Hey, sorry it took me so long to get to reading this. It's been quite some busy weeks for me!
I really, really enjoyed this! It's a very PPC story, through and through. You made incredible use of so many elements of Headquarters: not just the physical elements like the Escher room and all the cameos, but the Marquis's drive for recruits, the discussion with Freedenberg over all the options the PPC has at its disposal, and my favorite of all, bending the usual protocols to have Intel seek out a goodfic, and turning it into a low-key mission to both give Mellon the opportunity he needed, and provide Gadrik and Fellrazer the mental enrichment they've been lacking. It's such a great little package you've tied together! (And speaking of Gadrik, he feels like a very realistic toddler here, too; you did a great job of describing a two-year-old's mannerisms!) I also loved all the detail you went into describing Mellon's thought process as a crow. Crows are tricky, being non-sapient animals that nonetheless have very complex mental faculties, and I think you did a great job of getting across a level of abstract thought without just resorting to using words. The conversation with the Marquis, with the emojis standing in for speech, was especially funny and expressive!
Some other, minor details I enjoyed: I like the idea that the lighting in HQ comes out of plotholes. I've always just figured HQ had visibility simply because the narrative laws required it for our characters to serve their roles, but the plothole detail really helps reinforce the patchwork nature of the "building." Also, I enjoyed Granny Weatherwax's little diatribe about choice vs. decision. Good stuff!
—doctorlit is proud to have one of his characters present in such a wonderful story!