What a question to ponder...

Third time's the charm: new mission! by Oculus on 2021-02-24 21:05:17 UTC Writing Reply

Hey, everyone!

I know, I know, I said I wasn't going to fill the Board with missions... but this got done in a relatively short amount of time, and I really did have a fun time writing it, so excitement to post it won over in the end. I missioned a bad Lord of the Rings slashfic, but amazingly enough the mission itself is PG-13. There isn't even swearing in it, let alone squick (which, given my usual repertoire, is kind of a surprise). There is a brief joke involving fire, sort of, but that's really all the warning I can think of that needs to be given. You can find the mission here. I'd appreciate any and all feedback, but especially on the comedy and the character dynamics, since those are the parts I've been trying to improve about my writing.

Edit: Darn, I almost forgot to give credit where credit is due... Many thanks to eatpraylove for her beta work on this mission.

Enjoy! ^_^

~Oculus, still getting used to the new name

Just dropping a note that I read this. by Huinesoron on 2021-03-01 08:51:25 UTC Reply

I was somewhat out of it at the time, so I don't really have much to say, but I did read it, and found Bojack Bill simultaneously amusing and wildly baffling.

hS

Thank you for reading! by Oculus on 2021-03-01 17:31:16 UTC Reply

Like I told Doc, I was a bit worried that the mission would be a bit too weird because I leaned way hard into the "Bill" joke, but as long as people are amused by it, I'm happy. And I had a real good chuckle at "Bojack Bill", so thanks for that too. : D

Re: mission by doctorlit on 2021-03-01 05:32:19 UTC Reply

Okay, wow, this mission was chaos! I love that you just rolled so hard with this "Bill is on two legs" gag. It really makes the mission something else! You did a great job of using that simple fact to make everything in the canon feel amazingly awkward and surreal. I loved the imagery of Bill just kind of kneeling down and going at the grass, and of Aragorn and Legolas just kind of dumping a "man" into a lake so they can talk. I thought for sure you were going to assassinate him, too, which made his final entrance into the RC even more deliciously off-putting and funny! I love that he still seems completely oblivious to how uncomfortable it is for human characters to look at him.

I think you did well at introducing these new agent characters to us. They both feel like they have very different energies to their mannerisms and dialogue right out the gate, which helps to set them apart in conversation. I like Finn in particular, because she's so energetic, but also seem to know she needs to reign herself in to avoid causing problems, but also also can't avoid causing the problems all the time. I can't wait to see how their interactions and relationship play out in the future, especially in light of their unusual new roommate. Oh, I also like the bit of Headquarters world-building you did with the legend of Finn's exorcism training, and the airhorn punchline it led to.

—doctorlit stayed up late to review this mission, but at least he's off tomorrow

Chaos is sort of what I aimed for by Oculus on 2021-03-01 17:28:47 UTC Reply

I really leaned into the weird with this one, didn't I? I worried at times that it was a bit much, but once I saw Bill the pony writing things down in the fic, I couldn't resist making the joke. And it just sort of snowballed from there. But writing this was a lot of fun, and some of you folks have told me it's a fun read too, which is exactly that I hoped for! Writing Sumie isn't that new to me (you've read the missions where she was introduced), but Finn really grew on me. I'm actually working on their second mission right now - it's also a pretty bizarre fic (I seem to have a knack for finding those), so hopefully it'll be good material to work with. It's great to be back in the swing of PPC writing, and I hope that from now on I can make my missions as entertaining to read as they are to write.

Thanks for reading! ^_^

It's great! by Ozzielot on 2021-02-26 02:46:32 UTC Edited Reply

I enjoyed the mission a lot!

I liked these parts:

-“Does a mini-Balrog selling a Bojack Horseman lookalike to Aragorn and the hobbits count as a charge?”

-"Something that resembled the Star Trek theme played on a kazoo sounded faintly from the distance."

-"It was starting to resemble a Terms and Conditions page in length and density."

-The random rapping

-The airhorn for the exorcism

The whole horse thing was super weird.

Anyway, keep it up!

--Ozzielot

I sure am glad to hear that! by Oculus on 2021-02-26 15:51:25 UTC Reply

I really enjoyed writing this one because the badfic was weird (even if it wasn't as weird as my mission made it), and I'm happy to see that people are enjoying reading it, too. I was actually pretty worried that half the jokes you mentioned wouldn't land, but it's good to see that you liked them. :) Thanks for reading!

that airhorn though by Betelgeuse (Jean Yeap) on 2021-02-26 00:41:49 UTC Reply

That fic falls more on the silly end of the badfic spectrum, and I'm glad you handled it well.

Airhorn. 'Nuff said.

This might be the first time I've heard of these agents, which is probably why I think Finn's exorcism bell accidents should have been better fleshed out. A concrete example of her injuring another agent, maybe.

Other than that, an overall good mission.

I mean... by Oculus on 2021-02-26 15:45:55 UTC Reply

...I did bring up the case of the skull fracture for a reason. :) And yeah, this is my first mission with these two agents, but not the last, I sure hope. I've had a ton of fun writing them, but upon rereading I think I might have to work a little harder to make their banter stand out from my small horde of agent characters. I'll see what the writing future brings - but until then, thanks for reading!

O'Ryan's got company in the curse by Kittyauthor on 2021-02-25 00:07:25 UTC Reply

Sad thing that Finn can read the Words normally without a yo-yo though. /joke

But, anyhow, I loved the mission, especially that Finn also appears to have an IO curse. Is this an actual phenomenon amongst certain agents? Is it recorded in Medical? Will I write a CPP theory on this? The world may never know...

Kittyauthor, who is now apparently Kttyauthor since they tried to login as such :P

What a question to ponder... by Oculus on 2021-02-25 16:51:49 UTC Reply

I recall Agent Trojie (Trojanhorse on the Wiki, if you haven't heard of her yet - she was in some of my favorite missions) also being an expert at provoking the IO and the Narrative Laws of Comedy. It might just be that some agents have worse luck than others, but it might be more than that... I smell a potential story. I'd love to get in on elaborating, but I'm still trying to figure out how to spin some worldbuilding out of my story about Response Center 1000 from last year, among other PPC writing projects. I'd love to read your take on it, though.

Thanks for reading the mission! ^_^

I have heard of Trojie, just haven't read any of her missions. by Kittyauthor on 2021-02-26 13:55:00 UTC Reply

~~carefully sweeps any evidence of me binge-reading missions under a rug~~

I haven't read any missions with Trojie in them. They just didn't seem like my cup of tea, that's all.

But if what you're saying is true, then I do smell a potential story (CPP Theory (Trademark pending) at least) as well. Which means either an RP is in order or I have yet another story to write. Probably the latter. adds story idea to story pile under "Adopt Natalie Green and write story with her and that one agent I made up" but above "Write mission on the pink fledgling thing"

-Kittyauthor, who now really needs to make that CPP thread and gather more ideas for departments/divisions

Binge-reading is fine, really by Oculus on 2021-02-26 15:42:36 UTC Reply

I mean, I read The Reorganisation (which as far as I'm concerned is required PPC reading - seriously, it's amazing and I highly recommend it) in what, three days? With having to go to work, too. And I can relate on the plot bunny front, too. I have entirely too many missions and interludes planned for the amount of free time I have, but one day I'll catch up with myself. Maybe not right now, but someday. : D