The PPC Posting Board - Latest posts

You've run the gamut from mildly silly but meaningful and peaceful in the first one, to absolute silly fun/satire in the second, and a couple of feels in the third. Very well done.

~Z

Nothing beta’d. Enjoy?

[1]. Strider (The Lord of the Rings) - this story is before the fellowship, but after the hobbit. it explains how Aragorn arrived with the rangers and returned to middle earth

The little Hobbit boy was watching the road where it disappeared around his neighbor’s hill, as he had done for the past three days. Today, however, he finally saw the person he had been waiting for coming marching around the corner. A grin lit up his face, and he bounded over the low picket fence and ran up the path.

“Uncle Bilbo! Uncle Bilbo! You’re back home!” he cried.

Bilbo gave a grin to match his nephew’s. “Frodo, my boy! It’s grand to see you again! How have you been?”

“I’m fine. How are you? Did you see the elves? Do you have any stories to tell?”

Bilbo laughed and swept the tiny Frodo up into a hug. “Yes, certainly, my boy! But may we not go inside first? Walking all the way from Rivendell can make a Hobbit feel quite famished!”

Once seated inside, Bilbo said, “The elves have told me a most unusual tale from far in the east, young Frodo.”

“How far, uncle?”

“All the way from Mordor! . . . You wouldn’t know it, my boy. It is a dark place, where terrible things happened in years past. But the elves say that one of the men we call Rangers traveled there not long ago.”

Frodo furrowed his brow. “Why would he want to go to such a place?”

“Well, the Rangers are brave folk, as you know, lad.” Bilbo smiled and ruffled Frodo’s hair. “But this man, this “Strider,” had help with him, it seems.”

“A whole army of Rangers?”

Bilbo scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps they were Rangers. Rangers of some other land, far beyond the sea, of a kind we’ve never heard of before. There were five, the Elves say, all dressed in clothing of a strange, smooth cloth, and each in a different color. One red, and one blue, and one black, one yellow, one pink. And their whole heads were covered in helmets with a great black window on the front.”

Frodo wrinkled his forehead once more. “I thought Rangers were trackers. Those don’t seem like the right colors to wear to blend in in a forest! And how could they see through a black window?”

Bilbo chuckled. “Right you are my boy, but all I know is what the Elves told me. And the Elves say these five marched to the black gate of Mordor together with Strider.”

“A gate? Who lives inside the gates at Mordor, Uncle Bilbo?”

“Orcs, Frodo. Many, many hundreds of orcs—perhaps even thousands! And perhaps other terrible creatures besides. Perhaps dragons,” he said a bit more quietly, “if any dragons are still left in these lands.”

“And what did Strider and the colorful Rangers do when they got there?”

“That is the strangest part of the story of all, my boy! It is said that these strange new friends of Strider somehow called down great metal steeds from the sky, shaped like strange beasts unknown to anyone in Middle-earth! Though one was a great bird, like the Eagles, and one was said to be an oliphaunt.”

Frodo’s eyes widened. “An oliphaunt,” he breathed quietly. “They are real . . .”

And these great beasts crashed against the black gates and knocked them down! And then they ran inside and . . . well, we aren’t really sure what happened inside. We must wait for more news, I think.”

“Wow,” said Frodo. His eyes focused intently on Bilbo’s. “That sounds . . . that sounds like a made-up story, uncle. I’m sorry! But it just can’t be real, can it? It doesn’t sound real . . .”

Bilbo gave a small smile. “My boy, there is much about the world that we don’t know. I never knew trolls and wizards were real until I went on my adventure with Thorin! But I saw them, plain as I see you now. So who are we to say there are no great beasts of metal somewhere in Middle-earth?”

Frodo thought for a minute. “I guess . . .”

“And one part of the story is certainly true.”

Frodo perked back up. “What’s that, uncle?”

“When the Elves first heard the story, they sent a scout to the edge of Mordor to learn more. She returned to Rivendell while I was visiting, and I had the luck to speak with her directly.” Bilbo leaned in closer to Frodo before whispering excitedly, “The black gates have been destroyed by something. Something big and powerful!”

The little Hobbit opened his mouth wide with excitement. Jumping up and down, he yelled, “What else have you heard about from the Elves?”

Bilbo smiled and started to tell his nephew the next story. He really did feel quite good, despite the long walk. It seemed as though some burden had been lifted from him that he hadn’t even realized he was carrying. As though some dark voice that had been whispering into his ear for so long he couldn’t remember when it had started, had been suddenly silenced. It felt as though there were peaceful times to be had now, though he couldn’t imagine why that shouldn’t have been the case all along.

[4]. Creative Excuses (Star Wars) - Summary: Kylo sees the light...It's concentrated on his face, in particular his mouth.

The light was blinding.

Kylo Ren struggled not to squirm beneath the intense beam. He hated this feeling. Of being trapped, of having normally hidden parts of himself illuminated for others to see. But after a particularly drawn out moment of pain, Kylo couldn’t handle the strain any more. He instinctively lifted his hand and prepared to use the Force and push away his aggressor—

—and immediately felt the power dwindle away, overpowered and tamped down by the more powerful Force user in the room.

Kylo! The disapproving voice of Supreme Leader Snoke echoed through Kylo’s mind. Control yourself, child!

I cannot take the pain, master, Kylo returned weakly, knowing that Snoke was in his mind and would hear. Why can’t I use anesthesia for this?

For a mere cavity drilling? Snoke’s mental voice crackled with disdain. Do you realize the pain I constantly experience in this withered body? If I can live like this, every hour of every day and night, surely the grandson of Darth Vader can make it through one simple dental operation, without attempting to attack the dental droid?

I do not doubt your fortitude, master, but this pain is beyond my ability to endure. Surely just a small amount of anesthesia, to locally numb the area—

Kylo heard Snoke’s wasted fist crash weakly against the arm rest of the chair he sat in. Silence, child! There is no anesthesia! It hasn’t been invented yet.

I only—Wait. What? Kylo was momentarily distracted from the ministrations of the droid that floated over his face. What do you mean, it hasn’t been invented yet? There’s literally a self-aware artificial intelligence with no obvious means of propulsion hovering over my head performing complex medical work. We got here in a spaceship. You and I both have swords made of lasers that mysteriously stop after an arbitrary amount of distance traveled. But you’re saying no one in this galaxy has invented anesthesia yet?

It’s “a long time ago,” Kylo, Snoke intoned. Our technology is unavoidably limited by the time period we live in.

I’ll admit, I keep forgetting the “long time ago” part, Kylo complained. It’s a little easy to do so, what with all the aforementioned lasers and spaceships.

Stop whining. An element of Snoke’s gravelly growl began to enter his mental voice, a clear warning. You wouldn’t be in this position if you weren’t so liberal with the cookies.

Kylo couldn’t help himself; he shifted his eyes towards his master, anger clear on his face. You promised cookies. “Join the Dark Side, we have cookies.” Does that sound familiar, master?

A cold fury filled Kylo’s mind, and he knew he had gone too far when Snoke warned, In moderation, my apprentice. A true practitioner of the Dark Side has cookies in moderation. Cookies, Kylo, are a sometimes food.

[5]. The days we fell in love (The Avengers) - Romanogers AU. Natasha meets Steve in a bowling alley where she works. From the moment he saw her, Steve was completely haunted by the woman. (Full summary inside)

Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame. Also, I blatantly misread a pronoun in the summary (“where she works” as “where he works”), but I want to run with this idea anyway.

Steve Rogers bent to pick up a fallen cup next to a ball return. He started to head to the equipment closet to get a mop for the spill when he heard a woman’s voice behind him say, “Steve.”

He was already turning around out of reflex when he started to recognize that the voice had had a strange cadence to it; it was echoing, ethereal, like it was being muffled in some way. He still wasn’t expecting quite what he found waiting behind him, though.

“It is you!” said the woman. She was floating in midair, her entire body covered in an amber-colored glow. Her clothing was strange, almost like an aviator’s jumpsuit, to say nothing of how tight-fitting they were, though Steve was a bit too shocked by everything else to feel scandalized at the moment. The woman continued, “Did it work?”

Steve looked around the room to see the other after-hours bowling alley employees. They were all staring the specter of the woman, as well, so at least Steve could be sure he wasn’t hallucinating. He blinked “I would say something worked, though I’m not sure what it could have been, ma’am.”

“Ma’am?”

The floating woman actually looked hurt, and despite the strange circumstances, Steve couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt over making her feel that way.

She continued, “Steve, it’s me! Natasha? The Soul Stone must transport souls rather than just taking them. Did Clint get the Stone back safely? Is everyone . . . back yet?” She trailed off as she continued to see nothing but confusion in Steve Rogers’s face.

“I’m afraid I don’t know any Natashas or Clints, or . . . or Soul Stones. I am sorry, but I think you have the wrong man. But I promise, we’ll contact the authorities and try to help you in any way we can . . .”

As Steve talked, Natasha finally became aware of the clothes he was wearing. And the music that was playing. And the recruitment and war bonds posters adorning the walls. “Steve,” she interrupted. “What year is this?”

A small, patronizing smile shifted Steve’s lips. “It’s 1944, Natasha.”

Natasha’s mind kicked into overdrive. She may have been ripped from her body by a magical space artifact, and transported not only to the wrong time, but to another world where Steve Rogers wasn’t where he should be—or who he should be, looking at his tiny physique—but Natasha was still an Avenger.

She was still the Black Widow.

And while some things were clearly going to go differently on this Earth compared to the one she had known, surely her foreknowledge of history would prove valuable.

Surely She could save lives. And maybe even prevent Thanos from happening. If things were going well back where she had left her friends, Natasha could potentially prevent the effects of two different Decimations on two different Earths.

“Sorry for all this disturbance, Steve, but I am going to need some help. I need to get into contact with a woman named Peggy Carter . . .”

—doctorlit needed three wikis open for this: Tolkien Gateway, Wookieepedia, and the Professional Bowler’s Association lingo page

That was definitely my opinion. It's altogether questionable whether the eyebrow guy knows what he's doing. Actually, the only person who I think actually knows what they're doing is Haruko and... uh.. actually I'm not confident in that. Atomsk probably knows what he's doing. But he's not telling.

But yeah, I... don't think you're supposed to get it? I dunno. I think not getting it might be kinda the intent?

But still. So many questions. Why Medical Mechanica? What even is Canti? Who's Haruko really?

Oh, and seriously what happened when Naota smashed the TV? And was Kamon dead? Was he alive? What was with the robot?

Then again, I'm not sure I really want the answers to those... Alternative/Progressive were apparently not great.

For that matter, I'm not sure that they really have answers. Didn't Naota say at the end the FLCL didn't mean anything?

My apologies for being an idiot and forgetting a couple of things.

I remember that as a thing my friends (including my then-boyfriend) assured me was the best thing ever, and that I really, really did not get. Having since seen it again and consumed some analysis of it, I'm pretty sure anyone who claims to get it is lying. ^_^

That said, I guess it's a fun exercise to try to piece together what all the symbolism means and try to make sense of it? Like, I guess there's a whole underlying thing about Naota making sense of and getting over his feelings about his older brother, whom he both idolizes and kind of hates for not being around?

Plus the whole obvious puberty metaphor. Can't really not see that one.

I still want to know what the deal is with the eyebrows, though.

I might give the show a third shot now that I'm a fair bit older. It... might help? Maybe?

~Neshomeh

I say 'of all things' because it's pretty far from being a favorite of mine, much less something I watch frequently...but it's on Netflix, and I've watched a few episodes here and there since its early days, so why not?

I still wouldn't say I really love this show. I'm well aware of some of the criticism about it, and agree with a good amount of it; it bugs me that almost none of the recurring female characters are even remotely into any of the 'nerdy/geeky' films the guys like. Not even a little. As a viewer who is most definitely female and also most definitely got very into things like Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the MCU and more mildly into Star Wars (it's possible to like something a little bit, BBT writers! Seriously, I'd describe myself as a casual Star Wars fan at best, and there are installments I'm not really into, but I've still enjoyed going to see some of them even if I'm not generally the one pushing to see them and don't really care too much either way! It's possible! Why are you so blind to nuance?)...er, where was I--right, as a woman who did get into some of these shows and movies, and not in a reluctant, faked, or to please a boyfriend way (1), this bugs me. A lot. Repeatedly. As with other things I dislike about the series, it starts bugging me about three to five episodes in. Every time.

(Also, for the record, I'm also pretty into dresses, nail polish, makeup when I feel like wearing it, fun hairstyles, even rom-coms, which are sometimes good and frequently amusing to analyze...you get the picture. I mean, I also know how to put up a set of shelves and develop film and chop firewood, but--my point is, nuance exists, and so do women who a, frequently look pretty 'feminine', b, enjoy doing all sorts of things that are currently female-coded, c, are very into fantasy and sci-fi and not faking it in the least, especially not for someone they're dating, and d, are also capable of doing and enjoying tasks that are currently male-coded. Just. Nuance. Argh.)

This shows up with the male characters, too, of course. Even when they break out of their stereotypical roles a bit, it's often treated as something embarrassing, or someone implies they're weak men or lesser men because of it. Going past that, the characters frequently aren't nice to each other; the show reminds me of Friends that way, honestly. In the early seasons, at least (I'm told it gets a bit better in the later seasons), they treat each other horribly! It's awful! I came away thinking they were horrible people who didn't like each other very much at all! I mean, Phoebe is kind of fun, and I generally like Joey, but just--no! Unless the title of the show was kind of meant ironically, or as something for them to grow into, it just doesn't work for me!

(And yes, you could say some similar things about How I Met Your Mother, which, oddly enough, I kind of love. My rebuttal there? Even in the first season, you can see evidence that they love each other. Over the course of the series, they all show some very good parts of themselves. And the episodes where a psychologist joins their group for a bit and ends up exploding with analysis of how messed up they all are doesn't hurt, either. But they mostly aren't as cruel to each other, and, well, for the most part, it's very clear that there actually is a strong undercurrent of love, loyalty, and friendship, especially once you've seen more of the series. It works a lot better for me.)

...wait, I'm supposed to be talking about the Big Bang Theory.

The thing is...a piece of what I actually had in mind to talk about when I started this post is a positive. Weirdly enough, that positive is Sheldon and Amy's relationship. I don't remember too much of the beginning, and I didn't see a lot of the middle...but in the last two seasons? They're very sweet, and have possibly the healthiest Spoiler description of the lot. Think about it: they're supportive of each other--heck, there's a moment Amy comes in and Sheldon goes "Can you believe X?!" and Amy puts down her bag while saying, "No! I'm shocked and outraged!" and then, as she sits down, "Now tell me why I'm shocked and outraged?" She has his back without yet knowing what's going on; if she sees a flaw in what he tells her, she finds a way to talk him into understanding why the other person is upset, without tearing him down or even giving the impression that she's not in his corner even though she believes he's in the wrong. They do clash, obviously; the thing is, though, once they've stormed away and cooled off and talked through it with a friend...I mean, there's a scene where Sheldon keeps trying to turn a conversation to his accomplishments, despite it being colleagues from Amy's field who want to talk about how amazing they think she is, and, at most, how lucky he is to be with her, and come on, talk her up with us, tell us what you thought when she first told you about her amazing theory about x! Understandably, this leads to a big fight.

The thing is...when he comes back, he gives a sincere apology, and includes the realization that this was a time when he should have been the 'cameo in her movie' (like Iron Man being in a Captain America movie and not being upset he isn't getting all the attention or trying to take it over). It's sweet, it's fairly genuine, and he promises to work at doing better in the future, even though it might take him a lifetime to get good at it.

But that's how they are at this point. They're supportive, they know how to fight and apologize and work through their issues...it's easy to buy that there's something there, and that they really are suited for each other and in a pretty happy and healthy relationship. And that's amazing, both because they're incredibly unconventional and because they're doing much better than their 'more normal' friends, who don't have similarly solid or healthy dynamics in their marriages. The show does acknowledge they have issues, though, at least, so that's something.

Anyway. I'm in the final season, though right now I'm at a point where I'm fed up with the show again; at some point I'll keep going, probably skipping the episodes with less interesting summaries (what can I say? I'm barely a casual watcher of this show), to see what they do in the final episode. I'm curious.

(And finally, a disclaimer: if you happen to love Friends, or BBT, or hate HIMYM, that's perfectly fine with me. Heck, I've had roommates who were Friends superfans. These are my personal impressions of the shows, minus some influence from critiques I've read of BBT; I absolutely don't mean them as an attack on you, and if your opinions run counter to mine, that's great! There are certainly good and bad things in all three shows, and while we might not share opinions, the different things people see in the same piece of media...that's always interesting.)

~Z

---

(1) To be fair, I did start watching Doctor Who because my boyfriend at the time--or possibly my good friend who became my boyfriend the next year, I'm a bit unsure of the timing--kept forgetting I hadn't seen it, and eventually I got curious and decided to try it out. I ended up loving it, and got a new show, fandom, and conversation topic as well as being able to catch the references. We wound up writing bits of fanfic together--ohh, yeah, no, this was before we dated. I remember now. So I got into Doctor Who because my new good friend (well, newly close--we'd been in the same grade for years) kept referencing it to me before remembering I hadn't seen it, and I got curious. Remind me to tell you my impressions of Rose and the Doctor before I watched the show and only knew them from fanfic summaries--I was waaaay off. I had absolutely no clue who they were or what the show was really about.

Anyway. I did give the show a chance because he kept mentioning it, and I think I saw Avengers on his initiative, too (I think we were dating at that point, going by the release date), but I got into both because I genuinely loved them, not because he bugged me into it or I wanted to impress him or something like that. At most, we're talking about the kind of influence that looks like 'this person that I like a lot is into this thing and it doesn't sound horrible; I'll give it a shot. Ooh, I love it, new fandom!'

(Actually, if you were around in 2014ish, you might remember him--he was on the Board for a bit, going by Time Engineer. In a slightly roundabout way, you can thank him for Jacques' existence. I mean, it's possible I would've tried the show on my own someday, or that Lily would've created Jacques on her own, but in the version we've got...yeah.)

Well... uh. Golly. What is there to say about FLCL, the anime that proved that Gainax only needs six episodes to confuse the hell out of you and not resolve anything, instead of 26 episodes and a movie?

Well, firstly, I can say this: Watch the dub. I watched the sub and that was a mistake. This show is DENSE and the sub is really good. Being able to hear the characters and actually tell what they're saying makes all the difference.

Secondly, the second and third seasons probably aren't worth it. They were fronted by a different creative team and were... not well received, as far as I can tell? But if you do, tell me about it because I haven't yet.

But anyways, what do I think of FLCL (which is pronounced "fooly cooly" for some reason I guess)? that implies I was able to rationalize it enough to think. I wasn't. This show is Gainax at their most surreal and nonsensical, but I definitely had fun with it, at least. Even if I wasn't sure what was going on. It involved a woman trying to get close to a 12-year-old because of the things coming out of his head, a TV robot, an evil megacorp maybe, an ongoing war between space police and space pirates, and many things being hit with guitars. Maaaany things. Oh, and it's got a killer soundtrack, provided you like 90s alt-rock. And it might be a coming of age story? I dunno.

So I guess FLCL is good. Although I suppose that... should have been obvious? It's critically acclaimed and widely loved. Ah well.

The six seasons they have on Netflix, anyway.

It's been a while since I watched the first three, but I've enjoyed the heck out of 4, 5, and 6. Everything is better with wacky adventures through time and space, right? Right! I really could have done with lots more Search for Spock Fitz. Both halves of that arc were so much fun. Enoch is the best, and everything that happened around the space casino was just the right balance of serious drama and silly hijinks. I would like more of S.H.I.E.L.D. bumbling around the galaxy and running into trouble with alien cultures who are simply going about their business (for better or worse), please. I would also like a crossover involving the Guardians of the Galaxy, but I know that's not in the budget. Sigh.

Also, everything involving FitzSimmons is perfect. I don't have especially strong feelings about the rest of the cast, but FitzSimmons are just the best. Their love has survived six seasons of a show created by Joss Whedon! This is unheard of! They are my heroes, and also a big gooey cinnamon roll. Well, mostly. What do you call a cinnamon roll if it's fluffy and adorable, but it also gets pretty dark sometimes? (What do you call it when your cinnamon roll couple's dark alter egos were trying to kill them in a mindscape they were trapped in, but ended up sloppily making out with each other instead? Because that was brilliant. A little worrying, but brilliant.)

I like Deke, too. He's annoying, but also fun. I want Deke Shaw to meet Deke Sun-Crichton and have madcap space adventures. Possibly also with the Guardians of the Galaxy. ^_^

Madcap space crossover adventures!!

~Neshomeh

are we going to actually play the game or is it not allowed?

Well, I guess murdering people for slapping your lust object isn’t very appropriate at all. Which actually may mean that the Stu is stalking his lust object.

Then there twilight had, never mind I will not talk about it because I stopped reading after the first chapter.

I see, thanks Neshomeh.

To me, the term "Lust Object" is self-explanatory: a Lust Object is any object of someone's lust. You can tell by a character's behavior whether or not they lust after someone and to what degree.

Let me ask a few questions to clarify yours:

1. Do you understand what lust is and how it differs from other forms of attraction?
2. Do you know something about how human beings commonly behave when they experience attraction, and what ways are considered appropriate?
3. Do you know something about how attraction, romance, and lust are commonly represented and misrepresented in fiction?

~Neshomeh

I don’t think that’s what I meant Neo Skater. What I actually meant is how do I tell whether the Sue/Stu really, really, really want his/her Canon character.

Email is bulbouskeener@gmail.com

...but I think a Lust Object is anyone the Sue/Stu lusts over and makes one of the primary love interests.

That's a good question, though: Can there be two Lust Objects in the case of the forbidden LOVE TRIANGLE?

Email is neo.skater.ppc@gmail.com.

One of the definitions of a “Lust Object” is a “Canon” character who makes a Sue/Stu want him/her. But must the Sue/Stu really, really , really want him/her? Like he wants her so much that he kills a bit character for slapping her?

Usual deal: Harry Potter, about 4500 words. Ideally looking for someone who can check for flow and style.

Virtual chocolate chip cookies are on offer!

The Eye of Sauron is so pretty! {X D I'm down to visit the Sunflower Galaxy, though. Are we traveling in stasis (again, IIRC?), or are we banking on Elon Musk coming up with FTL in the next ~50 years?

Either way, it's a good thing we'll have Amazon's addition to the Middle-earth franchise to add to the endless loop. ^_^

~Neshomeh, seasoned future space gatherer.

If I understand SRPA's question right, the answer is that any possessing wraith would be a distinct entity from any embodied original character in the fic. If an OC is causing a canon character to act OOC, that's due to Suefluence, not possession. If elaboration is desired, these terms and more may be looked up in the PPC Terminology category of our wiki. Have fun! {= )

~Neshomeh

P.S. There's an exception to almost everything, and there is one instance I know of wherein what at first appeared to be an under-described Sue ended up being a wraith. It's my fault. I'm not sorry. {; P

I guess generic wraiths is what I was probably thinking of, then.

Not so much, anymore. The concept of author-wraiths has been more or less left by the wayside as we've focused on sporking the writing, not the writer. {= )

Instead, we have Sue-wraiths, slash-wraiths, generic wraiths, and a few special breeds that don't (and shouldn't) pop up much. For all your other explanatory needs, there's plain old bad writing and OOCness.

~Neshomeh

In cases of possession, it's an author-wraith doing the possessing, not a Stu/Sue. All possessions are done by the author-wraith.