The PPC Posting Board - Latest posts

There is a lot of tension in this story. I can tell someone got hurt bad, but I can't figure out who it is. There is urgency with the lack of good explanations.

Baron hS didn't actually offer a single opinion about what was happening in La Wunj; he's just receiving the news (and refusing to go poke around).

Nor have I at any point made a single comment about the current chat. I guess you getting that impression goes back to VixenMage's point about memory being malleable?

Finally, to get this down in public: I don't want to go into the Discord. That has nothing to do with anything that's happened on any version of the Lounge. It's because I am extremely uncomfortable in group chats of any description. It's very nice that people keep inviting me (so thank you), but I'm not going to say yes.

hS

To the Eagleshadow,

Word has reached us in La Wunj that you are uncomfortable with the other Mords' attempts to create yet another faction. While I am grateful for their rallying to defend my honor, I am not entirely comfortable with the politicking that has been going on (really, I would just like to get back to my crusades once I am well again). I don't think either of us would like to see another civil war tear Borrd apart.

However, I can at least extend an invitation to La Wunj, should you desire to visit and see the state of things for yourself. It is, for the most part, a very lovely place, and we would be honored should you decide to grace us with your presence.

Wishing you are well,

Sir Iximaz

P.S. I apologize if my messenger bat is rude to you. She's got a bit of an attitude problem.


(( https://discord.gg/0zL6OvKrsM4gca0Z Link to the Discord should you want to pop your head in and say hi. I do think you're being unfair in jumping to conclusions about how awful the chatroom is; I'd love it if you'd swing by to see what's what, but if you don't want to, that's cool too. :)

I also don't remember if Baron hS is still in hiding or not, so if he is... handwave it and say a magic bat found him?))

Des's Evil Plans:
1) Make tea.
2) Drink tea.
3) Why's the tea gone?
4) Repeat 1 & 2

So evil.

-Phobos

Baron Thanasius Ampelius, the metaphorical power behind the throne in La Wunj, cackled evilly as he evilly went about his evil ways and thought up new evil things to do to evilly oppress the population.

Well, I'm certainly glad it didn't feel comfortable.

And while I can certainly understand finding angst one-note, I will take the time to point out that in the instance of two Time Lords with traumatic pasts attempting to block out the pain with one another, it really wouldn't do to have it go unmentioned.

As to my own stuff, I'd only just introduced the character, and he's very driven by past trauma. While I shouldn't speak for Ix, I'll say that an even like that changes you, and Ix has handled the balance between not constantly bringing it up and still showing its effects rather well, in my opinion. That said, I can perfectly understand the criticism, considering I'm an angst addict and bring it up given half a chance (and sometimes less) in Rudi's.

As to the mission—well, we'll see. Though Ave and the Detective certainly won't. They'll be too busy staring in opposite directions.

Thank you for the concrit!

"The discord around La Wunj is increasing."

Baron Huinesoron didn't look up from his desk. "I don't care."

Duchess Kaitlyn leant against the doorframe, hiding her smile. "A traitor has been exiled from the city for 'crimes against the Lady and common decency'."

Baron Huinesoron sighed softly, and turned over a page of the tome in front of him. "I don't care."

His wife studied the back of his head, timing her next words. "The Mords are trying to set up a new faction to cement their authority over the city."

"I don't-" Huinesoron twitched as the words sunk in. Then, slowly, he straightened up and turned to meet her gaze.

Kaitlyn did her best to keep her smile from turning into a smirk. "Yes?"

"Aren't there already a half dozen factions at play out there?" the Baron asked.

Kaitlyn nodded cheerfully. "That's right."

"And aren't..." Huinesoron frowned, his fingers drumming on the massive book in front of him. "Aren't the Mords already in a position of near-absolute authority?"

"That's what I hear," Kaitlyn agreed. She pushed off the wall and walked over to perch on the end of the desk. "And?"

Huinesoron opened his mouth, shut it again, and shrugged. "I suppose if that's what they want to do-"

Kaitlyn snorted. "You want to sneak over there and see what they're up to."

Huinesoron rolled his eyes. "I do not."

His wife leant across and prodded his shoulder. "You do. I can see it on your face."

The Baron ducked away from her hand. "I have a lot to do here," he said.

"Yah-huh."

"And Kar'eer has grown vast and tangled these last few years."

"Yah-huh."

"And the affairs of Borrd are of far more interest than those of the far east."

"Yah-huh."

Huinesoron looked up, meeting Kaitlyn's gaze. "And... I can't be bothered."

The Duchess of El-Jheycom (In Exile) grinned. "Now that, I can believe."

iammisc1@gmail.com is the email.

Don't, er. Slap anything.
I severely overestimated my ability to get a working clickable email.

Here's hoping Board-skill doesn't equal beta-skill, oy?

Give that email a good old slap (not a click. Slap your mouse as hard as you can. That'll get the best results, I assure you.)

I mean, if it's three pages, I reckon I could sort that pretty quickly.
Unless the multiversal thing is supposed to hint at metafiction, and this story will take fifty years to go through, while technically only being three and a bit-ish pages.

I'll probably take fifty years and a bit to sort it, if that's the case.

Alright, so, I've sort've said this on Discord, and because I am a broken robot, doomed to say what it has once said again and again and again and what it has once said again and again and again and again, et al, I'll say it again: from a visceral point of view, it bloody works. It's a very rough, ugly situation, and the atmosphere made in it gets that across. It's uncomfortable feeling, it is. There are various moments where it delves into their individual thoughts (which sounds really quite trite right now, considering that all stories ought to do that, but give me a moment) and those are delivered in such a way as to get across that atmosphere.

Things like:
'He really did look like Gavan, and her hearts clenched at the thought. Gavan was dead, why should this even matter; why should she even care at this point?'

And: 'But he was hurting too. Only thing he had going for him was some stupid promise—some need to earn death, before he could finally go. Why shouldn't he do this?'

That self-doubt and discomfort is very evident, and, well. Relateable, I suppose, solely through delivery.
I mean, there's also odours. Odours can make anything look ugly.

So, this is probably stylistic, or some such. And I will admit to, at the very least, not having yet read all of the Aviator's stuff.
But I'll, er. Admit, I do find the Time Lord angst thing a little tiring, I don't want to say 'Oh, make them have a happy jolly good time and buy balloon animals and such!' because, er. That's very trite, indeed, it wouldn't work, it's a clumsy solution, et al.
But from what I've been seeing with these fellows, it really is near constant. I suppose I can say this more convincingly with the Detective (bloody sorry Aegis, but, er. Y'know, haven't finished Ave's stuff, have finished yours, and such. Sorry, mate,) but I honestly cannot think of a single story or RP involving them where there isn't some form of angst.
And not to say angst is bad, or to say that having writing centred around angst and angsty characters having generally angsty times is bad, but I feel there ought to be a better balance!
I mean, again - I can't think of a single story or RP thingo involving one've the two without some form of angst, and it, as with all overused sort of things, is beginning to feel a bit off, as it were.

So, er. Does the story work? Do what it's (I assume, anyhow,) what it's meant to do?
Yes! Well!
Did I get a little bit miffed when they mentioned that war, again?
Yes. I did. A little.
Is at least half of what I'm saying really, really stylistic-based and subjective?
Most likely.

I'll say that you two certainly did something, whatsit, out of the box? Brave?
Brrrph, I dunno.
It took bollocks to do this sort've story, is what I'm saying, shake up status quo and such like that. And, I mean, it was ultimately delivered well, wasn't it?
So, brilliant job, there.

I mean, I'm certainly interested in seeing where it goes!
Got a little thread at the end there with Zeb, and all.
And perhaps Ave and Dee'll get forced into a mission together, and we'll have the first mission in PPC history in which a pair of agents avoid eye-contact for the entire time.

As usual, I'm looking for SpaG, flow, and any other form of advice which could cross the mind of the tentative beta-reader. Oh, and don't be afraid to be blunt or something else in your critics. Gloves-off critic is a good thing, no matter how hard it is to take.

Now, since it only covers up the very first days of the plot, no canon knowledge is really needed, although I reference sometimes things happening later in the story (nothing too spoilery. I think).

And I'm using an event (not something tied to the main plot though) from later in the story as an inspiration for a one of the last scenes, and I'd like to have opinions about it. Should it get the axe or not? Is it fun, or even necessary?

Send me a mail if you're interested (name's clickable), or post here, the way you prefer.

You gather up a ragtag group of Force ghosts - handless Mace Windu, invisible Qui-Gon, the less-bad Sith Darth Vectivus, and a handful of backing singers. Your motley band fails to take Mos Eisley by storm initially, mostly because the only people who can see you are old Ben Kenobi, some kid called Luke, and the specter of Sharad Hett.

A visit to Mrlsst and a chat with the dead Jedi Taj Junak heralds a change in your fortunes, as you learn to let yourself be seen by anyone. You take a leaf out of the Mrlssi playbook and pretend to be a hologram, and your 'original' music - actually an eclectic blend of rock, country, rap, and folk, but how are the locals to know that? - takes the spaceport by storm.

The galaxy's renaissance is a thrilling time to be, if not alive, at least still active. Maybe someday you'll have to take your leave, heading on into the Force (though Vectivus says you can come hang out in his asteroid, where he's lingered for centuries), but for now, you have your music, you have your art, you have your band.

And, every so often, you have your field trip to Coruscant to meddle with Vader some more. Life (or its reasonable facsimile) is good.

I think that, in my particular case, I'd rather be gun-shy than trigger-happy, because unlike the other mods (who were elected by the Board), I'm a mod because I'm the owner of the channel — I'm the unelected dictator pulling strings in the background, as things are. While it seems that people trust me enough with those powers, I'd rather err on the side of caution than mess up and cause Drama.
'sides of which, I'd rather not kick someone out of anger. I know I have a tendency to jump the gun when I'm pissed off; that's why I try to wait, observe and reflect before doing such things.

Anyway, I like the procedure you've outlined, except for #7: I still think that a ban is something for the Board to discuss, not for the Discord mods to mete out for repeat offences; admittedly, I can see a case where a person keeps getting kicked out of the channel, but I think it is not the same thing as being banned.

(Also, obligatory YGOTAS quote: "Playing card games is just like making love. You usually do it on a table, and you always feel deep shame when it's finished. Also, the older you get, the less fun it is. So remember, always wear a condom when playing card games.")

You hear a snarl from behind you.

You feel a brief, sharp pain on your neck.

You look up to see a tall, dark figure holding a scythe.

(It's not a peasant. Not this time.)

The figure speaks: "THAT DIDN’T GO VERY WELL FOR YOU, DID IT?"

The wet leaves under your feet fade away, leaving dry, gritty sand.

The figure leans in closer. "IF IT'S ANY CONSOLATION," he says, "I REALLY THOUGHT YOU WERE IN WITH A CHANCE THERE."

The desert stretches before you, black sand under a blacker sky. In the distance, you can see grey mountains rising from the horizon.

You take the first step.

[End of Chain]

'Tis

Thanks for the Coffee!

I have no idea how. Honestly. Best guess, either through looking for msts of fanfics, or searching random wikias. Either way, been on and off reading for years.

I'm a fan of Trojie and Paddles. Also currently reading through RC 999 (DIC)

Fandoms: Animorphs, Archer, Parks and Rec, Deadpool, Rick and Morty, Saints Row, Harry Potter, and anything Valve (except Dota 2). Also surface level on a billion other things. Pretty into TeS, Fallout and Star Wars, but don't know as much about their extended lores as I'd like to.

Thanks!

Hi!

Thanks! I dig the popcorn, my job eats through my red pens, and I also dig the sticky notes (today it's shaped like a chinchilla).

Warning: lots of text!

Fandoms: Animorphs, Archer, Parks and Rec, Deadpool, Rick and Morty, Saints Row, Harry Potter, and anything Valve (except Dota 2). Also surface level on a billion other things. Pretty into TeS, Fallout and Star Wars, but don't know as much about their extended lores as I'd like to.

In my spare time I game, read (pretty much anything), bike, and, (since I recently-ish moved from coast to coast) wander aboot my local area in search of... something or other.

Aged out of Boy Scouts, but did a lot of service in the troop, plus I was in the OA, which was a service based organization. Also, keep meaning to check about volunteering at the local food bank.

I was hesitant to do anything about it, honestly, because I didn't see Glarn harassing anyone other than myself and didn't want to look like I was making a fuss over something trivial. :/


Re. RP Guidelines: I think that could be a good idea. Despite having played D&D for a few years before joining the PPC, I still made some goofs my first few times RPing with people.

Based on my interactions with GlarnBoudin and what I've heard besides, I'd have kicked that guy ages ago. He definitely earned it on the basis of violations of articles 1.5 and 12, at least.

My opinion is that I like a "three strikes and you're out" policy for real time situations. Here's how I think bad behavior in the chat ought to be handled, generally:

1. Someone (let's call them Sassafras) does something inappropriate.

2. People tell them "Hey, that's inappropriate/making us uncomfortable/clearly in violation of the Constitution. Please stop." Preferably as clearly as possible, so there can be no confusion; hinting may work for many people, but not for everyone. (I'm thinking of our Aspie population and others on the autism spectrum, many of whom I've known to request blunt feedback precisely to avoid giving offense by mistake.)

3. Sassafras does it again. Maybe right away, maybe after making excuses and grudgingly subsiding for awhile. Whichever.

4. People tell them "You're doing that thing again. It's still not cool. You'd better apologize and never do it again. This is your second warning. If it happens again, you may be kicked."

5. Sassafras has not been paying attention and does it again anyway.

6. A mod says "Sassafras, this is the third time you've done that thing you were told not to do. I'm kicking you from the chat. Go reread the Constitution."

7. Supposing Sassafras comes back after being kicked and STILL does the offending thing, then they clearly cannot be taught, and they get banned.

This presumes that the mod is aware of the previous infractions, of course. You guys should probably be in the habit of communicating with each other about rules violations and warnings when they happen, yes?

Note that the mod in this scenario shouldn't necessarily have to confer with other mods when it comes time for the kick, though. Although I completely understand that it's nice to have backup, it sort of defeats the purpose of having mods at all if they aren't prepared to take action when it's needed, y'know? Supposing it's a time when only Desdendelle is online, for instance, because of time zones, I would hope he wouldn't hesitate to kick someone who was clearly in violation of the Constitution and multiple warnings had already been issued. That's one major reason to have multiple mods, so that the channel can be covered by at least one at all times.

That said, I think a mods-only channel is fine, by the way. It would make the above-mentioned communication easier, real time or otherwise, and it is completely appropriate for moderators to discuss how best to moderate without interference from the peanut gallery, especially if they need to discuss someone who is actually in the chat causing trouble at the time. If it does lead to the mods behaving badly due to becoming a clique that badmouths people and kicks anyone they don't like regardless of Da Rules, it WILL come out, and there WILL be drama. So, y'know, don't. {= )

Frankly, I trust the current mods enough to let them do their job whether I can see them doing it or not. (Since I'm not in the chat much, I mostly don't anyway.) If the population of the chat has no faith in a mod or mods, then we're still discussing the wrong question.

~Neshomeh

P.S. BTW, would you guys like a set of RP principles and guidelines? I was kicking the idea around idly this morning just to amuse myself, but I'd be happy to write something up for discussion if you like. I don't RP as much as I used to, but I used to A LOT, and I know of what I speak. (Basically, RP is like sex: consent and communication are very important!)

(in that order)

The idea of a mod channel didn't come out of nowhere.It arose during discussions following a series of incidents involving GlarnBoudin and our (the mods, excluding Cat-on-the-Keyboard, who wasn't around for significant parts of this) handling of them.

Because those of you who aren't in chat much probably don't know what I'm referring to (and in the interests of transparency), I'm going to try and summarize the situation as I saw it.

GlarnBoudin joisted the chat a few months ago. While he was there, he repeatedly did unacceptable things, mostly in these categories:

1) Starting highly inappropriate/NSFW conversations in chat, and attempting to continue them even after being told that they were inappropriate and unwelcome (usually by multiple people)

2) Posting (often NSFW) nightmare fuel directly into chat (as in, the picture showed up directly in chat). The usual practice, if someone feels the need to link to that sort of thing, is to both warn people about what it is and (especially for images) to rot13 the link so it takes a bit more effort to open it.

3) Harassing Iximaz.

4) Harassing Iximaz's characters in the RP channel.

He was warned repeatedly about how these actions were unacceptable and that they should stop. Eventually, Desdenelle, Iximaz, and I came to the conclusion that enough was enough when Glarm posted a really creepy GIF in chat again. (Des had even warned Glarn after an earlier occurrence that if he did something like that again where he could see it, he would be kicked, as it was his "third strike"). We PMed each other a bunch and realized we were all on the same page about this. The morning after that final infraction, Iximaz kicked GlarnBoudin from the chat, sending him the following message (screenshot here)

Glarn,

Due to your repeated violations of the chat's rules, the other mods and I have decided to temporarily remove you from the PPC Discord. This is not a permanent ban, but we'd like you to take some time off and think about why this happened, and when you feel you are ready to follow the rules, PM one of us for an invite back.

If you decide you would like to return, and continue your previous behavior, it will be brought to the Board's attention.

Since this was a kick (and not a ban), Glarn is free to come back to the chat whenever he likes. However, he has not done so.

After all of this, we realized that our handling of this incident had not been very smooth. We'd all been sending reminders and warnings repeatedly, but none of us knew in any detail what anyone else was doing or thinking. It took us a while to conclude that everyone else was also fed up with this, and a series of private conversations to decide on what to do. In retrospect, we figured this wasn't the best way to handle this type of incident, and so the idea of a mod channel came up.

I've thought about this for a while, and I realized that this thread started with the wrong question. It asked "How can the bods coordinate better?", when the more appropriate topic would be "How do we handle this type of situation going forward?" I think this is something we might want discuss as a community, so I'd be glad to hear everyone's input.

There's also a sub-question "What's the process for kicking someone from chat?", which I would like to get some clarity on (because "the mods sort of make it up as they go along" is not quite the right solution). Note that kicking just removes them from the server and they can (IIRC) come right back, unlike with a ban (which obviously requires a vote on the Board)

And finally, this is a page to GlarnBoudin, since accusing people (especially those who don't post here much) of doing bad things without letting them know about it is a bad thing.

I dabble here and there with different things (scripts, nonfiction, things written for role-playing purposes), but there are two universes that I focus the bulk of my attention on. The first is a contemporary setting with the presence of superpowers. They've been present in the world for ages (due to the interference of magical outsiders during the ancient era) but were amplified during the 20th century due to things like the Tunguska explosion and rampant nuclear testing. There are many historical differences, most notable of which is the second Russian civil war in 1987 which resulted in the creation of several nations run by supervillains. I've sketched out several different ideas for stories, but I often come back to the character of Jackie Wylde: a costumed criminal with a gambling motif operating in not!Philadelphia.

The second universe takes different elements of classic fantasy and puts them in a world with a tech level roughly equivalent to the 1910s. Autocarriages are gradually phasing out horses and carts, firearms and artillery have replaced magic and swords in the military, and global travel is becoming possible through massive airships. I've focused mainly on an elf journalist by the name of Telly Oleithanam. He's a bit like Dorothy Parker mixed with P.G. Wodehouse's Psmith.

In that it has a large Superhumanities department and several active heroics clubs for people with powers, magic, and so on. One of them is, inevitably, the AntiHeroSoc, who are DARK and EDGY and WEAR LOTS OF BLACK and are mostly harmless, if a bit boring. =]

but with less security guarantees