The PPC Posting Board - Latest posts

*offers gentle hug and Honeydukes chocolate*

Good to see you're OK and getting help. Don't apologize for whatever happened; being unwell isn't your fault. I hope you keep getting better.

Missed the cutoff by two days! Looks like I'm now Aries.

In other words: was an Aquarius, now a Capricorn.

Sub-article "Ophiucus and the Zodiac"

"Ophiuchus is one of thirteen constellations that cross the ecliptic. It has therefore been called the '13th sign of the zodiac'. However, this confuses sign with constellation.

The signs of the zodiac are a twelve-fold division of the ecliptic, so that each sign spans 30° of celestial longitude, approximately the distance the Sun travels in a month, and (in the Western tradition) are aligned with the seasons so that the March equinox always falls on the boundary between Pisces and Aries.

Constellations, on the other hand, are unequal in size and are based on the positions of the stars."

From before the change.

CLICK

I'm sorry for my radio silence the last few days. I had to go to the hospital and wasn't able to get online to let you know I'm okay.

I'm back on meds again and going to see a therapist soon. I didn't mean to stir up any drama and I'm sorry for that. Just wanted to make a clean break of it... I guess that didn't work too well. But I'm doing better now. I'm sorry.

I'm pretty sure I did address the only two points you brought up. In case you missed it somehow though, here it is again: I was unaware that the "you must be 13 or older" thing wasn't an official rule, and yes we have had people lie about their age.

Honestly I don't see how either of your points invalidated the actual point of my post, even if I had ignored them, which it is now clear to me that I should have done, since you were clearly just trying to bait me into an argument.

I thought there were only twelve signs to the zodiac. What gives?

Also, it seems that I got shifted to the newcomer's sign: once Sagittarius, now Serpentarius.

I'm a Scorpio, but the new chart says Virgo.

Not that I care.

Weird. Also, source please?

I'm glad you were able to correct my lack of trivia knowledge without addressing the fact that your argument, point, and premise were entirely wrong.

hS

I went ahead and changed the page. hS, can you please add a blurb to the header?

I'm no longer a Leo; looks like I'm a Cancer now.

Side note: There's a hilarious Jon Stewart bit about this, although it may be a bit NSFW. It is Stewart, after all, and there's a tattoo in a... sensitive place involved.

Here it is, in all its glory!

Her?

Small question though. Who will be the new Gold Saint for Ophiucus?

So yeah, remember those little things called the Zodiac Signs? Some believe in them, some find them unnecessary... well, turns out the configuration we've known has been out-of-date for a while.

NASA considers remaking the dates and months corresponding to the Zodiac. Apparently because of the significant changes in the Solar System, the astrological charts created by Ancient Greeks/Egyptians/Sumerians/Whoever-started-it to assign the Zodiac Signs are no longer relevant.

This is apparently how the New Zodiac goes:

Capricorn: January 20 - February 16
Aquarius: February 17 - March 11
Pisces: March 11 - April 18
Aries: April 19 - May 13
Taurus: May 14 - June 21
Gemini: June 21 - July 20
Cancer: July 21 - August 10
Leo: August 10 - September 16
Virgo: September 17 - October 30
Libra: October 30 - November 23
Scorpio: November 23 - November 29
Ophiucus (Serpentarius): November 29 - December 17
Sagittarius: December 18 - January 20

So... any changes for you? Not for me. Once a Pisces always a Pisces :D

OK, disclaimer: I don't even have Permission yet, so I'm certainly not a PG. Most of the constructive criticism I could offer has already been said, so I'll skip over that. I'd defer to other people who've been around longer than me and actually know what they're doing if they say that any of this is wrong.

What I can say is that there's a wonderful guide on the PPC wiki all about creating characters. I think that two of the reasons agents usually work in pairs are that (1.) it reduces the likelihood of accidentally writing a Sue/Stu, and (2.) it allows for humorous banter and more character development. Try creating a partner for Cyan and see what happens.

Beyond just going through a wiki walk about the PPC, I'd recommend reading missions and interludes done by other people, finding something you like, and thinking about why you like it. What are the agents like? How do they develop over time? Thinking about these things will help with creating your own characters and their personalities.

Hoom, hoom.

Activity: Do I know you? You've only been around for six days. The reason we usually tell people to wait a month before asking for Permission is because the PPC is a community first and foremost; we like knowing the people who want to write in the 'verse.

PPC knowledge: I think other people did my work for me, here — yours is lacking. Please read around some more.

Fic to spork: Well. It is my humble opinion that "My Immortal" (and other fics of the sort) are very hard to tackle correctly. Going for "My Immortal" for your first mission is like wanting to drive a Formula 1 race car before you even know how to switch gears.

Writing ability (technical): Your spelling is fine, but your grammar isn't. There are multiple tense shifts in your two prompts. A beta-reader isn't just for SPaG, though it's usually expected that they will comment on SPaG mistakes they find. A beta's job is to look over the story and catch the mistakes you don't; the good ones also tell you when you write nonsense, too. Based on the stuff in your prompts — yes, you need a beta. Preferably, more than one.


Writing ability (creative): Well then. The prompts are, frankly, too short to be interesting and are full of plot holes and mistakes — Granz, Larfen and HG pointed most of those out. Further, Permission prompts should be between 400 and 800 words. While this isn't a hard rule, you need a good reason to break it, and I don't see one here.

Conclusion: You need to hang around for some more time, get to know people and let the community get to know you. You need to step up your game w.r.t. knowledge of the PPC and the technical quality of your pieces. You need to use the services of a beta reader(s). Permission denied.