The PPC Posting Board - Latest posts

"When I was your age, I went to a music festival in the middle of a thunderstorm! Etc..." The thought makes me chuckle. Are you in agreement with me that the Beatles music festival is probably going to be one of the more memorable days of your life? (I mean, the rain is probably going to cause crazy/funny stuff to happen, given that it makes things wet and slippery, and the thunder only adds to the chaos.)

In shorter words, have fun!

-Twistey

Re. this post and Tomash's post here.

I'm afraid I don't have a lot of time, but in brief:

No, neither of your names have come up specifically. I haven't heard any other specific names.

I think the "social dynamics" issue here is that some people feel that Ix's friends constitute a clique, and that this clique is dominating the PPC scene in a way that puts off people who aren't "in." To be clear, I don't think this is Iximaz's fault. We like her, we like her contributions, that's fine. I also think this is a situation that can be alleviated by more words from more different people, when it comes to writing and to community stuff. Folks, you're free to do your own thing regardless of what anybody else is doing. It's a free Board.

However, do be aware of the nature of cliques, and their pitfalls for those who are "in" as well as those who are "out." Zing, for instance, I'd caution you that, if you don't feel you can disagree with Ix without risking serious consequences to your friendship, that's not good. Maybe I'm reading something into your words that's not there, in which case do please correct me, but still, that's an example of the sort of thing to watch out for: feeling pressure to go along with Ix, or the rest of the group, in spite of your own feelings. Especially when it comes to how welcome other people are made to feel in/around the group.

Again, just to be clear, I don't say any of this is Iximaz's fault, because that would imply deliberate emotional manipulation on her part, which I do not believe is happening. I think it's basically a side effect of having a magnetic personality.

Just, y'know, be aware of how other people feel, and how you feel, too. Maybe make an effort to review stuff by "outsiders" as much as you review "insiders." Stuff like that.

~Neshomeh

But it's always a good idea to do some googling to be sure.

Oh look! Another newbie! (Or, well, I still kinda feel like a lightly-used-bie at the most. Joined on April 4th.)

I'm Twistey, an about-to-become Newgrounds game dev who has a crud ton of fandom OCs. I found the PPC through the wiki and got hooked on the idea because of how original it is. I write both original stuff and (more recently) fanfic, and I also like reviewing/beta-ing/MSTing work as well.

So, enough about me, can you tell me some stuff about yourself? How'd you find us? What made you decide to join? What are your interests, fandoms, hobbies, etc? I'd love to know :D

-Twistey

Literally. Yesterday. I was so tired by evening, but at least the flight (a long one, over ten hours) was a relatively nice one.

As for school, my classes ended more or less with March, and I wrote my exams not long after that. I've mainly been busy with applications since then.

~Zing

*reminds self to quit procrastinating and read a mission*

I was kind of surprised that Phasma did so little in TFA, after having been hyped up so much. I am glad she is back, because it means they can fix that.

Also, Gwendoline Christi, who plays Phasma, is no stranger to armor. She also plays Brienne of Tarth in HBO's Game of Thrones.


-Phobos

Specifically, post-Empire Strikes Back?

(I think I know what's going on here.)

~Neshomeh

For me, the thing that stands out the most in this story is the sense of time it gets across in very subtle ways. The change in the world's attitude towards powered people is communicated not just through Ward telling us of the "hunter" groups from his college days, but also, in retrospect, from the fact that he's being interviewed about his heroism in a newspaper, with his team's real names revealed. Another example is the cynicism of Ward's present attitude when compared to the event he recalls, when his group didn't even think about killing their captives, and instead got them arrested for indecency instead. The one weakness to it is that there isn't really a "pay-off" to Ward's cynicism, as it felt at the start that there would be sort of a worldview-changing moment for him—but you did say this is only "part 1," so maybe that's coming up further along in the story.

All in all, a different and interesting way to set up your setting's world-building early on.

Typos and stuff:
"How many times must someone break out of prison and threaten others lives before you realise that you should put them down for good?"
"Others" needs an apostrophe.

"So I’m not sure if you remember, but right when this was all happening there were quite a few groups worldwide who were ‘discreetly’ getting rid of those humans with powers whilst paying, or sometimes even getting paid, as the government's looked the other way."
Ah, the apostrophe escaped and hid inside of "governments."

"Now it was about 4am when the rest of the group came back . . ."/"We woke up about 1pm the next day . . ."
The time . . . descriptors? . . . should have periods after each letter, as they're abbreviations of Latin words. ("a.m." and "p.m.")

"Because 'Sorry I missed the lecture because I was asleep after a hard night of fighting crime,' wasn’t going to cut it we figured."
Since "we figured" is the actual subject and main verb of this sentence, it reads really awkwardly for them to be tacked on to the end of it. I would move them right to the front as, "Because we figured,' . . .'" There should also be a comma after "figured" since it's leading in to dialogue. (Even if you don't want to move "we figured," there should still be a comma after "because," and also after "cut it": " . . . wasn't going to cut it, we figured."

"It was Cassie, the girl we’d rescued, who came up with an answer and so skipping the rest of Monday and spending it relaxing we headed out Monday night with the unconscious members of the group and managed to set it up so that they were all arrested for public indecency the next morning."
This sentence is two independent clauses with the dependent clause, "and so skipping the rest of Monday and spending it relaxing" in between. As written, you need commas splitting those parts up: " . . . who came up with an answer, and so, skipping the rest of Monday and spending it relaxing, we headed out Monday night . . ." However, it feels like a bit of an overly large sentence to me, and it can easily be split apart. I think I would personally say, "It was Cassie, the girl we’d rescued, who came up with an answer. So, skipping the rest of Monday and spending it relaxing, we headed out Monday night with the unconscious members of the group and managed to set it up so that they were all arrested for public indecency the next morning." There are probably other ways to do it, though.

"To read the first part of this exclusive interview turn to page 23 and make sure to get your newspapers for the rest of the week as Ward talks his way through the entire history of The Protectors."
I like this last line's inclusion, since it reinforces the newspaper interview aspect. It needs commas, though! It's also another sentence that doesn't need to be as long as it, especially since it's intended as a blurb at the end of an article/bottom of a page. My take would be, "To read the first part of this exclusive interview, turn to page 23. And make sure to get your newspapers for the rest of the week, as Ward talks his way through the entire history of The Protectors." Some exclamation points might not hurt, either.

I agree that I am stretching on article 2. There wasn't textbook definition flaming. However, we didn't figure that anyone would level repeated false accusations of harassment at the community. It didn't need to be said because it was understood to be bad. If we had said it, it most definitely fits under the spirit of article 2.

Delta Juliet disagrees with me on article 14 because it was made for situations where someone is sock puppeting. The letter of the law is to prevent things like anonymously trolling the Board to make yourself look the victim. It doesn't cover someone using a new persona to, by their own admission, avoid punishment that they think is coming. We never thought it would come up. It was known to be bad. But that situation does fit under the spirit of article 14.

The point I am trying to make is that zdimensia/Bramandin does a lot of things that are known to be bad behavior but aren't explicitly mentioned in the constitution because we didn't think it needed to be said.

-Phobos

One of the victims of the Manchester attack went to my uni. Is very sad

Weirdly, the thing that caught my attention the most in your Star Wars post (at 3 A.M, in my defense) is that Captain Phasma is actually coming back. I rather figured she was just going to be in The Force Awakens, and disappear. Then again, I seem to have it in my mind that her actor is a fairly big name? But I'm not aware enough of Earth happenings to know who that is, or even if I'm correct in thinking that—but if I am right, it makes sense they would want her to continue appearing.

I wonder if she'll be a minor role again, or if she's going to become a personal nemesis for Poe—a Boba Fett to his Solo, as it were?

I would love muchly for that old style of phone to come back in style. I hate having a fragile mini-laptop in my pocket all day at work, having to keep it from bending or getting wet every moment. My older phone was much more durable. Then again, I do need the weather app to know the day's high temperature, so I know which animals need their misters turned on on a given work day. '~' Guess I can't always get what I want, but if I try sometimes, I just might find I've got what the animals need.

—doctorlit still thinks cell phone developers need to prioritize high durability over low weight and small size.

Okay, so the main thing is that this situation with Bramandrin is actually very much reminding me of someone I used to know in the FBA (who I won't name here: if you want to find out more, you can DM me on Discord for more specific details). I actually mentioned this to Tomash on Discord a couple days back, but I'd actually describe this person as "Bramandrin, with a much better grasp of social norms and a huge anger management problem". The other main difference I can think of was that the person in question was also allowed to get into a position of authority there, and I will say, that wreaked havoc on everything: when this person finally left the FBA, they did so in an outburst of drama fueled by something that I won't talk about here (mostly because it is an incredibly long story that's not relevant to this, and partly because this person had also quit the position of authority in question twice in a row over much less anyhow).

So you might be wondering what the common thread here is. Well... for me, judging from things Bramandrin said in a previous thread related to this, these two people both suffer from untreated mental illness of some variety, and it is mental illness that, to be honest, does require professional psychiatric help. Anyone who tells Bram she doesn't need the psychiatric help is willfully deceiving either her or themselves at this point.

So my suggestion is this: regardless of whether or not Bram gets banned, my previous experiences make me feel it will be to both her and the PPC community's benefit if she seeks out psychiatric help. And Bram, if you read this, I know you may think you may not need the help, but trust me: you need the help. Your behavior is not normal, and psychiatric help can give you a better idea of how to excise your present unacceptable behaviors. This was something the former FBAer in question really should have gotten years ago, and I'm going to mention it here before we get too far down the rabbit hole of banning folks.

The issue is, I don't know if this is something we can necessarily enforce. But no matter the case, I really honestly think this is the only way forward in this case. If that doesn't work, who knows, but I know from past experience that if she doesn't get help, it could be a bigger thorn in the PPC's side than I really think you guys want.

-Herr

Why do you call your ban from when you were posting as zdimensia unjust?

I just want to hear exactly why it was unjust from your point of view. I don't want to hear "zdimensia is this, but Bramandin is that". I just want to hear a truthful answer to my question. If you don't feel comfortable answering this on the board then you can email it to me, my email is clickable.

Novastorme

Yep, we're back again. This is the thread for you - whether you be the newest member (that'd be laggycat) or the oldest oldbie (hi, Kaitlyn!) to talk about the week we've just had. Discuss anything and everything, and remember to have fun!

Please remember that, when it comes to the state of the world, not everyone will agree with you. You're free to state, discuss, and defend your viewpoint (provided it does not violate the Constitution), but please don't use that fact to attack others.

Fandom News


(Link)

This week is the 40th anniversary of the release of Star Wars: A New Hope. In honour of that, Vanity Fair released an anniversary edition, complete with four gorgeous covers featuring the cast of The Last Jedi. We have one with Rey and Luke on their island, one of helmetless!Phasma, scarred!Kylo, and slimy!Hux, one of Poe, Finn, BB-8, and new character Rose Tico... and one of General Leia Organa. Dangit, now I'm sad again. :(

Silly News


(Old books & old phones)

Eight years ago, someone borrowed a book by Roderick Bailey from Dudley library, in England. This week, they finally returned it... to Boone County library, Kentucky, USA.

Nobody knows how or why this happened, it's really surreal. Dudley library's theory is that they were worried about the overdue fine - but as they point out, that's actually capped at £4 anyway. ^_^ (You'll be pleased to know they've said Boone County can keep the book.)

Meanwhile, Nokia are even more out of date - they've just made a new version of a phone they phased out in 2005. Yes, the 3310 is back, complete with rubber buttons, no touchscreen, and... Snake! Well, I'm sold. :D

Serious News


(Link)

On Monday evening, a concert in Manchester, England, was attacked by a suicide bomber. 22 people died, mostly young people, including one eight-year-old.

The UK terror threat level has been raised to critical, and the police have made at least eight arrests connected with the attack. Meanwhile, there's been controversy: the bomber's name was shared with the US government, and leaked to the US media despite the police not being ready for it to be made public yet. Photos of evidence from the crime scene have also been leaked in the same way; coming on the back of Trump's provision of highly classified intelligence to Russia (which is widely accepted as having burned a key intel source), it's no surprise that we've now chosen to stop sharing any information on the attack with America.

The (suspected) bomber, Salman Abedi, was 22 years old, British-born and of Libyan descent. I have absolutely no idea what has to be going through your mind to lead you to blow yourself up to kill children, and frankly, I'm glad I don't understand it. I don't want to.

In some ways, this is worse than the 7/7 attack back in '05. That had a higher death toll, but at least it felt like an attack on infrastructure - it struck at the trains, the buses, trying to paralyse the capital. This... is just horrific.

Not News



Just one of the many moments from the party I threw, inspired by this conversation with Iximaz. :)

hS

It had been quite some time since Selene Windflower had last needed to take a shower - it wasn't like she could sweat, after all. But the Mysterious Case of the Exploding Wraith (as Kaitlyn insisted on calling their last mission) had covered both agents in glitter, which Kaitlyn flatly refused to get all over the feeble shower in their RC. It had taken a fair amount of badgering, but eventually Selene had agreed to accompany her over to the washrooms.

Which didn't mean Kaitlyn was entirely satisfied. "You're going to shower wearing that?" she demanded as the vampire stepped out of her changing booth.

Selene looked down at her bathing suit. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's… you… compare and contrast, okay?" Kaitlyn waved a hand down her own front. "Bikini. Lots of skin. Easy to clean. Whereas you… sweet Nessa, would it kill you to show your knees?"

"It's all I've got," Selene said with a shrug, plucking at the neck-to-calf costume. "I've not really needed swimming clothes for… a long time." She reached up and brushed her fingers over the brass mechanisms on the side of her face. "I'm still not convinced this is a good idea."

"You'll be fine. C'mon." Kaitlyn grabbed her partner by the elbow and dragged her towards the glass door into the shower room. "I've checked, and they definitely don't use holy water."

"Oh, joy, something else to worry about. You do know how to make me feel bucksome." Selene pushed the door open and peered into the steam, her hand creeping up to the brass Key again. "Are you sure…?"

"Quit being such a wet blanket." Kaitlyn planted her hands on her partner's back and shoved, sending the vampire stumbling into the showers. "Pun intended."

Selene tensed as the hot water splashed over her, but when nothing seemed to happen she allowed herself to relax a little. "I suppose it isn't too bad," she allowed, stepping gingerly into the flow. "And it will be easier than rinsing my hair in the sink."

"That's the spirit." Kaitlyn gave her a thumbs up. "Maybe we'll even get to introduce you to soap."

"You are a very cheeky young whippy." Selene tipped her head back, letting the water run down her face. "Now hush and let me enjoy-"

"Seleeene." The word drifted through the steam, its origin invisible. "Seleeeeeene…"

The vampire peered into the fog at the vague figure across the room. "Yes?" she asked. "Do I know you?"

"Of cooourse you know me." The figure advanced through the swirling heat, coming into focus: tall and pale, her long dark hair covering one side of her face, a strange light in her eyes. "I'm youuu, Selene," she said, and grinned, baring a pair of sharp fangs.

Selene's hand whipped up to the Key. "No," she whispered, staring at the advancing apparition. "You can't be." Her shoulders trembled, the red glow of her eyes flaring up. "You can't be," she repeated, raising one shaking hand. A dull boom rattled the shower heads, as of distant thunder. "Go away," Selene ground out, "go away, go away-!"

"Selene!" Kaitlyn lunged across the room and grabbed her partner's outstretched arm. "Selene! Calm down! What's wrong?"

Selene stared unseeing over her shoulder. "They were gone," she mumbled, "I escaped them, but she's back, I'm back, I can't-"

Kaitlyn glanced back at the figure, which had come to a stop a few paces away. "Oh, take those things out, Hypatia," she snapped. "Can't you see you're freaking her out?"

The apparition cocked its head, then reached up and removed the set of cheap plastic fake fangs from her mouth. "Well, that's just silly," she said. "Like, a vampire scared of vampires? What's even with that?"

"That's clearly not what this is." Kaitlyn stepped in front of Selene and took hold of both her shoulders. "Hey," she said, shaking her gently, "snap out of it. It's Hypatia. You remember, the Arwen clone?"

Selene looked from Kaitlyn to Hypatia, then back again. The fire faded from her eyes. "You can see her?" she asked in a quavering voice. "She's not me?"

"Of course not." Kaitlyn patted her shoulder. "She just had silly costume teeth in, that's all." She shot a glare at the other woman. "Why she felt the need to follow us here to try and frighten you, I don't even want to guess."

"Hey, no fair!" Hypatia pouted at her. "I was here first. I just thought, when the vampire walked in, it'd be, like, funny. And I had the teeth in already, so…"

Kaitlyn blinked. "Why did you have vampire teeth in the shower? No, actually, forge-"

"There was this party," Hypatia interrupted, "out in New Cal, and I had like the best costume. Only I spilled the punchbowl when I tried to drink it, so I had to come and have a shower. That's called logic," she finished, fixing the shorter woman with a defiant look.

Kaitlyn sighed and shook her head. "It's called something," she muttered. "See, Selene? It was a joke. Just a silly joke."

The vampire finally tore her gaze away from Hypatia and met her partner's eyes. "It wasn't funny."

"Never said it was." Kaitlyn patted her shoulder vaguely and stepped back. "But can you stop looking so worried? It's making me want to hug you, and that's doing weird things to my head."

Selene managed a slight smile, and stepped back under the flow of the shower. "Okay," she whispered, pressing her hand over the gleaming clockwork Key. "Okay okay okay. I'm in control. I'm me. There is no other. Okay. Yes. Okay."

She closed her eyes, and for about twenty seconds stood absolutely still as the hot water tumbled over her shoulders. Then she nodded, looked at her partner, and smiled.

"Did you say something about soap? I think I'm ready to learn."

---

I deliberately made this 'prank' one that would push Selene's buttons (see here for the details on why), because it seems like you think vampires have to be inhuman monsters who are on a hair-trigger. I wanted to show something different. (And frankly, if you don't think you can write a vampire who doesn't straight-up murder anyone who looks sideways at her, I don't know why you'd want to write her at all.)

Selene's Victorian swimsuit was born as a counter to the fact that I'd just written the pair of them going into the shower; I didn't think nudity was particularly appropriate. I may have slightly overcompensated by covering her up so much, but it made for some interesting dialogue. I can also come up with at least three reasons for Selene to prefer that kind of swimwear, based on her personality and history; you can probably think up some of your own. One hallmark of a good writer is knowing when you don't have to say something.

Hypatia was perfect for this job; she's a ditz. If I hadn't had her to hand, I might have used Tia Hyrax; she's thirteen, so would be more playful about it, but could still have done the same thing.

I'm mostly happy with this fic. The main bit I have issue with is the very end - it's intended as Selene playfully (as much as she can) calling back to Kaitlyn's comments to let her know that she's okay, but I think it comes over as too serious. I'm nearly certain Selene used to shower all the time before she went loopy and wound up with the Key.

The one thing I didn't manage to squeeze in was Kaitlyn's comment on Selene's costume: "At least it's not black." Because it's not - it's red with little pastel-pink flowers all over it. It's a nice moment, and I have various scraps of writing which mention Sel's love for red-and-pink-flowered underclothes, but ultimately it didn't fit the story. Not everything has to go in every time.

As before, concrit is always welcome. :)

hS

I mean, first off: I'm not going to vote against a ban. I just don't think I could vote for it.

I think the problem I have with your post is that you're stretching the definitions of all the Articles you point at. I flat-out disagree with characterising accusing people of mistreating you as flaming; the others (apart from Article 8, which I will readily allow) really do feel like you're stretching for a reason to ban somebody you want gone. It doesn't feel like "wow, that's a constitutional violation, we need to get this person out because they're messing up the community"; it feels like "wow, this person's irritating, let's boot them".

I'm not saying that's what you're thinking. And like I said, I think it would be best all round if she just left. But that's how it feels.

Remember that, as zdimensia, she was far more aggressive in her accusations, much less coherent, and far less willing to even attempt apologies. But she was banned for racism.

hS

Have a pile of pens

I really appreciate your contribution, actually.