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But I on my own have done missions of a few LotR fics using the fairy team 😉

Never forget Ol, or he'll never let you hear the end of it. >:D

The reason she grows them is, of course, that she named her children after them. "Flower names are traditional, right?" She doesn't have plans to make use of her orangery's byproducts... unless it becomes necessary.

hS

But he still makes an effort to understand and review them. PPC missions are written with the intention that someone can go in canon-blind and still enjoy it. Which means that in a good mission, you don't need to know the canon to know why the fic being missioned needs that treatment--because the agents will tell or show you why.

Incidentally, Ls and Yuki have recently done a LotR joint mission, and I think most of TOS is based in LotR, so there's one right there that you can read.

If you want to share your excitement about a mission without a recent Board post, then you're welcome to make a post encouraging people to discuss favourite older missions and put it in there. I'm sure there's people who also want to talk about older missions, too. Say you're going through Ix's backlog; make a post about it, and people will probably flock to it.

I understand feeling intimidated by the sheer amount of stuff there is out there -- even I haven't read every single thing that comes out on the Board. But it sounds like my fellow PGs are concerned about your activity level, so demonstrating a proactive approach to engaging with the community (like Ls does!) will help with your Request.

Thank you for the suggestion, but I'm not sure how to carry it out. I already have read non-TOS missions, but I can't see any Board posts about them, and most of the missions that do have Board posts are for works of fiction that I'm unfamiliar with.

That’s why we recommend you go beyond TOS and read more people’s missions/other writings and respond to their Board posts with your thoughts. Not only do you learn the in-jokes, since more often than not we’re referring to people’s missions when we make jokes, but you also get people recognising you as someone who engages with other writers. Plus you get a sense of what PPC style writing is like, for your own request.

~Lily, whose Hat is still off

So, you say that the way to end up with Permission eventually is by talking on the forums. But I don't see any threads where I'd be able to say anything worthwhile. They all seem pretty in-jokey.

Hey, nice! I love a story that involves a bit of animal behavior! . . . Though I'm a bit embarrassed I didn't think of the solution before Daphne did, wow. It feels so obvious now . . . I'm very amused by the mental image of Dafydd completely ignoring all his kids surrounding him, oblivious to their discussion about what he's doing because he's so focused on Ilwion! But maybe telepathic bonds will do that to you? I also love that Constance grows plants that are namesakes for most of her kids—as for Tanfin, that's not too far off from "tannin," so maybe some kind of oak? Depending on the height of the greenroom, I suppose . . .

So, "Aga" seems to be a heater, or maybe a chimney or furnace? I'm not finding it in Sindarin or any Earth language . . . Oh wait! Is it this?

—doctorlit learned the word "orangery" tonight

The lotrfanfiction one was the most edited so I saved a copy right before the site went down so it wouldn't be lost forever.

I love theme-naming.

The fact the Illian-Sims girls are all named after poisonous plant Constance grows for... reasons? Kinda creeps me out, though.

The orangery joke, everything, it just made me smile.

—Ls

Do we have Storms or Storming Damnation on there yet? It’s from the Stormlight Archive.

... Soooo are you going to add that information to the entry on the Creative Curses page, like I asked?

Do you want me to do it for you?

Please give me an answer either way. I don't like it when my questions are ignored.

~Neshomeh

Here, copied across from GDocs as part of an effort to get all of my 'modern writing' on at least one non-Google site. I'll be adding Apples & Oranges when I get a chance.

If you missed it back in March, DMS: Last Sun was written a bit out of timeline order - it takes place all the way back in May 1999, when things in HQ were very different.

hS

The low-stakes mystery-solving continues in...

The Case of the Disobedient Dragon

In which Dafydd yells at the sky.

hS

[Warning: This post was typed in a fit of late-night enthusiasm. It is intended only to represent Neshomeh's feelings in the moment. She has those sometimes.]

So, I'm asexual. Looking back on it, I would have been significantly happier if everyone had not been super-interested in whether or not I "liked" anyone as a kid.

I don't think it was much of an issue when I was really little, like 6-ish. I remember telling people I was going to marry my best friend from preschool, but when you're that young you can tell people that what "marriage" looks like to you is hunting aliens and having a laboratory in your basement and never having kids because you want to have fun instead, and everyone just laughs indulgently and thinks to themselves, "just wait until she hits puberty."

It was definitely an issue in middle school, when there started to be school dances and stuff like that. Then all the allosexual kids start realizing it, and all the adults in your life start going "so, do you have a special boy you like, wink wink?"

And, like, I did... but all I really wanted that to mean was for someone to share my passions (which still involved hunting aliens, and maybe saving the world a bit on the side). I did not want to kiss anybody. I remember feeling so tense and strange in situations where I knew that could be a thing, and I'm so damn grateful that the awkward, nerdy guys I liked were good people who never pressured me.

Unlike my own mother, who by high school was practically cheering from the sidelines. I remember one time, driving my "boyfriend" (because I didn't have the vocabulary for "hetero-romantic interest") home—I was along for the ride—and she was all like "So, have you two ~kissed~ yet? :D :D :D" So humiliating. And no, we hadn't, because I wasn't "ready" and my friend knew and actually cared.

The things I couldn't say then: No, Mom, we haven't, because I don't want to, maybe ever. Why is this such a big deal to everyone? This pressure makes me feel really crappy. Leave me alone. It's none of your business.

Why didn't I say those things? Well, why did I have a "boyfriend" in the first place? Why would I even think about marrying my best friend as a goddamn child?

Because if you joke about something often enough, it stops being a joke.

When the adults in your life, and the media you consume, and the culture in general, all discourse about teenagers dating as though it's a mathematical certainty, you can't help but get the impression that it's something you are supposed to do. Moms joshing their teenagers about their love life is normal. Not being interested in having one is weird. And no teenager wants to be weird.

I dealt with this in two ways. First, I figured I was just smarter than everyone around me, and that's why I wasn't interested in something as silly as dating. I was super-down on shipfic, and I have some very embarrassing comments about slash floating around out there in the ether.

Later, when I'd gotten into college and pulled my head out of my butt a little, I figured there was just something wrong with me. Had to be, because not wanting your boyfriend to kiss you, let alone do anything else with you, is not normal and not fair, right? And again, thank goodness the guy actually cared for me and respected my boundaries. Too many other women aren't so lucky. (Bit of a tangent, but he actually slept with someone else at a party one time. He felt so bad about it. My reaction? "Huh. What was it like?" If THAT wasn't a sign...)

Finally, someone on this very Board told me that "asexual" is a thing you can be, and it's totally normal. I'm not broken, or sick, or crazy (or even particularly smart). I'm ace!

And with that knowledge in my pocket, I could finally work out a romantic relationship on my terms, with the understanding that sex is a part of it because I love my partner and want to meet his needs, not because society tells me it's something I'm supposed to be super-excited about.

I'm not. I never was. I never will be.

And ace people are far from the only people to struggle with self-esteem as teenagers due to feeling pressured by social expectations they don't fit.

So, seriously, can we please un-normalize "joking" with kids about dating like it's something they are expected to do? Please?

~Neshomeh

as in below the actual F word.

I love that Helena and Sheen have such strong personalities that you can shove them into a simple, run-of-the-mill Tolkienverse Suefic, and they still have philosophical arguments to get into, rather than just following the action of the fic. It's funny; I find myself siding with Helena here, but on my actual work shifts, I'm probably more like Sheen. I think the difference is that, while I'm happy to Sheen at myself, I'm not so controlling as to attempt to Sheen at my teammates. Remember, there's nothing wrong with Sheening in public, but if you're going to Sheen with someone else, you have to get their consent first.

One nitpick:
. . . and she's less concerned about the whole Ring business than she should.
That line should end "should be."

—doctorlit is amused by the mental image of Scottie Pippen, height 6'8", towering over the Hobbits while playing poker with them