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Quenya was no longer used for daily conversation between Elves by the time of the Third Age. Historically, Quenya was replaced by Sindarin as the main conversation language as far back as the First Age (when Thingol basically said "Anyone speaking Quenya will be considered a kinslayer").

The exiled Noldor kept Quenya in use as a language of lore (Tolkien's term is "Elven-latin"), but spoke Sindarin in everyday use. Legolas was born sometime in the Third Age, in a Silvan realm to a Sindarin father, and most likely would have never learnt Quenya.

As for Glorfindel, it's kinda-heavily-implied that he's a Noldo (possibly Glorfindel of Gondolin rehoused and sent back to Middle-earth), and while he probably knows Quenya, he'd speak Sindarin to Legolas.

Elcalion, language nerd

This place where the fanfic is, does it have private messages? If so, I suggest that you take him to the side and get things sorted out. Do not do it in the comment boxes, because that tends to make things rather sticky.

However, as I am not known for being a social person myself, wait for other people to respond before acting on this.

Wow, did I just get scolded... Now, I know you're likely to be on my side, but I need to hear someone, anyone, else's opinion on this.

I've been reading a humorous story about what was really going on during the movies, including an OOC Vader and reasons for the stormtroopers to be bad shots. I was my usual self in reviews -- it made me laugh enough that I was pretty positive in the beginning, except one chapter that disappointed me, and I was fairly positive but said what bothered me. I usually comment on blatant or amusing spelling/grammar errors/typos and general issues I think should be better. The author asked me to be less picky because it was just for fun. Of course, with all the stories I'm reading and my habits, I didn't always remember this.

The last chapter, I commented on the fact that he said "lamented sadly" which I found to be a perfect example of redundancy and overuse of adverbs. I also complained about people who describe Yoda as a "troll" (not that kind), not saying that it just plain annoys me (bad reasoning) but giving the reason that fairy tales and people's judgements of weirdness aren't the same in space. I also mentioned something I was confused about and said something minor that I liked. He *really* scolded me for being overly negative.

I answered, feeling embarrassed but trying to be cheerful. I said I got the message, it's hard to remember who wants, who doesn't mention, and who doesn't want criticism. I didn't say it, but some people have told me my reviews are their favorite, and he's the only one who's said he doesn't want this. I said I know I'm too negative and it's a problem. I said I wouldn't apologize about the troll thing because it really bothers me. I also said that I obviously think it was good or I wouldn't be reading it, I think it's ingenious, and I was considering sending it to you guys as an example of a good OOC. I expected this to be the end of it unless I forgot again.

But he was apparently really mad at me. He told me that I should be telling him the nice things and lectured me for FOUR PARAGRAPHS about being a good person. He said that I apparently have bad reading comprehension because I'm confused about some things (I've only mentioned this twice and said I was distracted while reading it for one of those times) and he's surprised that someone so nitpicky would. He told me to go work on my own writing, kindness, and comprehension. He also said I nitpicked for thirteen chapters. I just counted, and I left nine reviews, by my count three positive, four mixed, and two negative, including three nitpicky things, one of which wasn't directed at him but the fandom. Finally, in the kindest and politest way possible, he asked me to go away.

My mouth dropped open while I was reading this; I've never had anyone say anything like that before. Now, you have to know that I have mild social phobia, and even though I take criticism about my stories because my writing matters that much to me, I can't stand personal criticism that I can't brush off as a flame. It's proof that I've improved that I don't feel like deleting everything I've put on the internet and crawling into a hole anymore, but it still physically hurts.

I also found that he had commented on his story basically making fun of me. The way he'd written it, I thought, "Oh, he's had a few like this, that's why he's annoyed," but there was no more criticism at all on the page of the most recent reviews.

So now I'm thinking, he gets tons of reviews (it really is tons for a first story) and all but mine are positive, but he can't stand that? A lot more sensitive than me. He's telling *me* to be less serious but he makes such a big thing about it? Or was I really that wrong not to have stopped criticizing after he asked me to? And should I answer him or will this just cause a big argument?

Remember, the Flowers are always running us off our feet with new missions. Also, I imagine many agents are so sick and tired of any alterations to their beloved continua that they don't want to try. Call it Fandom-Weariness.

The following links are not a comment directed at Pretzel, just something art-related that I thought would fit better here than on a new thread:

Understanding Your Style: Symbols, Design Pattern, and Anti-Pattern, Parts One and Two, by =whitetrashpalace.

I found it very interesting since it deals with concepts we also see in writing, and thought it might be interesting and maybe helpful to many of us here who also draw.

And, Pretzel, the drawing is cute. A higher scan and/or save resolution would do wonders for the image quality, but the composition (the way the eye is led across the image) is really engaging. It's like following the path Lee just took down the corridors to where she is now. Very nice!

One easy way to make your images more striking is to not be afraid to use really dark darks and light lights. The darkest spots on any face, for example, are the pupils of the eyes, the nostrils, and the line between the lips. Don't be afraid to make those really black. Also, a little spot of white in the pupil really brings the eyes to life. You'll be amazed what a difference that alone can make. {= )

~Neshomeh, who isn't quite sure when she figured that trick out.

The problem with statements like "Thranduil is NOT an abusive father" is that while it's generally assumed to be true, and most of the fans (note the distinction between fans and fangirls) prefer to think it's true, I don't believe it's specifically stated in canon. And the fangirls jump on it so they can write badslash h/c or SuexLegolas h/c.

Even if it *is* stated in that particular instance, the same applies for ninety percent of fanon backstories, especially the abusivetragicpast!backstories. Which, in my opinion, are almost all a load of crap unless there's actually textual evidence to back them up.

I don't know the canon your agents come from, so I can't comment on that; but there are lots of people here willing to beta-read spinoffs.

You do a great deal better in English than I do in German, and what you have can be easily fixed.

No freakin idea. I'm assuming, since the dialogue with Legolas was him speaking with an Evil!Glorfindel, it was, ummm. . . Quenya?
Vines of Lust? No. You definitely do not want to know. Let's just say it's a smutfic of epic canon-raping proportions, and leave it there, hmm?
Does the author care? Judging by that site, definitely not. Read almost anything there (probably Second Chances, maybe), and you'll look for a coffin, some nails and a hammer, and a barrel of bleepka for afters (after you bury the author alive). It's horrifying, and I regret ever reading those. Damn good summaries on bad fics!

-Honu_Wahine

I can totally relate to your troubles. That would be a handy thing to have. The nearest thing I can think of is the "Find" option under microsoft word- it lets you find every instance where you used a specific word, but then again you have to know what word you want to look for with that tool so I guess it doesn't really match what you're looking for.

Maybe some day.

Until then, rereading and beta readers will have to suffice.

Imagine, for an instant, that a storyline is just that - literally a line, stretching through some meta-space. It's been Published, which makes it extra shiny and special. That storyline is the Canon for that particular work - Lord of the Rings has a Canon (two, if you count the movies), MIB has a Canon, and so on.

Immediately surrounding Canon is a tight weave of well-written fanfic storylines. It's like a rope - all nicely aligned, woven together, and although parallel threads don't always agree, the whole thing holds together nicely. This is good fanfic. Each fanfic takes a little bit of strength from the main Canon, but because it weaves right back in, the net effect is to make the whole thing stronger.

Surrounding that is the whole tangled mess of badfic, which makes our nice, neatly woven rope of fandom look like a messy yarn-ball. It's ugly, it's messy, and as each fic still takes strength from the Canon, it weakens the entire assemblage. The job of the PPC is to trim out those tangles and keep the rope of canon something resembling coherent and linear.

That's how I see it, anyways. Your perceptions may vary.

Now, World One is yet another Canon in that meta-space. It isn't our Earth, it's a fictional translation thereof. This is where it starts to get a bit mind-bending, as World One, along with all other fiction set in the "real world" (to a given limit of "real") is also fanfiction, looping around the concept of the Real World (the actual, nonfictional space we inhabit).

Agents are usually Dangerously Genre Savvy, to borrow the term. Many of them break the fourth wall to some degree or another - the PPC is metafiction, so a little bit of recursive fun is always possible.

I suppose you're right; the beginning is much less complicated. It'll get harder, though...

And I'm still concerned about the way he keeps turning into Legolas. -.- I'm not even a fangirl. It's slightly worrying.

I've actually taken a few art classes, but given that my fine motor skills aren't the best (my handwriting's crap because of this), I've never been able to draw well. I think I'll just stick with fiction writing. ^^

Because I asked similar questions early on... And no, you won't be kicked off for rambling. I'd know, if it could happen it would have already happened to me several times.

As for your questions, I don't see a problem with agents being aware that they're just words, or that someone's writing each word of their fate. Despite sounding pretty dark, I don't mean that everyone's hopelessly controlled or something similarly grim. I like to imagine it as more of a less parasitic relationship between the author and their characters/agents, with the words merely being a set of instructions for them as free-willed beings to follow, rather than complete and total control (which is what badfic does for the most part, in my opinion). The two can overlap sometimes, but that doesn't happen very often.

Second one. I think of the bad fanfiction being more like an infection or parasite of sorts, appearing at first in the general area it began, then spreading further and further until the original continuum is entirely replaced or damaged beyond repair. Fortunately, this is quite slow, and the continuum has natural defenses to deal with some of the badfic, so agents only need to destroy the major source of disruption, then the natural order restores itself for the most part. This means some just mediocre 'fic isn't going to cause any real damage.

These match up with one particular perception/theory of the PPCverse that's in my head. It's pretty detailed, so I won't post the entire thing here and now.

...Great, now you've got me rambling...

Oh, oops. I think that was a typo. I'll go fix it.

Thank you! :D

I think there are a few who actually have, and as to reviewing, I know for a fact that in TOS Jay flamed a badfic. I forget which one, though...

I like your theory, although it made my head hurt.

OFUs reside in certain canons, but on an offshoot branch--it would be bad to have all those minis running around canon.

But generally I notice and try to change it.

On the other hand, then I find myself using the same set pattern of synonyms over and over again, or just using too many variants on the same word, so it sounds more like I'm violently shaking a thesaurus to see what falls out than actually writing. It's hard to find a balance.

I notice it happens a lot when I try to write formally; probably because I tend to use longer words in formal-style writing.

How did I forget Fëanor? I'm reading the Silmarillion right now!

My point stands with the little v-thingy (û), though. I can never remember what it's called...

I'm still working a bit on the language, Italian has a grammar basis completely different from English, as the use of hyphens in direct dialogue. I didn't knew that hyphens were not accepted in English, and that's quite a surprise, I've got good marks in English (an average 8, that means 80 points out of 100).
Thank you very much, I cannot go sporking if I keep doing those nasty mistakes.

The "fairy thing" is something that would actually happen in HQ, as Corolla would disguise herself as an human (except for the Nanohaverse, as Unison Devices are from that continuum). In fact, Unison Devices are able to change form an "grow" to a child-size one, but this is not widely shown in the Nanohaverse (in fact, only in some official arts), and it can be related to the master's mana (and Corolla doesn't have a master). Not sure about that, informations are very scarce. The only thing I'm really sure it's right is the car-based name, common in the Nanohaverse

Unison Devices actually eat the same things as normal humans do (more or less the ame amount of food that a little child is able to eat), but Corolla's taste for Sue meat is something based of Stu of the day, Sue Souffle and Water served in the cafeteria, and exaggerated for the Rule of Funny. However, she usually eats cooked sue meat, and almost always she instead handles the corpse to the Cafeteria. Considered that Corolla is nearly ax-crazy, I thought it was reasonable. But I can tone it down, if needed.

No, my brain is better than ever- that helps, in a way. Does this mean that PPC agents CAN write fanfiction, though? And review fanfiction? I have an idea.

Anyhow, that was really lovely, it helped, thank you!