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This message is meant to be general. There shouldn't be any issue with it, and nitpicking is not useful or wanted. Use as much clarity as you feel will get your message across unfettered and unaltered.

A forced shift of personality. Very unlikely to happen again in PPC group chat.

I personally don't have a problem with this, but GEEMA raises a valid point. If this was a re-occurring problem with an individual, I could see the argument, but since as far as I can tell, this was the first time with him, I think it is important that we, as a community, help each other out. Honestly, I was not there when this happened, so I was kind of confused at first, but from what I can tell, it was just someone going through a rough time who couldn't deal with it any more and kind of exploded. Ultimately, I think he should be allowed back.

We will be mature and respectful of other people's opinions. You may disagree with some people and that's alright - but you still have to respect their opinions on this topic, as their voice should be heard, regardless of the person.

I am reminding people of this because some people believe that their voice will be silenced due to their previous opinions in debates and arguments completely unrelated to this, and that they would be written off due to their previous sentiments. This should not, and will not be the case here.

Sprinkles wants to come back because he loves this group and its people. He had no intent of hurting anyone - at the time, he was affected by what we've agreed to call a forced shift of personality.

Physically, he was at the keyboard, yes. Mentally? Not so much.

We've already determined - rightfully so - that mental issues don't excuse people from being plain awful. But they do need to be taken into consideration in cases like this.

Additionally, Iximaz never have a reason for objecting to Sprinkles coming back. I know the reason, at least in general terms, because I've been talking to both of them (though I have talked to Sprinkles much, much more about this), but the fact that he wasn't willing to say why he objected to the group at large speaks volumes to me.
It's also entirely possible that nobody asked and he would have been willing to say why if someone had - which is why I'm asking now, in this discussion, what exactly his reason was. Why, Ix?

--Cal

It's important to note that a few other people did object to bringing Sprinkles back. As I understand it, nobody thinks that he's a bad person or should be banned in the traditional sense (i.e. for bad behavior). The concern is that it's a huge emotional drain on everyone when someone, anyone, has a meltdown like that--not only because the things said were potentially harmful, but because we're worried about Sprinkles' own well-being.

Speaking for myself, I have no objections to bringing Sprinkles back, but I do want to see him get the kind of support and help that he needs to feel better about himself even at his low points. I'm not sure that we can offer that. Of course we can be friends, but there's only so much a username and some text on the Internet written by a stranger can do for self-esteem.

I realize I'm rambling, so I'll stop. I just wanted to provide a little more context to the situation as I saw it, and anyone can obviously correct me if I misread something.

Last night, Mr Sprinkles asked me in PM on Discord whether people would be okay with him returning to the PPC Discord.
To those who do not know, since he joined, Mr Sprinkles was very active on the Discord, and, in my opinion, a great member of the PPC. On New Year's Eve, he had what appears to be a major meltdown, and said several things I'd prefer not to repeat here, that generally boiled down to "You don't matter to me.", "My existence is meaningless.", "You don't know the real me." and "You are lying when you say that you care about me.". The meltdown ended with him leaving the server on his own (He was not kicked as far as I know). After a while, he apparently asked Cal via PM to pass on his apology and that he was feeling slightly better, which she did.
Mr Sprinkles came back a few hours later for a short period of time, to positive reactions from those who were online at the time. He again apologized for what had happened, and left again shortly after, due to needing a break from the PPC after what had happened.
Yesterday evening, he asked me whether I would be willing to poke the server about whether people would be okay with him coming back. I did so, and the initial reaction was positive, until Ix objected, without declaring any reasoon for doing so. After that the chat dissolved into discussion, and due to the issue being serious, and the suggestions of some people in the chat, I'm bringing the issue to the Board.
My personal opinion: In the PMs with me, Sprinkle has apologized multiple times over, and (as far as I can tell) deeply regrets what happened. From what he told me it also transpired that he apparently was not entirely in control of his actions at the time, which he described to me in later PMs as feeling like "a forced shift in personality" and an "alternate personality forcibly taking over".
I'd be happy to have him back anytime.
~Ak
PS: Something important to note is that he was never banned,and that to my knowledge noone even publicly proposed any kind of ban against him.

So, I got out of Star Wars an hour or so ago, and I have a few opinions.

I liked:
- The complex, less black-and-white storyline
- That still ended on a high note
- The lack-of-sound and several mostly-snapshots effect. That was a neat thing
- The fact that they managed to make it feel like the movie was over several times, only to "but wait, there's more" me
- The porgs. They were cute

I didn't like:
- The fact that they didn't go with Poe/Finn. It is was 2017, would it've killed them to add one gay ship?

Overall, very good, would recommend

- Tomash

Merry Christmas to you to, Whitey,
The second "to" should be "too".

Also, I agree with doctorlit that "avoid" would work better than "avert". "Avert your eyes!" may be very loosely associated with "Avoid to look at me/this/whatever!", but its meaning is actually closer to "Turn/look away!" At least that’s what I get when I translate it to German and then back to English, and this is probably why Backslash just barely managed to avert her gaze implies that Backslash redirects Whitney’s gaze rather than his own.

HG

AN: Right! I basically used this prompt as an excuse to have a bit of "fun" with some ideas I've had around for a little while. I did my best to ensure this makes canonical sense for 40k, but facts about Prospero are light on the ground, and I am bad at research. So I didn't have a ton to work with. OTOH, I didn't have a ton of constraints, either. I'm mostly worried I screwed something I don't know about up, but I don't think I did.

Thank you to Nesh for making some very helpful suggestions that made this story a lot better, to 'Plith for helping double-check that it makes canon sense, and to, Quincy, Granz, and Calliope for giving it a once-over and checking to ensure I hadn't lost my mind, at least from a people-not-overly-familiar-with-40k-canon-who-just-want-a-neat-story perspective.

With that over with, on to the story proper:
~~

“I don’t know if you ever will. But if so... it won’t be like this. I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t believe it, at first. That you were really going. I had the utmost faith in you, but—”

“No. You thought I would fail.”


“Kann—”

“Don’t deny it. I can see it, clear as day.”

“Kann, please.”

“There’s no shame in your lack of belief. It’s rare for anyone to be chosen. And I’m far from perfect. You, of all people, would know that. To have that faith in me would have made you a fool.”

[Pause]

“Why are you doing this to me, Kann?”


“...Because I’m afraid, Erek. I’m terrified of leaving you. And maybe if I pretend I can’t feel it, the pain will stop.”

“I understand that, I think. But… please. Stop trying to hurt me. Because I can see how much it’s tearing you up. And I’m afraid too.”

“You have little to fear.”

“I’m about to lose you.”

“You’ll find someone else.”

“Not you.”

“...No. Not me.”

“Kann… don’t go. Not yet. I want you with me.”

“I leave at daybreak. Until then...”

“Until then, we are together?”

“Of course. For as long as I can manage.”

[...Time Passes...]

“This really is the end then.”

“I have to go. I don’t want to, but I have to.”

“It is an honor, I suppose.”

“Being chosen to serve the Emperor… it is the greatest honor. But sometimes, I wonder if it’s worth giving you up. Not that I could turn it down if I wanted to.”

“...I love you, Kannan.”

“And I love you, Erek.”

“Should I ever see you again… will you at least greet me?”

“Of course, Erek. If I can, I’ll do that for you.”

---

“Thoth?”

The Thousand Son now known as Thoth looked up. “What is it you wish, Tom?”

Tom took his head out of his book to look at his partner. “I was just wondering… what was it like, being chosen to be a Space Marine?”

Thoth was silent for a moment. “I was more than a boy, at least. Many are chosen to join the Astartes sooner than I was. Although the training in my powers had begun long before that, as it did for all children gifted with such things upon Prospero.” There was another pause. “I began my training, and I left my life behind. That is what you do, when you are chosen.”

“Did it hurt? Leaving your home?”

“...No,” Thoth said. For a brief instant, Tom thought he saw a hint of… something in the marine’s eye. Sadness, or regret, maybe. But it could have just been a trick of the light.

~~
Disclaimers: Thoth, Tom, and Erek are mine, The Laundry Files belongs to Charles Stross (it never really shows up here, but Tom's from there... just being safe), Warhammer 40k, Prospero, The Thousand Sons, and so on belong to Games Workshop, and the PPC, of course, belongs to Jay and Acacia, in the trust of the PPC Board and the PGs held therein.

https://rc1587.wordpress.com/2018/01/04/blank-sprite-mission-record-11/

In which Sergio faces off his evil clone for the last time, and the group gets unexpected support from Sergio's former employer.

This piece does a great job of completely subverting expectations from the beginning versus the end. The opening feels like the same carefree banter from any mission. Kara's reassurances to herself set the reader up to assume Daichi does turn out to be okay.

The use of the eyes in the stars and sun is fun, because it kind of mirrors the change in tone just before the change occurs: Kara first finds the eye-stars kind of interesting to look at, if weird. The next morning, though, seeing the sun-eye wink at her disturbs her instead, and foreshadows what's about to happen.

The death scene . . . I think it's well done, though I never really enjoy such things, so it's a little hard for me to analyze it. If nothing else, it certainly works as a tone contrast to the beginning.

Some errors: (Sorry if these are repeats from other comments; I didn't read the others.)

". . . hours of imagining all the horrible things that could've went wrong, Kara managed to sleep."
The simple past form of "go" is "went," but when you add "have," it becomes "have gone" instead.

"Just as she was about to settle into her usual groove, she looked over at Daichi's bed and panicked, she looked left to right but. . . Daichi was nowhere to be seen."
You've got two separate clauses here. The point between "panicked" and "she" should either separate them with a period after "panicked," or change the comma there to a semicolon.

"Kara's adrenaline levels spiked, her mind was going haywire."
You've got two different verb tenses here. You can either make them match [(levels were spiking/mind was going) or (levels spiked/mind went)], or you can change the comma to a semicolon to make the two clauses separate and therefore able to carry different verb tenses.

—doctorlit, getting ready for work, like, now!

Looking at Hogwarts as the guests, rather than the focal setting, is unique, and I especially like using the Express as Hogwarts's token impractical school transport.

You do well getting across that the Champions grew closer and respected each other through their dialogue, which is a good job, considering how little there is of it.

I'm not a fan of Gentry's phonetic accent, but I know Rowling kind of established that in canon, so.

Some minor errors:
"Despite the last night's celebration at the Hogwarts' quarters, everybody seemed to have room for more food."
Unnecessary word.

"The man was seemingly letting his students talk out all of his problems and issues . . ."
I think you meant to say "student" here, referring to only Gentry speaking? As written, it reads like the Headmaster's students are discussing the Headmaster's problems in front of him.

"After the Feast has finally ended, and the official and unofficial goodbyes were exchanged . . ."
"had ended" to match the past tense everywhere else.

". . . and Gentry had the same smug smile the first time the three of them were gathered together."
I think you need an "as" between "smile" and "the" to show that you're comparing this moment to another time.

—doctorlit, Expressly reviewing

Author's Note: I. Uh. I don't know why a story like this even came to me, it just . . . did. I'm so sorry.

Warning for alcohol use.

* * *

Bob shifted a bit, trying to straighten himself in his chair. An awful ringing was sounding in his ears, thought he had no clue when, exactly, it had started.

Wait . . . ringing?

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

Not ringing, not in his ears. "Console," he muttered, his throat feeling tight and phlegmy. "Mission."

Bob's forehead suddenly smarted with pain, as the lip of a glass bottle had tapped him there, quite strongly. "Vat? Vat iz dis you are talking apout? Mission? Dare iz no mission for you, but to talking mit me, here."

Bob scrunched up his brow. The console was clearly BEEPing . . . wasn't it? Although, come to think of it, his head did hurt quite a bit. And the slightly echoed, hollow rumble of the Angel's voice rather muddied the sound in his ears. Still, though: "The light is red, though . . ."

"Humph!" replied the Angel. "Vot are ve caring vor de colors of lights? Ve are a pair of revined gentlemen, holding proper discourse mit each other, yes?"

Bob forced his vision to focus on the creature sitting atop his RC's card table. It was a bit difficult, because his vision listed just a bit to the left, and because the Angel's rum cask body, beer keg legs, and wine bottle arms blended in so well with the table's layout. "My . . . my job, though . . . A mission . . ."

"Vy you are not pe in condition for mission! Hu! Hu! Hu! You are pe very dronk, mein friend! He! He! He! Here, haf yourself a little of de water." And the Angel refilled Bob's glass from one of its arm bottles labeled "Kirschenwasser."

Bob grinned and downed the clear liquid, expecting water, but delighted to find it tasted of cherries. "Thank you, Angel," he sighed, "You're such a good—"

The door to the RC slammed open. Here it is! The security dandelion fired a shot from a wide-barreled firearm, launching a large net through the air.

The Angel must have been far more nimble than its body would seem to allow, as from Bob's perspective, the net should have found its mark. However, it only managed to snap closed over some of the inanimate beverage containers near the Angel, taking them off the table to shatter onto the floor.

Plan B, please.

"On it!" a DIA agent yelled as she stepped through behind the Weed. "Angel of the Odd, you are under arrest!" She lobbed a yellow-and-black ball at the table. The ball split open and shot red energy at the Angel.

The Angel clearly wasn't expecting any more success from this attempt than from the previous one. When the red energy reached him and began pulling him back into the ball, he uttered a "Mein Gott!" before the ball closed over him.

The ball fell to the floor. It shook once.

The security team stared.

It shook again.

Bob stared.

It shook a third time.

"All right!" The DIS agent moved to pick up the ball. "Contact the Captain and have him tell Bellman Next we've—"

The ball burst open and the Angel of the Odd skittered across the floor.

"—got her pagerunner." She picked up the Poké Ball, its hinge swinging uselessly open.

He's using the console! the Weed moved across the RC on its roots, but the Angel of the Odd had already stopped the alarm and opened a portal.

"Wait, Angel!" Bob slurred. "When will I see you again?"

Jumping nimbly through the dandelion's vines, the Angel laughed. "He! He! He! Vy, te Angel ov te Odd is alvays mit you! Any time you be find a strange accident iz be ruining your day, there I be!" He escaped out the portal, which snapped shut behind him.

"Nooo," Bob murmured. "Angeeel!" He stretched across the table, reaching for the closed portal, and sending bottle and glasses clattering down around his head as he came to rest face-down on the table.

"Seriously, dude. Get some help."

* * *

Author's Note: Agent Bob Cholera was named at random by Granz and Larfen J. Stocke, Esq. typing out random names in the chat. At his request, Agent Cholera henceforward belongs to Larfen J. Stocke, Esq. "The Angel of the Odd: An Extravaganza" was written by and belongs to Edgar Allen Poe. Thursday Next and the term "pagerunner" belong to Jasper Fforde. Poké Balls belong to Nintendo and Game Freak. Alcohol is drugs, kids. Don't do drugs.

—doctorlit, apparently making a habit of forcing himself to write characters with odd written speech

I should have brought up in the first place. I now believe it would not contribute anything useful. I apologize.

What I thought I heard was Miah wanting to bring up something like a similar situation that happened elsewhere and possibly to discuss how it was handled.

- Tomash

On the one hand, we're not the behavior police. What people get up to on their own time is not necessarily any of our business.

On the other hand, if it's coming back to bother other PPCers, it may be relevant.

I really don't know. {= / Other thoughts?

~Neshomeh

Each spot of drama has resulted in people quitting, not to mention the couple of times people have started ex-PPC or PPC2 type groups. (All related to drama and all failed, AFAIK.)

Unless "fractures" refers to something else? I'm not sure I understand why few bannings plus democracy should add up to fractures.

~Neshomeh

Given how protracted this is becoming, I think Matt's instinct to make the rest of us aware was right after all.

~Neshomeh

Thanks! They are delicious.

You may have already tried it, but sometimes using cigarette paper or a dollar bill can help me with pads that are sticky.

I will, of course, stay away from unethical experiments on sentient beings, but given your recommendation I think I may begin designing a controlled study to observe the substance's effects on various objects.