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...aren't really a thing in TOS. Jay and Acacia just complain about the misspellings. Wonder if it showed up later (like Bleeprin shows up later), or if some other spin-off started the "minis show up in PPC missions too" trend?

How do you know you've made it as a fanficcer here in the early noughts? Big-name fans like Miss Cam graciously allow you to cross over with their stories!

Protectors of the Plot Continuum: Vacation at OFUM, by Jay and Acacia

OFUM is here, in all its glory. What's really interesting is that that appears to be the original upload of OFUM... which means it is younger than the PPC by more than a month (and in fact, only a month old today)! So maybe what I should have said is "How do you know you've made it as a fanficcer? Big-name fans like Jay and Acacia graciously agree to mention your fanfic university!"

hS

Ooooooh, you're doing the thing! Sweet! I want!

I'll talk briefly about the mission first, just so the ancient HQ stuff doesn't show up in previews. The scene where Alex distracts the Animorphs while Sam is reading the charges is solid writing gold, especially Alex's attempt at faking an interest in red-tailed hawks. (What would be the "fake gamer girl" analogue in bird-watching? A faux-feathered friend? A nayvian?) Also, while I understand treating the (an?) Ellimist in this fic as a replacement, I can easily see the real thing playing along with badfics that don't do anything too egregious to the cast, but deciding to mess with the OCs a little:

"SCOTT!"

"I . . . My name is Chr—"

"PRETTY SURE IT'S SCOTT NOW."

Okay, okay, now for the good part! Anyone who's trying the guess the references for themselves, probably don't read any further!

So, is that Ontic outside the SO's office? And, that's definitely Imbolc running past them, so is this taking place immediately after the Evermind was killed/Blue arrested? And I assume the cordoned off RC is the same one Durran is investigating? I'm so excited to continue reading both story threads! I love this!

—doctorlit loves a history mystery, he just can't resistory

Spinning out of the sheer enjoyment I got from writing DMS: Last Sun, Apples & Oranges is an entire spinoff beginning in the immediate aftermath of that mission. Which places it in a very stable time in the PPC's history when nothing ominous was happening at all, no siree!

The fandom is technically Animorphs, but one of the agents doesn't even know what that is, so no canon knowledge is required. There are a lot of little links to certain PPC History events in there, but if you don't know what's going on... well, you're in no worse a position than Alex and Sam.

Apples & Oranges 1: The Newcomer

Also featuring a little bonus... part 1 of a cowrite between Lily Winterwood and myself entitled A Very Mkellin Mystery, starring possibly the least-worst Guard in the DIS.

hS

Which I referenced — including as a distraction and everything — in The Quest for Erebor Liveblogs. I hope Millie and Mr Socko enjoyed that :P

So I had time to read it on the 4th, but I won't on the 19th. This is definitely due to really cool magic and not my stupid mundane work schedule. {; D

~Neshomeh

Or, really, could make a list. I just know general authors I like, and I feel like I have to spread things out evenly. "Okay, I chose three Nesh missions, so I have to choose three hS missions, three Voyd missions..." And I would bloat the list oops. I could do a "best mission of each writer I've ever read from," though, but IDK how that would work...

(But, a "best mission from active members" list doesn't sound too shabby of an idea, to be completely honest, but we also have... 30+ active members? Maybe? That number might be off, but we have at least 10 active members. So a little hectic to do that lol.)

-kA

Here: https://ppc.fandom.com/wiki/User:Neshomeh/Spin-off_Recs

The first section is even for introductory material! It could probably stand some review and updating, and a disclaimer of some sort regarding older missions is an excellent idea.

So here's a thought: what if everyone made their own spin-off rec list, and those lists were collated into one big list? Or a top ten, or a list of lists like the general fanfic rec page; whatever seems most sensible. That would remove any issues of bias, I think? Especially if we all promise to keep our shirts on if we aren't on the list(s)? {= )

~Neshomeh

ETA: Clickable links and zapping a repeated word.

But if it was me holding up the train, then I am no longer holding up the train :P

I think it would be interesting to do a Grand Timeline of things to be read in order, and some of the more... trigger-happy fanfic policey-ones could simply get a disclaimer that suggests we don't ascribe to the beliefs expressed in this spin-off? But I mean, even my own older missions would need that disclaimer, because I remember Christianne getting very outraged at authors and going on rants about bad representation back in the day...

I do actually have the WPPC missions filed away for theoretical posting. I think it stalled because at least one person wanted to edit theirs first? I dunno.

hS

...you wanting to do something like this back in 2013, because we took one of my missions as an instalment of the "Welcome to the PPC" series. I'm guessing that didn't get anywhere ;P

The pages say a final verdict is still pending… since 2010.

... would be if there were some way to create a "recommended PPC stories" or "essential PPC stories" or just straight-up "good PPC stories" list. It could even theoretically spring out of the PPC+20 project: as we pass each story, we see whether it's 'good enough' to feature (perhaps on a timeline, both in- and out-of-universe?).

The trouble is... I don't think we can, for the very big reason that less than two years into the PPC's existence, you start hitting authors who are still around. Can you imagine the furore if some clown like that Huinesoron chap kicked up a fuss that his first mission (26 October 2003) didn't get included? It would be brutal, I'm telling you. Screams, flames, people running for cover...

Assembling a timeline as we go along (from the ruins of the Grand Index, alas and woe) might be a good idea, but... yeah, I don't think we can make Official Judgements. To the best of my memory, almost every mission declared out-of-continuity has been at the author's request (with the possible exception of that vampire one?).

hS

I personally was confused as all get-out.

And you're right, paragraphs are used rather well here. Aside from my former post stating that, yeah, some of what's shown should be told (or not touched on at all. Poor bird.) or visa versa, the story does flow rather well.

looks over at my rushed-pace stories

I could snag a few things from this story, but, again, it's not the best written spinoff, although it is not the worst.

-kA, who now feels bad for crit-ing this story harshly when their own works might not stand up to time

That chapter won't exist until the 19th! You're all looking into the unknown future!!1

I would totally join you if my temporal preservation software didn't prevent it, and also chapter 2 is so long and I don't have time right now. ^_~

hS

Yeah, I read ahead, too. Pretty much immediately. Sorry, hS. But I'll restrict myself to a general discussion of writing technique. >.>

Anyway, with Kage and Sakira, I was usually able to tell who was saying what using context cues from the paragraphs leading up to the dialogue and then following the paragraph switches back and forth from there. I think we're looking at an intentional tag-light writing style.

For the record, when it comes to speech tags (meaning specifically of the "they said" ilk, to be clear), how often to use them IS largely a matter of personal preference and the writing fashion of the day, not hard rules. Some people absolutely hate them, and it's true that an overreliance on them can really make your writing drag. On the other hand, refusing to use them at all is like trying to build a house without nails: sure, you can, but it's borrowing trouble for no very good reason.

Sometimes, if there are only two characters in a scene and the only thing happening is their conversation, it isn't necessary to remind the audience who they are for a stretch. We ought to be able to remember two people. {= ) To make a long scene without tags work, the dialogue has to be the focus of the scene, it has to be well written enough to stand on its own, and the audience has to care about the outcome of the conversation, so it isn't something to attempt lightly, but it can be very effective when done well. It's a fun and useful thing to try as an exercise, too.

But generally, my extremely helpful suggestion for how often to use speech tags is "more than never, but less than always." ^_~ It should be possible to tell who is saying what based on context cues, speech patterns, and/or sensible paragraphing at least some of the time, but it's also important to be clear, and erring on the side of clarity is rarely a bad thing.

~Neshomeh

This is actually a very sweet story! Not only because of the interaction between Momoka and Kaguya, but because it expresses the agents' (and your) connection to the canon. I've seen the phrase "canon love" used once in a while in older stories to describe supporting the word worlds, but it's not often shown this clearly in the text. Very nice!

Though I will say, sometimes it's good when writers have a definitive endpoint in mind, so they don't feel obligated to stretch characters and plot out to places that don't make sense for the sake of making the story continue. A longer story isn't necessarily a better one . . . glances at his Heroes DVDs

—doctorlit is glad you still have some content to look forward to, all the same

https://rot13.com/

What's encr?

Please spoiler the encr mention in the above post.

Now you've also got me looking. Kage appears to be Korean and Sakira's the one carrying a katana, but Kage's the one using "chibi-baka" as an insult (which... eh, I suppose chibi might be used as an adjective but I do hear it more as a noun?) which suggests both of them are anime fans at the very least. I'm not entirely sure if they're suited to M-e missions, but I guess at this point in time all the attention is on M-e, so why not?

I actually remember my friend who used to pilot Christianne drawing her using a katana and other Japanese weaponry against LotR (and HP) Sues -- I have a drawing from back then of Christianne and her former partner Selma where she was carrying a long sickle katana. I think it was because my friend was into Naruto at the time? But yeah, my reasoning for why these two are doing the same thing is because, well, it's cool. Which is a flimsy excuse, considering that's also the reason why Suvians do most things.

Seconded about being confused regarding who's saying what. It gets easy for all the agents to fall into hyperactive snark mode sometimes, but keeping an eye on accompanying actions and who could logically know enough about x to comment on it should help differentiate people? At least for me, that is.

I literally cannot tell the agents apart.

I guess I can't say anything (I've been told multiple times that my characters are identical-sounding; the only difference between David Null and all the rest is that he curses), but the lack of dialogue tags, the simularity between the actions (I, at least, try to make my agents act different, but whether I succeed, well, that's up to the readers?), the identical actions against canon characters... ignoring the past opnion, it isn't the best written spinoff. It also feels a lot like "talking heads" scenes. Show me dialogue tags with action attached, at least.

I just hit the bird scene... ugh, by gods. TW animal abuse, animal killing, goreish, bl3?

It seems that they show at the wrong moments, and tell at the funny moments.

Also, again, TAGS. Dialogue tags! They're important! Who speaks using baka? Who hates Sues dating Gandolf? I don't really know. buries head under arms I'm very confused.

TL;DR: Tags aren't used, can't tell the agents apart, I hate the bird scene

(Not trying to be rude. I'm just confused.)

-kA

In briefest possible form:

As far as I can tell, the PPC has always been a bunch of socially awkward oddballs: lots of geeks (female geeks at that, still just before it was cool); lots of queer folk; lots of neurodivergent folk. People like us cling to our stories as form of support that we don't always get from society at large. The worlds are our safe places; the characters are our friends. That being the case, it's not remotely surprising that we take umbrage, sometimes extreme umbrage, to the sudden intrusion of society at large into spaces that were formerly ours. Especially when the writing of society at large leaves much to be desired. >.>

You see a lot of agents who are Not Like the Other Girls. That's because a lot of PPCers were (and are) truly not like the other girls, and were in the midst of adolescent struggles to be okay with that in a time when there was very little support for them. This is why the PPC community has always been such an amazing place for its members: it's made of a lot of people going through a lot of the same things, finding acceptance they don't often get. Many of us can attest that it's transformative.

It's not surprising that we weren't always good at saying no to each other. We had to learn that, and we had to learn to love ourselves without hating the Other Girls. It's hard! But that's what I, personally, hope that today's PPC community teaches. And ensuring that we continue to walk a more tolerant path is one reason I stick around. {= )

~Neshomeh