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Canon: Star Wars

You've fallen into a galaxy full of possibilities, a vast canvas of war and peace, heroism and villainy, stables and starships. I'm sure you'll have a great time, provided you can survive the next hour or so.

Now, here's your first question. It's very important that you answer this as quickly as possible:

Can you breathe?
-Yes.
-No.

PS: No, sadly there are no Time Lords here. Probably. Though at this point I wouldn't be surprised if someone hadn't written them in.

Currently: on the Eastern Front of either the Sudden Flame or the Unnumbered Tears

Congratulations, INSERTNAMEHERE - you are privileged to see Glaurung the Golden, Father of Dragons, devourer of Elves and Men, scourge of Dorthonion, Nargothrond, and Brethil, the Terror of the North. Isn't he cool?

No, by the way - he isn't cool. He's hot enough to burn the flesh off your bones.

Now that the Great Worm has shown up, Maedhros should be retreating soon (as is only wise!). I strongly recommend you tag along with him; while there's definitely going to be some awesome stuff happening here, it's pretty much going to end with the triumph of Evil. I mean, depending on which battle you're actually in, you could see an army of dwarves face down the dragon, an entire cavalry regiment set aflame, or the betrayal of Maedhros by... um... huh.

Say, while you're waiting for your unwitting guide to retreat, would you say you'd describe yourself as... maybe... 'swarthy'?

-Uh, no.
-Yes, why?
-What the heck, Mysterious Voice from Above? Are you racist all of a sudden?!

((I find it oddly hilarious that 'Maedhros fights Orcs on Anfauglith and then Glaurung shows up' still isn't enough to narrow down which battle we're in... dude had a rough time of it. ~hS))

I'm confused. Why isn't everyone here an alien? Waiiit, I've seen this show--the human-looking ones are Time Lords!! Awesome. :)

((Because I very clearly remember there being several threads running at once last time, and also, why not?))

~Z

Currently: watching Maedhros fight left-handed.

You'll be glad to know that Maedhros is definitely going to escape this fight. Don't worry about the fact that he's running on only one hand - the other one getting cut off was a whole thing, and ages ago now.

Now, as we said before, Maedhros is excellent at this fighting thing. If you wait around a bit, and keep out of sight, he and his warriors should easily be able to dispatch these Orcs.

...

How's it going?
-The Orcs are all dead.
-Brave Sir Maedhros is running away.
-The Orcs are all dead, but now there's a huge dragon.
-The Orcs are all dead, and he's started on the humans.

Wow, you two really found a bad one this time. I don't have much to say that isn't incoherent squeeing at Ix coming out of her shell and Jacques's introspection at the end; I only noticed one thing to critique.

Near the end of the mission, Jacques summarizes the bit with Samanthea speaking French, but then that scene is quoted just a few lines later. I think it may have worked a bit better to just have the French scene and then the Agents reacting; the way it's written, quoting the fic just seemed a bit redundant to me. That's a really small thing in a long mission full of awesome, though, so great work!

This informs us that we definitely shouldn't trust him.

It seems that you've stumbled into the presence of the legendary Maedhros, son of Feanor, sometime High King of the Noldor, and frankly the most with-it of House Feanor (maybe excluding Celebrimbor). The good news is that he is a mighty warrior, and won almost every battle he was involved in.

The bad news is, there was one time he failed spectacularly. But I'm sure you'll be fine!

Currently: watching Maedhros get his murder on.

Which hand is Maedhros using to wield his sword?
-Right.
-Left.

I would compare him to some distant relative of warner bros studio exec's oc Tauriel, but he just killed an Orc that was trying to bite my shins off.

... But it's still valid.

More than anything, I hate authors making things up to justify romantic pairings and then saying it's True Love. I don't care what the pheromones are doing or what a character's "magic" or whatever wants, I want to see how two characters' personalities interact.

Again, the only fic I read is bad slash so I can torture everyone around me with it, so I don't know if these things are all that prevalent in fic as a whole, but it really pushes my buttons.

Currently: in a fight.

It sounds like you've landed in a [b]war[/b]. This is one of the best places to be if you want to spend a lifetime discovering new things about your new home. The only downside is that said lifetime may be... rather short.

Now, keep yourself out of sight and let's see if we can get a few more details. The smaller group in front of you sound like Elves, who are generally good; the other set are Orcs, who are bad. For now, let's focus on the leader of the (probable) Elves.

Is the leader...
- Fair-haired?
- Red-haired?
- Black-haired?
- Black-haired, but also kind of glowing a bit?
- Radiant with the light of Iluvatar?
- A family group?

This is for people who make people go, and I quote, "oh hey, PERSONNAMEHERE has actually been really great for the community!". I cause arguments and drama and I get unreasonably angry at minor provocation. While I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm bad for the community (though there were quite a few people over the years who'd argue otherwise), I'm nowhere near the standard of both behaviour and output that a PG/Moderator should uphold.

...but there's a small group of tall, pretty people trying their hardest to kill a bunch of really ugly people who are trying to return the favor? I'm kind of just hiding right now so I don't get caught in the crossfire.

~Z

You've landed in a world of magic and mystery, of heroes and history, of wars and... something else ending in -stery. Sophistry, possibly.

The good news is, there are lots of places in Middle-earth where you won't be immediately killed. On the other hand, there are also lots of places you will be immediately killed. So with that in mind:

Is anyone trying to kill you?
-No.
-Grubby people.
-Pretty people.
-Short people.
-Really ugly people.
-Spiders.

((I should highlight at this point that even when 5/6 options point to 'yes', 'no' is still perfectly acceptable. The nature of the question means it looks loaded, but it's really two questions: 'is anyone trying to kill you', and 'if so, who'.

Obviously any of the yeses are also acceptable. ^_^

And yes, I cribbed this one wholesale from last year. Why not? If it worked then, it'll work now, and Mysterious Voices from Above don't make work for themselves. ~hS))

I can post more, actually, especially if people I've cowritten with are okay with it. I've also moved the stuff I posted on LJ to Dreamwidth, which is at least where Das Sporking is now, so maybe that counts as a bit of the community...?

Lily Winterwood was also posting missions and Multiverse Monitor articles (among other things) on Tumblr, which seems to have at some point actually gained a fic-writing community or seven; while I don't believe she's currently doing any PPC writing, the old stories are still up and she mentions the PPC from time to time.

I always kind of associated LJ with the PPC--the older PPC, from pre-2010, that I grew up reading (yes, you can feel old now. Sorry). That's why I originally set up there: a bit of nostalgia and continuation of tradition, and, well, why not? There were quite a few people who posted missions there or on Dreamwidth, from what I remember both of that time and of the immense amount of reading I did beginning in 2013 when I became a Boarder.

I...have lost track of my point a little, but hopefully this makes sense regardless. And yeah, as mentioned, I'm game to post some more to AO3--I was using it as a sort of backup, as well as a kind of 'well, why not?' and then kind of forgot about actually posting things on there. It's been busy.

~Z

PS: Speaking of which...hS, a whole bunch of us, at varying times, began university degrees and reached the last couple years of them. That might also impact the posting rates; I definitely know there were times when I barely even checked the Board for months, and certainly wasn't posting, because of that. It was just too much to balance--this was mainly at the time I was doing two degrees, I think, and was generally just very stressed out.

PPS: I remember that filed away project! Or at least, it sounds very familiar. Also still sounds like something of a good idea.

Pretty much everywhere.

Yes, many characters are flawed. Yes, it can be interesting to see how events or people would change if specific characters were actually evil out manipulative, *especially* if there's already a bit of canon support for it or at least something that can be twisted that way.

Character bashing, however, generally consists of the author and characters going out of their way to portray someone--often someone close to the main characters, as in Ron Weasley or Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, as secretly evil, physically disgusting, sociopathic, heartlessly manipulative, etc, and then publicly deriding them for it. It ignores the characters' best traits--in fact, it often ignores that they exist, or portrays a complete misunderstanding of the character in canon--and it's just plain uncomfortable and even upsetting to read. I hate it, and would much rather have a more balanced portrayal of a deeply flawed character, thank you very much.

~Z

PS: When you pair this with Scary Sues and protagonist centered morality it gets even worse.

PPS: Why, yes, Partially Kissed Hero was rather on my mind while writing this post. So was Gwen Cooper, though. ...and Peter Pettigrew, actually, though that's a whole different and kind of tangential rant.

Having written Elves and being mostly able to parse Sindarin names (the necessity of a dictionary varies from year to year and name to name) must be good for something, right?

~Z

Tomash is an active participant in the community, and he has already shown his ability to handle responsibility. He is generally able to examine both sides of a given situation, and does not make decisions rashly. I believe he would make an excellent mod.

... again!

Congratulations! You have been selected by a nonspecific omnipotent entity to be pulled from the real world and flung headfirst into a land of fiction. My name is Huinesoron, and I will be your Mysterious Voice from Above for today. I'm here to guide you through your first steps in your new home - oh, bee tee dubs, you're never getting back - and hopefully keep you alive. Fingers crossed!

First things first: while you were falling through the swirling mists of the Void, your nonspecific omnipotent entity should have whispered the name of the world you're heading for into your ear. So before we go any further:

Where are you going?
-Middle-earth
-An InGen genetic engineering facility [ie, Jurassic Park]
-A galaxy far, far away

---

We're back! It's been over a year, but I figured I'd give this another stab.

This is a game that cuts somewhere between roleplay, fiction, and Fun With Canons. You - as the collective responder - will answer a series of questions from your Mysterious Voice from Above, and the answers you give will determine where you are (and how that goes for you). Be aware that this is a canon-friendly game - so for instance, if you're in Middle-earth, you do not speak Westron/Sindarin, and will have to figure things out without that.

For this first question, I need you to pick one of the three options. Every other question will also be multiple-choice, but you can also come up with your own answer. You should also feel free to elaborate on your answers as much as you want - the goal is for people who don't know the canon to be able to answer by picking one of the options, while people who do know it can make their own or elaborate on one of the choices.

I'll be keeping track of where you are at any given time, so people can jump straight in without having to read the whole thread. I'd like to stick to at most one chain per canon, though - otherwise it gets messy.

Oh, and feel free - after this first question - to give answers that don't directly answer. Your Mysterious Voice might get a bit Cli- uh, snippy with you, but hey, you've just fallen into a canon world, we have to make allowances.

hS

PS: Last time we introduced Italian food to Couruscant, escaped the fall of Numenor and spent our life exploring Middle-earth, got killed by werewolves in Uberwald, crashed on Tython, and somehow converted the Emperor from a Sith Lord into an art connoisseur. So, y'know, there's a lot to live up to. ^_^ ~hS, Mysterious Voice from Above

Because I find it distinctly worrying that only one person is trusted enough by the PPC community to be considered for Discord mod, and that only two are options for Permission Givers.

So, rather than propose people myself (because I already did that), I thought I'd share some data to help people consider other options. I've come up with two lists: who posts the most, and who has been here longest. Current Permission Givers are marked with a *star. Current moderators are marked with a ^caret.

Top 10 Most Prolific Posters During March 2018

Thoth - 109
*Neshomeh - 96
*Iximaz - 79
*Huinesoron - 67
Scapegrace - 44
Tomash - 43
Novastorme - 35
Calliope - 33
61516 - 31
twistedwindowpane - 30

10 PPCers Posting in March 18 Who Joined Longest Ago

*Kaitlyn - May 03
*Leto Haven - May 03
*Huinesoron - Oct 03
*^Delta Juliette - Oct 03
*Neshomeh - Jun 04
Tawaki - May 06
*Phobos - Jul 09
doctorlit - Oct 09
OpinionedAngel - Dec 09

... that's a pretty useless list, since it only has Tawaki, doc, and OpinionedAngel who aren't PGs, and Tawaki at least is an intermittent visitor.

Next 10 Oldest Posters (You Know What I Mean)

*^PoorCynic - Apr 10
Sergio Turbo - Jun 10
Tomash - Jul 11
Ozzielot - Sep 11
World-Jumper - Dec 12
*Zingenmir - Jan 13
Hieronymus Graubart - Jul 13
Novastorme - Jul 13
Scapegrace - Dec 13
*Iximaz - Jan 14

As I say, this shouldn't be construed as endorsing anyone (indeed, one - Sergio - has left the PPC and isn't eligible); all I'm doing is putting up the names in case they make anyone go 'oh hey, PERSONNAMEHERE has actually been really great for the community!'.

hS

This thread is all about how we shouldn't make ourselves known, how we should stay holed up in our little corner. Which I'm against, if my post didn't make it clear. :)

I still have filed away a project to put some classic PPC missions up on FFn, as a 'Welcome to the PPC' introduction project. I also made sure to post the Driftwood series on FFn, which brought in at least a few people; I think Ix had missions up there, too.

So far as I know no-one's posted PPC stuff to AO3; it bears looking into. I'm skimming their FAQs and can't find anything that would exclude the PPC, though missions would definitely need to cite their original. (They in fact specifically allow transformative works of other fanfic.) --in fact, checking, Zingenmir posted a few things there, and AO3 has actually auto-archived TOS. So I may cross-post Driftwood at least if I get the time; could be worth a shot.

Other points: the PPC was never really on LJ. We had a community that basically existed to collect people's personal journals, and another that was to collect in-character agent journals, but we didn't interact with the wider community. We've always been an insular lot. ^_^

And yes, it's only April - which is why I made sure to point out that I was comparing January-to-January across the dataset. :)

hS

But so did the existence of the IRC, which my research says was created in 2007 and lasted until about 2015. Its foundation may have led to the massive drop-off in '07-'08, and its closure may have caused the spike in '16, but it doesn't explain the gradual increase between those years.

We also had a Bravenet chatroom roughly '03-'06, during the busiest time on the Board. The PPC has pretty much always had a chatroom bobbing about somewhere.

hS

is that the PPC isn't where the fandom is anymore.

Back in the day, from what I can tell, a bunch of PPC stuff was on Livejournal, which is where a lot of fandom people were (and also FFnet before that). This meant that you could start in typical fandom spaces and find the PPC (maybe you'd need to stumble on something, but it wouldn't be particularly unlikely).

However, fandom's moved to other places, like, say, AO3 and Tumblr, and there's not a PPC presence anywhere near there. We're hiding in our corner of the Internet, and there are probably a lot of people who would join ... if they knew we existed.

I'm not sure what can be done here, since I don't interact too much with fandoms, but that sounds like something we should think about. Because it's hard to sustain a community no one knows about other than the members.

(also, wrt those stats - it's only April this year, and did you pull 2017 numbers from the archives?)

- Tomash

Or screenplay, or whatever.

I think fanfiction should at the very least recontextualize the canon, if not take it in a whole new direction. Preserving the canon characters' dialogue is one thing, because how people speak is an important part of characterization, but I don't think there's often an excuse for copying whole paragraphs of narrative. That's a good way to make my brain check out of your story in a hurry, because if I wanted the original, I'd be reading the original.

Also, misquoting the original text. If you are going to borrow lines, get them right. See above note on characterization.

~Neshomeh