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I'll be honest my knowledge of the sprouts is somewhat lacking, but I shall certainly read up. I've got a couple of missions planned and then was going to focus on the training again. I'll get in touch with you before I do.

... there's a river named Yuwebap near the city of Borrd. Baron hS's current castle sits near it, which... probably isn't going to end well.

More crucially, for the past few years the gods Kanun and Spelin have been syncretized in Borrd with the gods Syorn and Tam-Ara - ie, Shawn and Tamara of YourWebApps. So there's a whole religious issue tied up in the move, which is part of why I haven't written it.

Plus, my original version of the story assumed Baron Me was still Protector of Ozerbord, which he hasn't been for a while, and anyway, Ozerbord doesn't really exist any more. So there's some rethinking to be done.

hS

(well, the Buds in that age bracket), the original Bloom and Blossom (Agents Maly and Dagger) are mine, but I'm willing to lend them out if you promise to be careful with them (^_~); the Movement was also deliberately written to allow for more Posies, so feel free to make your own too. :) I'm also open to cameos of my agents' children; a quick check shows I have everything from age 2 to 16, so odds are I've got someone the right age.

(Stars, Tia is 16.. she's probably an agent by now! They grow up so fast... o.O)

hS

It was a spin-off I was writing back in 2011. A group of rescued kids (and an Ewok) between 13-16 who were too young to be full agents but were training. It ran more like a Mystery Science Theatre, where they were sat in a projector room at the back of the RC and talked through how they would deal with the fic.

If you're interested my mission control is here, and look for Training RC 2147.

My original plans were in the 13-16 age bracket that I had in the 2011 class, so if I was allowed to play with him, Ian Thomas Horowitz could just about fit in, I'll have to read back through his appearances later. I've got a couple of planned recruits from a badfic I'm currently working on that fit that age bracket too.

I've got to admit, all this talk of younger agents, and the Sprout Movement I might have a rethink, or an additional think. Especially as the Fontwell children are now 6 and 4, could be fun. Thank you.

...I made this thread intending for you to beta a Permission Attempt, but then I realized that my characters weren't in good enough shape yet. I'm asking you to beta the drafts anyway, though, because I think your feedback will be useful in creating another draft.

So you're not actually asking us to beta your Permission attempt. You're actually asking for us to have a look at some drafts that might evolve into your Permission attempt? I'm kinda confused. Still happy to have a look, but confused.

What do we call YWA in Plort?

If you need any comic relief, I shall note Sir Thoth's incredible contributions of sitting in the corner and doing absolutely nothing when whatever equivalent of the T-Board Technical Committee met to move.

(My sole contribution to T-board is making it GNU Terry Pratchett compliant)

...I realized that my characterization is a bit lacking, so I'm not going to use my current draft for my Permission attempt. However, I would still like you two to take a look at it and see if you can identify some of the problems with my writing.

I'm saying this because I left the bios unfinished due to my lack of good characterization, so you will now understand that.

Links are sent.

To be honest it was such a bleepfic that disguises weren't needed. Ned Flanders saw them for one line before getting killed off. Lisa and Marge technically turned up for two lines but were spelt as Lisa simpin and marj, so it was only really minis. To be fair from that point on an Ewok was the least of the fics problems

So far as I can determine through the intensive research of having played some games and seen some episodes, most Pokemon regions are ruled by what are essentially military setups: the most effective "government" is the gym system, where leadership is established by prowess in battle. (They may not be officially described as the government, but when a problem - even a world-threatening problem - arises, the people trying to solve it are gym leaders, Elite Four members, and Champions.) It makes perfect sense that they would want to keep the system in place; it's what grants them their authority!

Now, if a single autocrat or monarch took over, would he want to keep allowing everyone from the age of ten upwards to keep harnessing raw elemental power? Absolutely not! You can only afford that if the populace is loyal to you, and as you've just said, taking away their pit fights isn't going to do wonders for that.

But more than that: I think this idea that everyone is deeply invested in the pit-fight system is biased by who the game protagonists and Ash hang out with - to whit, other trainers. Most of the people in the game towns don't talk about their Pokemon in battle terms - they treat them as pets, or as working animals.

Frankly, if a movement arose promising to form an elected government and put an end to the "You made eye contact with me NOW DIE" / "our city has been taken over by a gang wielding all-powerful demons" setup, I think they'd be very popular.

Except for how everyone would see them as just another one of those gangs. You know, the gangs which the unelected strongmen of the Elite Four seem utterly incapable of putting down. It's almost like they keep them around for just this reason...

The question of whether such a movement could actually fulfill its promises rests on the question of whether "Pokemon don't attack humans" is actually true, or just a convenient lie. I mean, Pikachu never seems to have any qualms about electrocuting Ash, so maybe democracy advocates all just vanish in mysterious, Growlithe-centric encounters in the forest...

hS

I especially like your characterization of the agents. I know that the word "Agents" doesn't seem like a lot, but you really put a lot of meaning into that word that conveys a lot about them. You could stand to add more details about the fic they missioned, like what continuum it's in and what type of Sue was killed, but that's not a glaring problem.

Overall, 10/10!

If the "functioning government" in question is a democracy, Pokémon battles are such an integral part of culture in the Pokémon world that there's no way they would shut them down. (Except for Fiore, but the wild Pokémon there still battle. Otherwise the Rangers wouldn't be able to call on any useful Pokémon.) If it is a kleptocracy, there's no way the number of industries involved in Pokémon battles are going to let the government shut down. If it is a monarchy or aristocracy, they still want to preserve popular opinion so that the commoners don't rise up and overthrow them. Even if it's a self-destructive Nazi-style dictatorship that will probably be gone by the end of the decade, Pokémon battles do provide effective bread and circuses for the masses, and why outlaw them when training Pokémon provides effective weapons of war?

tl;dr your opinion is wrong

Disguising Wallis would remove the comedy of the Ewok dialogue that only Steven can understand. Plus, the break-ability of the SEP field is subjective from spin-off to spin-off. As long as everyone who saw Wallis gets neuralyzed before the agents leave, it's not a huge deal.

(Meta, I totally have a review of my own coming; just need to find an open point between shifts to type it all out. Sorry!)

—doctorlit, wondering what Wallis thinks of the new Star Wars trilogy

I mean, they're probably all about...five years old at the most, but remember Elanor(elivandrisar)? And the mission that created her? Yeah, uh, Zeb, the Aviator, and Dawn rescued about twenty or so fetuses from that mission. Don't think anything's been done with them besides bringing them safely to Medical (and then presumably on to the Nursery post-birth), though it's certainly possible any or all of the three agents have checked in on them now and again. (ETA: This was June 10, 2016. The mission can be found here. Warning for accidental mass teen pregnancy with no option of abortion (though at least in this one it's due to danger to the parents, not invented legalities). At any rate, there are twenty of them, and the rescued kids should now be about 3-4 years old. I think they were about halfway through gestation when they were rescued (so sue me, I'm skimming), so three and a half is probably closer to accurate.)

There's also Lainduilien, but given she's the (Tolkien movieverse) elven equivalent of, well, a little kid, she's probably not up for agent training either. Not much of it, anyway. (Rescued September 2015 at age 15, so she's now approaching 20, but that's still pretty young for an Elf.)

I also have the three Sato kids, but they're...bother, I need to look things up. I think they're eight and nine years old. (ETA: That's accurate.) Cai Bonnefoy also exists, but he's, like. Two or so. Can't see it working.

No idea if any of that's helpful, but at least it's a bit more information...?

~Z, who's going to edit in some links and more accurate information in a bit (and has now done so).

I also vote yes. It makes sense :)

~Z

Well, that or its inevitable sequel. We'll see. :D Now I just need to figure out who'd do it, though I suppose I could always just leave that bit offscreen...

~Z

This got me laughing. Out loud. Especially the second interjection. So thanks, and I'm very amused.

Also, quail are kind of pretty, aren't they? That second one is basically a floofy ball of pretty feathers with silly little legs and a sharp little head.

~Z, who can now look at the post without laughing, about 3-5 goes in.

Also, how does this agent training work, exactly?

OneDayTheConsoleBeepedAndTheAgentsWereAnnoyedSoTheyWentInABadficToKillTheMarySueTheEnd.

Quarantine's been getting to me. I've now started to do something that I swore I'd never do as a little kid: purchase a PC game. Parents were fine with it, provided I didn't spend every waking hour of my life on it.

You see, it started when Klei decided to make DST free on Steam for five days. Since all my friends were playing it, I thought, heck, why not, it's not like it will come at the price of my sleep and mental health, anyway.

I was wrong.

Let me say, this is the most anxiety-inducing games I've ever played. One small step can make your four hours of preparing a base for survival tumble down like Jenga blocks. My toes were curled up the whole time, I was sweating despite having the AC on, and my fingers were twitching. I lost a day of sleep playing this game.

Did I feel awful? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes.

I'm not sure about spoilers, but I'm going to warn ahead just in case. So, DST is a survival game where your selected character gets dumped in the middle of an unfamiliar world through a portal called the Florid Postern. I thought it was going to be easy: collect firewood, twigs, grass, make a fire, go out to scavenge for food every few days, and I would be fine. Seeing as I was employing the use of only three brain cells at the time, I was quickly proven wrong. There are several thousand ways to die here, including a malevolent demon of darkness that strikes if you don't have a fire burning by night. You have a couple days to prepare before you get chased by a pack of feral dogs, and every living thing there wants to kill you. Even if they seem harmless, fluffy, or even cuddly. You walk into their territory, you're dead meat. (Looking at you, Tallbirds.)

Now, into my actual feelings on the subject.

First, the music. Oh gawd, the music. Eerie, very in-tune with the theme of the game. And the art. I've heard that the developers were heavily inspired by Tim Burton's movies, and it's apparent in the character design. Simplistic art styles and certain colour schemes can do so much.

And, the story. The whole series began when a young scientist accepted the offer of forbidden knowledge from a mysterious voice on the radio, built a portal, and landed in a world known as the Constant. The game I'm playing is one of the later installments, so I'll just comment on that. Each character is well-developed, with motivations, personality, quirks, strengths and weaknesses, the whole package. Not to mention that almost every player will be able to find a character's playing style that suits them. Additionally, as a multiplayer game, you can play with friends in quarantine, kill some time, ya know? But what's really the cherry on top is how teamwork can save you, especially when you're an inexperienced and hot-headed player (like me). I've connected to my friends a lot better these few days thanks to this.

It's... just a lot. I am very happy to have come across this game.

So, if you like being constantly anxious, fighting against a biome that wants to kill you at all costs, and admiring good art, I recommend Don't Starve Together.

(Now to go through AO3 to find fanfiction... why is a third of them rated Explicit?)

(Really, if you don't want to be mentally scarred, don't search for the fanfic. Just don't.)