The PPC Posting Board - Latest posts

Weird way to introduce yourself. You intend to join or what? Who are you?

-Twistey

So yeah, hi

That would be bad if I forgot, since everyone else is giving you birthday presents. I've got two for you. One virtual, and one real, since while I haven't interacted with you really all that much (my favorite instance being in the Badfic Games), you're one of the Boarders that I remember relatively well when I'm not on the Board.

Virtual present: Here is a two-handed sword that has been enhanced with a fantasy substance I'm studying. Don't grab the sword, the blade's very sharp and you don't want to scratch up things. This cushion to hold it is also for you. Hold out your forearms and hold it like a tray of food. Ah. There you go. [You examine the sword. It has a long, straight blade made of gleaming iron, with fantastic designs depicting suns, angels and more, inlaid with a rose-gold-ish material. The hilt is made of stone, under a thin layer of similar rose-gold stuff, with a section of it wrapped in black leather as a hand grip.] That peachy colored stuff is the fantasy substance. It's not as dangerous when it's refined as when it's in raw form, hence why it will only cause your enemies to feel an intense burning sensation where they've been cut and experience hallucinations, instead of undergoing a full-on transformation like they would if this were a sword made of the raw stuff. The people who created this sword, who I stole it from, like to pretend that only the "right" user can wield it to its full potential, but that's absolute baloney. That's why I gave it to you, because you are nowhere near their definition of the "right" user, so you can make them really mad by being living evidence that they're very wrong about one of their most prized weapons. I'll tell you more if you stick around long enough.

Real present: I've gotten very into Overwatch recently and today I had an idea to draw some of us Boarders as Overwatch characters that fit our personalities. I was having trouble coming up with a sixth Boarder and their character for the "here's the team that won" drawing (or a fifth Boarder, if the dude I'm trying to recruit doesn't show up). I looked through the characters and how the fandom tends to depict them, comparing them with your "How to Be Thoth" post, and I'm thinking I'll put you as Genji. Congrats, you're now part of one of my Board memes, and with the character you have, you don't even have to send a doodle of yourself. Just tell me your favorite color for me to use instead of the green details on the design so that people who look at it can recognize that it's not just Genji. Or if your favorite color is green (me too), lemme know what I could do to tweak it and make it recognizable as being "Thoth in cosplay."

Have an awesome birthday.

-Twistey

Hello there

Except for the main one. I kinda fluctuate tightly around the center.

So yeah. But I do know I wouldn't have any of those flag stickers.

You could ask me some of the questions if you like, or you could try to guess from my personality.

Also, sorry for replying late, I didn't see this until now.

-Twistey

Also, happy birthday! *Pfeep*

-Twistey

I give unto you a Campbell-pattern medium laspistol. Luke Campbell is an artist and frequent contributor to the website Atomic Rockets. His designs for realistic laser weapons are excellent.

Cheers for clearing that up. I still, iunno, personally find it a bit cheesy that there was no PMing or anything like that but, ah, well, fair enough, ey? I can understand PMing the person in question of a conversation directly a whole lot more than sort of, trying to get stuff on the Board.

Sorry for somehow implying you were an 'attack-dog'. I'm not trying to start anything and I'm not trying to go after anyone but, hey, whatever. Pardon.

-The original extract (two posts) was brought to me by Iximaz, who did of course also address it directly.

-I have no knowledge of who gave the extract to Iximaz.

-I obtained the full transcript from a third party who I knew could provide it.

-There doesn't seem to be much difference between 'tell the person who might be offended' and 'invoke the Wrath of hS', except that I am not actually an attack-dog who can be aimed at whoever people please, and so telling me is probably less likely to set things off.

hS

So, er, considering I was one of the people with the dismaying and inappropriate behaviour, I can understand taking what I say with a grain of salt and such, but so on, so forth. Also, pardon for being so late, but I didn't want to add my own thoughts to such a raw situation I was a part of, and, well, I dunno, better to say something than nothing at all, right?

I don't think hS was necessarily entirely in the wrong, in this situation. Consider the fact that he's just sort of sat there, then someone comes to him telling him of bad things happening in the Discord - again - and that he and he alone ought to be the one who sorts this all out. It's a disconcerting situation, and I can entirely see why that would lead to him wanting to make a Board post. The very act of it being brought to him was escalating the situation into 'Major Drama' and that's not really the fault of hS. Though it was hS' ultimate choice to, obviously, make the Board post, I can entirely see the processing that led to him making said post.

I think the most questionable part comes in from whoever it was who went to hS in the first place. You have, here, a person who is concerned about the direction in which a situation is going, but doesn't say a single thing about it, and instead silently goes off and reports it to someone considered a 'higher up', as it were.
I disagree with this.

We needed - at least, I know I did - to be encountered on our behaviour, no doubt. And I appreciate that, and I'm glad we have a community that expects people to be encountered on bad behaviour. But, then, as Quince mentioned way earlier, why weren't we messaged at the time?
And I can understand, as well, the idea of bringing issues to the Board. That's a thing we do, so that we have a wider variety of opinions on a situation, don't lock certain people out of a decision that may affect them, and all. But in almost every previous occasion we had something brought to the Board, we all knew about it. It was mentioned in chat and we all agreed 'sure, bring it to the Board.' Our latest situation certainly wasn't!

Had there been better communication, this situation wouldn't have blown up nearly to the proportions it would have. There was no reason at all for Quincy and I to have not been contacted beforehand, whether through PM or just through the PPC Lounge chat itself. Were we really acting so irrationally as to have been totally unreachable at the time, leaving the only reasonable option being getting hS?

I don't like this attitude conveyed. I like to think we're all reasonable and mature enough to be able to stick a hand on each other's shoulders and say 'hey, you're out of line, cut it out.' and reply 'Oh, you're right, sorry.' and finish it off right then and there, without any needless escalation or unnecessary legality. I'm disappointed that we're not even trusted to be able to do that.
And I don't like the Orwellian sense that there is a person - or persons - sat there silently watching for anyone to mess up so they can instantly bring it in front of everyone, to hS, to the Board, without them even knowing about it at all until it suddenly pops up on the Board out of nowhere. There's obviously situations - have been situations - where a situation has to be brought up to hS, but I disagree with how that was the first solution, to the extent that Quincy had to ask if hS' Board post was about her.

"That is some premium-grade Monstrous Nightmare gel, locally sourced from my boy Fellrazer here." She patted the blue, dog-sized dragon at her side, who parted his jaws in a toothy grin. "Coat something with that, and it'll burn. Hot." She turned from Ami to the other agents. "And there's more where that came from! If you're interested, come to Response Center 1110 with a reasonable offer, and we'll talk. No Zorkmids, though. Fellrazer Brand Monstrous Nightmare Gel: Get It While It's Hot!"

Her partner gave a long-suffering sigh. "Gall. Are you going to choose a gift today?" He gestured at the remaining Party Balls.

"Oh, right." The Viking went up to the pile, stared at it a moment with her lips pursed, then stuck her hand in and snagged one. She offered it to Fellrazer to sniff. He nudged it with his snout, licked it, tilted his head, and attempted to eat it.

Gall yanked it back. "Okay, good enough for me!" She shoved the dragon's snout down with one hand and opened the ball with the other. Out popped the distinctive form of a lightsaber handle. Gall's face lit with glee, and she eagerly scooped it up. "Is this what I think it is?" She toggled the control—and immediately flinched away from the bright urple beam. "Aw, no! Why would you do that?!" She held it as far away from herself as she could.

Fellrazer, too, hissed and backed away from the urple 'saber.

Derik laughed, although he was careful not to turn his good eye in Gall's direction.

(( For the record, I rolled a d20 to make it a random selection. More fun that way.

(( A little more info on Monstrous Nightmare gel: it is bright lime green, and similar in action to kerosene gel or napalm. ))

GMA had a good point about how there wasn't much on-Board RP happening these days down below, so I decided to do something about it. Namely, I quickly jotted down a paragraph of starter for RP set in Rudi's Pub (which is, among other things, the default setting for RP on the Discord) and started a thread on T-Board.

Said RP thread is here. Everything is quite open ended so, uh, yeah, have fun.

- Tomash

She had decided that, since she was now in some sort of multiversal hub, she might as well expand her drink orders a bit. This turned out to be rather complicated, as, even with the "things I can drink" filter on, the drink list was still quite long, which made actually picking something to order rather difficult.

Eventually, she lowered the menu and started glancing around, hoping to catch the eye of someone who looked like they knew what they were doing.

Rudi's Pub was moderately busy. Agents, Operations staff, and the various other denizens of HQ (along with the occasional person who'd fallen in from elsewhere with a thump) came in and out, looking for food, drink, and/or company. They seated themselves at the bar or at one of the many tables and booths throughout the place. There was a moderate background buzz of conversation in the room, but not enough to make anyone nearby hard to hear.

(( - Tomash ))

It's actually funnier now that I'm reading the whole series in order, rather than seeing parts of it for beta-reading. It's all rather hilariously surreal, and you've got a nice descriptive and imaginative narrative voice.

Basically, this feels very PPC, and, uh, yeah. I'm bad at reviews. I'm working on it, sort of.

- Tomash

"The one I got you has a few of the more popular songs from seasons one and two of the show. Hope you enjoy them!"

She trotted up to the stage. "Let's see here...gah, it's so much harder to choose when they all look the same." Her horn lit up and a party ball at the back of the pile levitated towards her.

"If she gets my present I'm gonna laugh," said Miguel.

The Party Ball opened, and a jam jar full of a strange gel landed on the stage. "Well, this is...interesting..."

Glad to hear this place has done so much for you. Have some sticky notes shaped like cats!

I'm glad you were able to have a good experience here!

Anyway, have a triple chocolate (as in chocolate with chocolate chips and chocolate icing) cupcake, and don't forget to blow out the candle and make a wish!

Have an ENIAC!

I do hope you have somewhere to put it.

- Tomash

I am now 17 years old! Which is cool, I guess.

And in that time... Jeez. I've been in the PPC for about half a year. And if you had told me in Augest, when I posted that hesitant introduction on the board, where I'd be now? That I would be in the middle of a co-write that was also my first PPC mission? That I would meet people who would become my close friends? That I'd have opened up to myself and my family about my sexuality? That I would be a happier, healthier, more confident person? And that it would be thanks to you guys?

I'd have thought you were mad.

Thank you, everyone. You, all of you, this place, changed my life. And it changed it for the better.