*om nom nom*

Don't feel too bad for Nume. He does a fair bit to make things worse for himself than they need to be—but on the other hand, his neurotic avoidance of squick let him save the day this time. *g*

Thanks! *hugs*

~Neshomeh

I figured that out about the time I was deciding whether to bother gender-bending a character who doesn't much care about what bits she has. {= ) I found out that women in the yakuza are the exception rather than the rule, though—all the big organized crime organizations I've heard of come from very patriarchal cultures and are basically boys' clubs—and I didn't think it would set a good example for me to go "Well hey, it can happen, so it's totally okay for me to do it!" Plus, if it's okay for my character, it should be okay for Rachel, and that makes her just a bit less ridiculous, which is no fun.

In other words, I think a generalization is appropriate here. Anyone who wants to write seriously about the yakuza will have done more research than I and therefore know better, and anyone who doesn't know better might as well believe that what's typical is what's true.

I could also make the case that Nume simply doesn't know better, but that's kinda beside the point.

I hope that wasn't the only thing about the mission that stood out in your mind enough to comment on. {= (

~Neshomeh

Sheesh, you'd think this was a Star Trek mission with all the KHAN!-shouting going on in this thread. {X D

"Cohesive" is a very nice word to hear, since I often feel like I get caught up in making each individual scene, paragraph, or sentence work and just kind of cross my fingers and hope that the whole thing will work as a result. ^_^;

As always, you were a big help and great to work with. *hugs*

~Neshomeh

Not just Logic, but a Hitchhikers' Guide reference at that - even better!

I'm also (whatever number we're up to now)-ing the 'KHAAAAAAAAAAN!' being awesome.

I always look forward to your reviews. {= )

Aw, how come you hate anime? I totally get not being into it—you have to be willing to accept a lot of bizarre stuff to enjoy most of it—but why the hate? Also, what have you seen, and can I recommend some that are not overly weird?

Still, I'm glad you were able to enjoy the mission regardless. I didn't get into Lucy as much mostly because I didn't feel like I could take the time to discuss her in detail that late in the mission, and it wouldn't have made the fic make more sense anyway. But yeah, fully explaining her would spoil the show, which is all about the mystery of what her deal is.

Jenni is not allowed to tag along more often, I'm afraid. She's supposed to be doing her time as not-the-main-character, and it's a struggle to keep her that way—she has a tendency to dominate any given situation, partly because that's her personality, partly because she was my avatar for a very long time and writing her comes more naturally than writing anyone else. On the other hand, this story was a great way to make her not be right about everything and suffer consequences for making assumptions. Though, in her defense, Nume made it really easy for her, and he has an equal share in everything that went wrong.

Ilraen will be stepping up to the plate more from here on out. Working with other agents and generally being exposed to new people and situations has opened his eyes to some of what he's actually capable of. Don't worry about the last paragraph too much. {= ) I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with that yet, but I can at least promise it won't involve Lux beyond him maybe reading her book. That would be way too obvious.

Re. Les Tacos, I left it alone mostly because (again) I didn't feel like I had time to delve into it at that point, and also I didn't have any great ideas for it. I figured it was stupid just because it's uninspired as well as incorrect Spanish (didn't occur to me that les is French), but it seems like it's possible to find lots of different reasons to laugh at it. Phobos tells me he thinks it sounds like a lesbian hangout, for instance. Perhaps it's best that it's left up to the readers to put their own spin on it?

I've had fish tacos (which were okay aside from being too spicy for me), but I dunno about frog tacos. Not sure how you'd coax a croissant into a cylindrical shape, either. Maybe snail chili could work, but that would take a lot of snails. {X D

Thanks for catching those typos! They're fixed now.

~Neshomeh

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it, and I don't think you should be ashamed of particularly enjoying the Khan joke, since it was pretty much aimed at you. {= )

I hope people have known Ilraen as "adorable naive blue centaur alien," because that's how I've written him. He's slowly emerging as a pretty awesome dude, though, especially if what we see in stuff like "Catastrophe Theory" has any resonance at all with the prime timeline. (I think it does.) Nobody quite realizes what a badass they have on their hands, but they may yet. We'll see.

Not surprised to hear the rose-colored glasses have faded with regards to Nume. I love him, but he's a big jerk. ^~

I'm writing some backstory with him and Jenni, which seems like it will please people. BRN really got me thinking about how they got to be the way they are; i.e., why they associate with each other despite apparently not being able to go two minutes without arguing. It makes me happy to know that people besides me like their dynamic, so it won't just be a self-indulgent project.

Now, Star Trek:

1. I hope that's not on my account. ^^; I do like the first reboot movie a lot, just to clarify. I'm not against the overall idea; I just thought it was lazy of Into Darkness to ride on the coattails of its predecessor rather than taking the opportunity to do something completely new.

2. OMG Garak is the most awesome ever you have no idea!!1one! ... *cough* Ahem. That is, yes, I concur that DS9 is highly enjoyable and so is our resident genteel tailor. Also, I love his relationship with Bashir, and I ship that. Of the main cast... heck, I don't know, either. I do like Bashir, but he occasionally suffers for Trek's tendency to play fast and loose with how biology works. Kira kicks so much ass, and so does Cisco. I used to like Odo more, but now I think he's best taken in his dynamic with others, especially Kira and Quark. The first few seasons are pretty Quark-heavy, as I recall. That bugged me, but he ends up rather likeable overall, IMO, so it's worth it.

And that's enough of that for this post, I think. ^_^; I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. There's loads more awesomeness ahead! {= D

~Neshomeh

This is at least shorter than "Ring Child," if Tripod's file size count is to be believed... but yeah, I'm deliberately gunning for a smaller fic next time around. The Lichen is going to cut them a break. It's not totally heartless like some of its colleagues, after all. *cue evil laughter off-screen* {; )

I had fun writing the not-a-charge-list, so I'm glad you noticed! Nume does declare that he's charging her early on, though. I felt I had to make sure everything he says to her afterward is technically official, if you squint at it sideways.

Sounds like not many people are familiar with these continua. I'd strongly recommend Avatar: The Last Airbender and Princess Mononoke to anyone. Avatar is an all-around fantastic show with a fully developed world, strong characters, and really great writing. Princess Mononoke (and pretty much anything else by Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli) is widely regarded as a good starter anime—it's approachable and has a complex morality that makes you think instead of just shoving the answer in your face. You can sympathize with everyone's side of the conflict to some degree, which I love. The English voice cast is pretty star-studded, if that counts for anything.

Anyway, thanks! Glad you enjoyed the mission. {= )

~Neshomeh

I'm not likely to be very active for a while yet, but I'm around.

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the mission. As I've asked others, though, could you tell me what was brilliant about it? To deserve a word like that, there must be something you can point to. {= )

~Neshomeh

One reason this mission took so long to complete was the sheer amount of material I had to work with. It's tempting to let the bad writing speak for itself, but I wanted to make a point of pushing the envelope with how I could reinterpret it. I'm glad it payed off. {= )

You can thank Phobos and one Mr. Douglas Adams for the assassination method. (And if you haven't read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy yet, what are you still doing here? Go! Read!)

Thanks!

~Neshomeh

*reads mission*
*reads "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" line*
*starts laughing*
*heads to Board; tries to get over laughing fit; succeeds long enough to type*

Whew. That "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" line was a good break from the complete mindscrew of a badfic. Was that deliberate comic relief? Either way, you just gave me a good second wind to keep going through this mission. I wonder what our agents have in store for this ridiculous 'Sue?

I'm kinda wondering if that in itself could be a new charge. "Gratuitous use of dramatic villan's name scream".

I figured the Star Trek buffs around here would particularly enjoy that part. I think any self-respecting geek would have the same response as the agents in that situation, though. {= D

Ilraen has to fight tooth and claw to get a word in edgewise against the combined force of Nume vs. Jenni, so I'm happy he stands out enough to win some love. He's growing up so fast. *wipes tear* May I ask what in particular impressed you?

Thanks for the Swiss Bleepolate! Hm, maybe I should share with the agents... but then again... nah. My chocolate, my own, my Preciousss.... *scuttles into a corner to nom*

~Neshomeh

I haven't considered the humor aspect of PPC writing my strongest suit, so it's great to hear you found the mission so funny. ^_^ What were your favorite bits? Gotta know what works vs. what falls flat.

Re. Bleepka, I tend to agree—I look for "so bad it's funny" badfic to PPC, and I'm actually pretty fond of the original "Blood Raining Night" for the amount of entertainment it's provided me and my friends. Not that it doesn't have its moments of real awfulness, but the overblown descriptions and nonsensical plot turns are pure comedic gold. *g*

~Neshomeh

Jeez, I hope you weren't waiting on me. O.o;

Jenni's not too badly off, really. Sure, the Sue-tracking anklet she's got coming will chafe a bit, but she'll live. {= )

Thanks again!

~Neshomeh

But, if I may press, what was wonderful about it? I'm glad you took the time to read and enjoyed it, but knowing what I did right is important if I'm to keep doing it and build on it. {= )

(Veritasium in general is pretty cool. Credit goes to Phobos for introducing me to them and giving me the idea.)

~Neshomeh

Sure, it's been almost a year since I last posted a mission, but who's counting? {; P

I've got a couple short stories in the works, though. One is an event piece and pretty much finished, just waiting for the appropriate time (February) to post; the other is backstory and only just started. I'm not entirely sure how far it'll go, but it should be fun.

Not sure what mission I'm going to do next. It's Derik and Gall's turn, but there's an FMA x HP crossover that's been on my back burner for years...

~Neshomeh