've been handling the issue of "Loads and Loads of Characters" much more rashly than you, hS, or anyone else with more than two RCs under their belt. Whereas other writers take the time and effort to round out and develop one team at a time to make sure it's quality before moving on to the next one, I basically farted out all of mine almost all at once (well, between October of '14 and June of '15, but still), and now I have to struggle with making each of them stand out in their own right.
This is why I've had to pause work with basically every other team of mine now that Falchion and company are in the spotlight for the first time since like what, Spring of '15? Whereas all of my other RCs have received a lot of solid feedback and concrit, allowing me to consider possible new story arcs for all of them in the future, Falchion and Rashida have not had any proper development since I started working with basically everybody else. It's high time that I fix that, and as soon as I manage to find employment again, I can promise that they'll be getting a whole lot more attention from that point on!
The reason Crashing Down is set in 2006 is because that's when I started writing it. Dafydd and Selene, Narto and Lou, the Playscripts, the first Origins, the entire Reorganisation... all of that was in my first two years of writing (joined in September '03, founded DOGA in '04). Wanna count the departments I created in that period?
You may well have the edge on me in mission-going agents. In sheer character count, and sheer headlong rashness, you don't even come close.
hS, Less Coherent Than Thou
Or grandfather clause, or whatever. I'm pretty sure the PPC of today isn't the PPC of — ホリ シェット — nine years ago. Case in point: new departments. Were there any in the last... five years? Or Emergencies. Or the way Permission works. And so on and so forth.
And pretty much all of them well-developed, even if they didn't appear for long. I haven't re-read the Reorganization since I joined, but I still remember the characters quite vividly. Twp'atwt and Ontic especially come to mind. Just because there haven't been new departments for ages doesn't make what hS did any less impressive.
This is about how headstrong and reckless I was in making so much so fast. No shifting the goalposts!
(Also: thanks!)
hS
Nice work, Skarmory! That got a smile on my face, especially those last few lines. Yes, if anyone needs comfort and joy, it's someone with a ton of agents!
A question, though: The "wraith" mentioned in the fourth stanza. Are you referring to Cupid or E.V.L.?
A thousand pardons if this is out of place, but that last stanza could scan better. As it currently stands, you are missing a few syllables. If I may:
Falchion, Rashida, Rayner, Eve,
Together they prevail,
Ripper, Sarah, Cupid, Lapis,
Through rain or snow or hail,
Whitney, Backslash, and are there more?
The chaos this entails:
Due to all the agents I write,
Agents I write,
I'm not getting any sleep tonight~
The "wraith" could be either of them, actually :3c Though I had Cupid in mind specifically, he's the only Sue-wraith AFAIK who was purified and recruited in an actual mission.
I was trying to fit everything to the number of syllables of each line of the verse. The latter two additions would especially throw it out of rhythm since the second syllable of Lapis' name would have been the lead-in to the line "Through rain snow or hail". And, well, I just didn't think I had enough room to fit the "and" in the third one even though I really wanted to. XP
I could e-mail you a recording showing how the syllables do fit. Then you can decide which version works better.
I like the idea of agents doing Christmas things, though I think this filk strayed a bit from that. *shrug* Ah, well.
Silent night! Holy night!
Agents make their RCs bright.
Consoles muffled in blankets deep,
Floaters catch all their needed sleep.
Sues no more shall return!
Sues no more shall return!
Silent night! Holy night!
Suvians hide away in fright.
C-CADS tucked away for now,
Agents in the Courtyard for snow.
Minis drank all the cocoa,
Minis drank all the cocoa.
Silent night! Holy night!
SIs quake at the sight.
Agents wreak vengeance for Faramir.
Thranduil's head is still not clear.
Agents get holiday pay!
Agents get holiday pay!
~~~
Obviously the last two lines are utter fantasy, but they fit the tune, so they stay. ^_^ Merry Christmas, everyone!
-Alleb
Not my best effort, I don't think, but hopefully amusing nonetheless.
"Jay and Acacia", to the tune of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (creative title, I know)
You know Dafydd and Ilraen and Bulldog and Barid
Tawaki and Cupid and Gremlin and Makes-Things
But do you recall the most famous agents of all?
Ja-a-ay and Acacia
Killed themselves a lot of Sues
But if you ever asked them
They might say it wasn’t true
All of the nasty Flowers
Tried to take away their pay
But brave Jay and Acacia
Continued to save the day!
Then one badfic in Loh-tee-ar
Drove them quite insane
Boromir was kissing Sues
Legolas suddenly turned gay!
So then Jay and Acacia
Decided to run away
The moral of this story
Is agents should really get paid!
My brain kept trying to hear this to the tune of "Frosty the Snowman." Maybe because "Jay and Acacia" scans so well to that, plus the fact that the two tunes are kinda similar?
I'unno. Either way, I like the concept, it was indeed amusing, and I'm sure the agents agree with the moral. ^_^
~Neshomeh
(somehow this song is associated with Christmas now? IDKLOL)
(Chris)
My Meganium and Volcano Burgers
Warm, fuzzy blankets and Captain Steve Rogers
Days without missions and New Leaf in spring;
These are a few of my favorite things
(Ami)
Rereading Tolkien and all four Princesses
Lettuce and Toon Link and Rarity's dresses
Orchestral music, especially strings;
These are a few of my favorite things
(Miguel)
Fanfics set during the holiday season
Traveling through time for any old reason
Every song Lin-Manuel Miranda sings;
These are a few of my favorite things!
(Violet)
When the Bleep's gone,
When Sues have wings,
When I'm feeling sad...
(All)
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad!
(instrumental break)
(Violet)
Amethyst wrestling with Steven beside her
Holiday parties with free food and cider
Guys wearing black suits and little earrings;
These are a few of my favorite things!
(All)
When the Bleep's gone,
When Sues have wings,
When I'm feeling sad...
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel~
So bad!
(Thanks to Delta Juliette for the input).
My Fanfiction, shameless highjacking of My Testimony, by Shoji Meguro, Yuichiro Tanaka and Yumi Kawamura.
Sleep walk, my eyelids are lured to the darkness of fanfic,
Like glitter softly killing a canon,
I should’ve known nothing repeats.
The hands of rewrite erase me,
However, it’s strange that I’m crying from the bottom of my heart.
I can see the goodfic in everything mundane,
Even in the smoky air of the crowded OFUs.
Since I don’t want to lose the burning glimmer of everyday moments,
I start to walk.
Grayish dawn, daybreak reveals yet another fic,
Even in the warmth of the sand between my fingers.
But I’ll walk forward, won’t there be something waiting there?
This surely is my fanfiction,
I sing, with a distant story in my heart.
I can see the goodfic in the mundane tomorrows,
It’s the same voices, the same meetings; that’s all it is.
Pain grazes this life of mine,
Brightly lights it and strokes it, so now I start to walk.
‘till my soul Even if I’m transformed into a memory,
Nevertheless…
Someone’s love song resounded merrily in the desolate winter,
As if it were my own, my heart trembles.
I can see the goodfic in everything mundane,
Even in the breath of the moment when we hold hands.
Since I don’t want to lose the burning glimmer of everyday moments,
I start to walk.
This day, a year ago, he was rolling in the snow
With a younger brother
In his father's yard
Christmas break, a time for touching home,
The only world he'd known,
And leaving was so hard.
Now he's countless worlds away, hunting Sues on Christmas day,
Earning double time,
If he's ever paid at all
Well, he always said he'd make it on his own
The temporary partner's going.
First Christmas,
Away from home
She's in King's Cross train station, nicking canons' change,
Four more Galleons buys
Oblivion in her room
Well it looks like she's for Rudi's after all,
And the sighs of pity all
Will echo like a tomb
But it's warm and clean and she can think of worse places to be,
And at least it means
No beating from her Dad,
And if she cries because it's Christmas day,
She hopes that it won't show,
First Christmas,
Away from home
By the console there stands a little tree,
And it looks so small and bare,
Not how it ought to be.
Weeping Angel on the top,
It's not that same old silver star
You wanted fo your own
First Christmas,
Away from home.
In the morning there's his meds, then it's crafts with those in beds,
Then another meal,
In what they call his room.
Hoping that his friends will think to call,
If they think of him at all,
It's best they do it soon.
When his partner passed away he fell apart more every day,
Each had always kept the other,
Pretty well.
But the Flowers said that FicPsych would be best,
'Cause he couldn't live alone,
First Christmas,
Away from home.
He watches them sedate the Christmas Tree,
And he's huge and he's cold and lifeless,
Not how he ought to be,
And the lit-up flashing Santa Claus on top,
It's not that same old silver star,
You once made for your own
First Christmas,
Away from home.
Nice work on that, Nesh. *thumbs up*
I'll probably work on a filk later tonight.
CSS just keeps getting better and better. ^_^ At some point I plan to make it look a bit more festive, too, once I figure out exactly what sort of look I want to go for. Maybe snow in the background, and sitting on top of the table and stuff...
~Neshomeh
Once again, I'm doing this one.
These are your bad fics
Please take our advice
You've never written the nice ones anyway
And we're in a bad mood
See I've been writing a list
The gift you're receiving from me
Will be
One ironic dispatch
And two hopes we cry ourselves to sleep
Staying up, waiting by the Console
And all we want this year is for you to dedicate your last breath to us
Before you make us go insane
Don't write fics for Christmas
You're the last thing we wanna see
On the console
Merry Christmas, we could care less
Happy New Years, badfic
You owe us
The best gift we will ever ask for
Don't call us up, when the axe comes down
Its the only thing we want this year
One ironic dispatch
And two hopes we cry ourselves to sleep
Staying up, waiting by the Console
And all we want this year is for you to dedicate your last breath to us
Before you make us go insane
Don't write fics for Christmas
You're the last thing we wanna see
On the console
Merry Christmas, we could care less
Don't write fics for Christmas
You're the last thing we wanna see
On the console (Don't write fics for Christmas)
Merry Christmas, we could care less
Don't write fics for Christmas
You're the last thing we wanna see
On the console (Don't write fics for Christmas)
Merry Christmas, we could care less
[A Badfic Author, all speshul and stuff:]
Sweet! He did that song again!
He must've spent a lot of time on this...
But this one time, this one Christmas I wrote this-
[beeps Deck the Halls]
((Also Nesh, don't worry about that snow system coming in, it was quite light around here))
I have it in my Songbook folder... hm. I guess my brain went dead at some point during the coding. Sorry. {= (
On the plus side, it looks like you've changed it some, so I'll just use the updated version.
~Neshomeh