I figured out a way to read it.

Subject: I figured out a way to read it.
Author: Linstar
Posted on: 2022-08-01 14:19:15 UTC

And I now really wish I was around back then to participate!

(Wait, no. Goddess!Mina would be a disaster.)

—Ls

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The Wicked + The Divine: PPC Edition - Encore by Huinesoron on 2022-08-01 08:10:02 UTC Reply

Once again...

... we return.

After managing to lose everything to Google earlier this year, I have spent the last month painstakingly restoring the WicDiv: PPC Edition records from the Board. Now that it's all there - and all backed up - and seeing as today would have been the very last day of the Recurrence ("Within two years, you will be dead"), I am very pleased to present:

The Wicked + The Divine: PPC Edition

No knowledge of the comic series The Wicked + The Divine is required, and equally, reading WicDiv: PPC Edition should not spoil the comics (but see point 3).

I have also finished the story. Issue 13, Curtain Call, includes all-new scenes: one with Tanfin (no longer Yavanna), and one with Ananke, explaining at last exactly what happened in August 2020. Note: I have also put in one-line farewells to the six gods whose authors didn't choose/have a chance to write one last year. If Alleb, Granz, Cicada, Iximaz, Silv, or Mikelus are around and want to write their god's depowering, you can use Tanfin's from last year as a model. You can also read Issue 13, but be aware that you will finish it knowing more than your god - or the kid they once again become - ever will.

After Issue 13 comes Issue 14, Liner Notes & Album Art, which forms an extended Author's Note to the event. This is where I need a Spoiler Warning: the RP itself was deliberately written with no spoilers for the WicDiv comics apart from the general setting, which you can glean from the first three issues or so. This does not remain true for the last section of Issue 14, entitled Within Two Years.... To discuss how the Recurrence would have unfolded if the gods hadn't been depowered a month in, I have had to discuss major revelations from the comics, including touching on one from the final three issues. If you plan to read the comics (you should!) and want to do so unspoiled (you also should!), you should skip over this section.

After the allotted two years, this is the conclusion of The Wicked + The Divine: PPC Edition. Every line of RP has been collated, except for half a sentence from the very beginning. Please do not start any new RP threads; or rather, you can always use August 2020 as an RP setting, but they won't be collected into the The Wicked + The Divine: PPC Edition issues.

But... if there was an ongoing RP which was nearing completion but petered out, and enough of the participants are still around, I'm happy for you to finish it off, and I will still add it. This is the same offer/request as for Issue 13: the more complete the story can be, the better. (But don't feel obligated! There's nothing in there which cut off too abruptly to work, so feel free to leave things as they are if you prefer.)

And that's it! The End of the Recurrence is at hand. Thank you to everyone who took part, and everyone who followed along; and if you've only just discovered WicDiv: PPC Edition, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did creating it.

Once again, we return.*

*Having just reread the entire run of WicDiv, I think they actually use "Once more, we return" more often than "again". But I prefer this version, so here we are. ^_^

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Oh, this! by OrangeFox on 2022-08-03 14:00:01 UTC Edited Reply

(The following contains spoilers for the thing)

Geez, it's been a fast two years, and reading back on it I'm actually cringing a little at how... different my Agents were back then. Like, I had only gotten one mission out around this time so my Agents' personalities weren't really solid yet, and there's a few bits that I'm regretful about - namely that one scene with Charlie where they're like 'huh, never knew Jiwon did magic' when, well. He's literally a shapeshifter.

But besides that, this was nice to read again! Everyone did really well with their bits, the new writings were really nice, and seeing the Spirit of Imagination was neat - I was kind of unfamiliar with the character, so researching Nancy after this was fun. (Managing to actually frame the Key to Canon thing so it actually works, setting-wise, was impressive.) And the bit about the 'bad future' was an entertaining thought exercise. The behind-the-scenes was good too.

All in all, thanks for setting this up! The final result came out great.

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This was fun. by TheBefuddledBookworm on 2022-08-02 20:55:57 UTC Edited Reply

I just sort of bumbled into it. I don't know anything about this Wicked + Divine thing. Now that i think about it, Rebecca getting into an argument with Tash may have been a dangerous thing to do, but it's like Rebecca to do that and get into that sort of mess without realising it.

Thank you for getting me into this mess, hS.

Well, I did put my foot in it, having no idea at all of what I was doing, by TheBefuddledBookworm on 2022-08-02 21:02:39 UTC Edited Reply

being that sort of newbie. I suppose I must like jumping into the deep end of things without stopping to look where I'm going first.

The finale! ~~The ending, inexorable and unyie—~~ (for real though, spoilers!) by doctorlit on 2022-08-02 03:42:08 UTC Edited Reply

For what it's worth, I love all of the circle symbols you designed. Not every god was going to have a simple physical concept that can be translated into a symbol like that, but you did a great job with them, and made them all visually unique. (And yes, the Tash one IS amazing!)

It's a shame Mr. Dalek didn't get to play! Especially after you went to the trouble of drawing it . . . I suppose, as another time god, we could always end up with a visit from another timeline someday? Incidentally, would it have continued to speak like a regular Dalek, or would being Time enable it to speak with sexy lady voice? Because both options are deeply hilarious!

So, I'll admit, the second that final scene opened on Nita, I was immediately thinking, "Oh, it's the Spirit of Imagination again! Of course! That's a perfectly reasonable explanation!" And the scene went on, and I kept waiting for the shoe to drop . . . and it kept going . . . and then Nita was given the Lone One's powers, and at this point, I'm legitimately freaking out, because "holy crap, it's NOT the Spirit this time! And the Lone Power was present all along, and how does this change things!?" In other words, you wrote that scene so well that, even though I technically saw where it was going, it went on just long enough for me to doubt my prediction, and in fact, to abandon all hope. Congratulations! (Side note, all you Young Wizards fans are majorly hyping me up to read that series. Hope I get the chance someday!) I definitely would have loved to see how the rest of that bad future visit would have played out, but I understand that would have been a problem for wrapping things up safely. Maybe someday, some of us with still surviving gods in that timeline can get together and RP those events as an alternate universe?

Edited to add a question I forgot: Did we already know the Spirit's real name, or is that new? Hilarious either way!

I'm glad you enjoyed the Tash parts so much! (though I feel bad that Tanfin is getting PTashSD from the Phoenix mech in his own yard now . . .) I really appreciate that you set up this RP; not only was it a unique sort of story to RP in, but it's really the only creative writing I've eked out time for in, uh . . . literal years, I don't want to try counting. I guess I need to trick myself into assigning writing time as though other folks are waiting for me to respond, so I can get more stories done, huh? But really, hS: Thank you very much for putting on this event! It was loads of fun to participate in, and even more fun to read as a whole!

—doctorlit of the desert

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We are waiting for you to respond. Get more stories done. by Linstar on 2022-08-02 21:42:21 UTC Reply

Seriously though, I’d love to read a new doctorlit tale. That way, I can try (and definitely fail) to find any typos.

—Ls, facetiously

Okay! I will! by doctorlit on 2022-08-03 03:13:19 UTC Reply

Just as soon as I wash the dishes, brush my teeth, hole-punch my newest bank statement and file it away, put my new car insurance card in the glove box, get this month's HOA bill in the mail, vacuum my whole condo, clean the fried egg off the countertop, repair the toilet . . . Oh, and I need to be in bed in two minutes.

—doctorlit cannot, for the life of him, figure out why he never finds time to write

Good to hear! by Linstar on 2022-08-03 04:30:55 UTC Reply

(Do I want to know how the egg got on the counter?) And what a laundry to-do list! Er...laundry list of a to-do list. Stupid English.

--Ls has isues finding writing time insead of playing Harry Potter match-three games. Though he did get some writing done today. Anyway, he feels you, doc. (Are you okay with that nickname?)

Whoops, should have been "stovetop," not "countertop." by doctorlit on 2022-08-03 11:35:59 UTC Reply

I was rushing, trying to get to bed . . .

—doctorlit has a character named Doc, so he prefers the full "doctorlit"

Okay, then. by Linstar on 2022-08-03 14:15:34 UTC Reply

I must say, that makes more sense.

All we need to find a little more writing time is a time machine?

Anyone have a TARDIS we could borrow?

—Ls

The circles are one of those things I'm happy with, but could have improved. (Still spoilers) by Huinesoron on 2022-08-02 12:31:05 UTC Reply

The comics actually theme the circles to the era - the 1920s Pantheon all get beautiful art deco symbols, for example. There is a world out there where I took the time to make them all look like PPC flashpatches; but it's not this world, and I'm happy enough with what we got.

I was imagining Time still DA-LEK-ING; I don't know whether I thought it at the time, but his performance would absolutely have been Dalek Relaxation for Humans writ large. The idea of him dropping in from another timeline is interesting; along with the Ellimist it would allow for the possibility of other stories using either our Pantheon or a new one. I don't have any plans in that vein, but there's nothing stopping other people from picking it up.

Okay, that's enough spoiler buffer, so... ^_^ Thank you! I'm really glad that scene worked as intended.

Nesh and I did actually start the 2022 issue last year, buuuut it got eaten by Google. It didn't get further than everything being creepy and Yavanna having a telepathic conversation with his future self; I don't even remember what they said. Since it never got published, I decided to just leave it out.

The Spirit of Imagination has never given a personal name. In her first appearance she doesn't use one, but in her second she says "Call me Nancy; it's not my name, but it's shorter." I genuinely think she just made it up on the spot, but it's convenient, so people have picked it up and run with it. It's entirely possible she doesn't have a name, just a description. I just like the fact that the all-powerful spirit is named Nancy. ^_^

I meant what I said in the final note: Tash was amazing to read along with. You really dove into what made her Tash, and it was nice to get a little proper WicDiv meltdown action into the story despite the short timeframe.

hS

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I left a bunch of Wic+Div stuff hanging. Sorry about that. [Still spoilers.] by Neshomeh on 2022-08-09 04:45:30 UTC Reply

I'd like to say I'm up for continuing all the things I started now, but I'm not. {= ( Maybe one thing, if there's somewhere it makes sense to focus first?

Anyway, it's nice to see the conclusion! I... feel like I should have seen that coming. It makes so much sense in hindsight.

My headcanon is that Jenni does figure out what happened at some point, but a) it's been long enough that she's not angry about it anymore, and b) what would even be the point of lecturing the Spirit of Imagination about letting a fantasy run wild? It would be like scolding water for being wet. {X D

Henry definitely remembers that time he was a god for a month, but it's like a dream, and the let-down gets pretty quickly overshadowed by finally going off to HFA. He might find he still knows a thing or two before they happen for the first year, though. ^_^

(Trivia: Henry also remembers that time he got body-swapped into Agent Kern for 36 hours when he was six. The worst part? He wasn't allowed to play with Kern's lightsaber.)

~Neshomeh

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Oh, no no, it's fine. (spoilers) by Huinesoron on 2022-08-09 10:06:45 UTC Reply

Like I said somewhere, Future Imperfect got chewed up by Google anyway. I managed to save the first couple of exchanges, but it's all just scene-setting. I'm happy to leave it unseen outside that terrifying icon-circle, and then let people look at the endnotes if they want.

I worry, sometimes, about Nancy being Too Much. Within her limits she appears to be ridiculously powerful, and there's probably a DIA file on her that consists of an endless list of the apocalypses she could bring about. There were no apparent constraints on, y'know, the time-traveller and death god she created for WicDiv, and it's not like there's going to be a shortage of people in the PPC who'll believe whatever she tells them. Her one saving grace is that she's so over-the-top about it that someone will call her on it - that, plus it's HQ, bizarre apocalypses happen all the time. She had nothing to do with the carnivorous meatloaf, for example.

I think, like their powers and attitudes during the event, each former-god's memories afterwards will be down to how they feel about it. Tanfin remembers the whole thing, but finds it slightly cringeworthy to think about, for example.

(Oh! Is that the Body-Swap RP? Y'know, I wonder if the new Spinoff Pages approach can be extended to canonical and semi-canonical RPs, breaking them down into sub-threads and so forth. It would certainly make it easier to refer to things to have a decent page, rather than a stubby description like that one currently sports.)

hS

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Ha ha, so furious at Google now! >8| by doctorlit on 2022-08-03 03:08:56 UTC Reply

So I was listening to that Dalek relaxation tape while I changed out of wet shoes at work today, and my teammate happened to come back in from working in an outdoor exhibit just as the video was ending. She was rather confused about what I had been listening to! But, since she needed to cool down and rehydrate from being outside, it was a perfect opportunity to let her relax as well. And soon her tension was exterminated! EXTERMINATED!

Bah, I remembered that first story Nancy had appeared in, but not the second, hence forgetting her name. It is, however, a most excellent name!

As for Tash's meltdown . . . Ironically, if I knew the Wic+Div canon, I might not have had her accelerate that quickly . . . But! It still works in character for Ilcharheen, since she's been loyal to Tash all her life. She was never going to put up any resistance to his will, consciously or unconsciously. So it make sense Tash went all the way Tash pretty much right out the gate! And as you said, at least we had a meltdown to get that proper flavor in!

—doctorlit, inexorable . . . -ly sleepy

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Just to be clear by Linstar on 2022-08-03 04:36:32 UTC Edited Reply

You're mad at Google for the Dalek video?

I'm mad at Google for losing the RP I wanted to read more of. (nm) by doctorlit on 2022-08-03 11:33:46 UTC Reply

Ah, okay. (nm) by Linstar on 2022-08-03 14:15:58 UTC Reply

If you were to chose a god(s) for the PPC, what would they be? by Linstar on 2022-08-01 21:41:33 UTC Reply

Out of curiosity,

—Ls
I forgot that O'Ryan canonically has the cloak now lol. by Kittyauthor on 2022-08-01 14:44:22 UTC Reply

~~I'm not crying at remembering happy little newbie me, you are!~~

~~cringes at every single spelling mistake in my works~~

But anyways, I love the author notes (Issue 14) adition! I'm sorry my character was the one that was least correct! I guess, looking back, I should've noted in the author notes that Kitty was now six foot. But, that's an error on my part.

I never did draw Kitty in her god form. I guess I'll have to do that soon. Granted, I don't expect it to be added to the Issues, but it'd be nice to draw something different than what I have been drawing.

It was so much fun to be a part of the RP, so thank you for that, hS! It was wonderful when it was happening!

-kA, who can't think of anything else to say.

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Oh, that's on me, not you. by Huinesoron on 2022-08-01 15:47:41 UTC Reply

I could easily have updated the picture once you made her height clear, but I was kinda lazy. ^_~ I mean technically I still can, and maybe will; her costume should scale up pretty easily at the (lack of) detail level I was working at.

I would love to see your drawing for Lucian! And of course I'll add it to the page (probably in Issue 14, like I did with Iximaz's colouring of Kord).

hS

In fact... by Huinesoron on 2022-08-01 16:08:35 UTC Reply

Lucian, taller

hS

Ooo! Nice! I love! (nm) by Kittyauthor on 2022-08-01 17:29:20 UTC Reply

It won’t let me access the document. by Linstar on 2022-08-01 13:46:01 UTC Reply

Apparently, “the url was blocked by a content filter.” Phooey.

Sounds like it was blocked by your content filter to me. ^_~ by Huinesoron on 2022-08-01 14:02:26 UTC Reply

Which puts it in the same category as you being unable to access Neocities or Wikipedia. It's not really something I can help with, I'm afraid; perhaps try whatever solution you employed back then?

hS

Yup. Not your fault at all. by Linstar on 2022-08-01 14:08:31 UTC Reply

Just another episode of "Linstar is king of technical difficulties."

I might be able to circumvent the issue anyway.

--Ls, regretting that he brought this up.

I figured out a way to read it. by Linstar on 2022-08-01 14:19:15 UTC Reply

And I now really wish I was around back then to participate!

(Wait, no. Goddess!Mina would be a disaster.)

—Ls