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Here are some selections from a list that I have, for reasons, in no particular order:

“These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)” - Ella Fitzgerald

“All the Things You Are” - also Ella Fitzgerald

“Hopelessly Devoted To You” - Grease soundtrack

“Something” - the Beatles

“Nothing Else Matters” - Metallica

“Wishing You Were Here” - Chicago

“Heaven When We’re Home” - The Wailin’ Jennys (Maybe not exactly a love song, but oh well.)

“Iowa” - Dar Williams

And one more for lulz:

“Friendly Duet” - Flanders and Swann

~Neshomeh

Might as well drop a link here while I'm at it: "Lessons" by Rush.

~Neshomeh

I don't have too many detailed thoughts (especially since I read it Sunday but didn't want to comment from my phone), but I do know I liked how the writing gave a good sense of everyone's emotional state without seeming too bogged down in description.

It was also unexpected (but nice and interesting) to see Thoth get called on the "immortal superhuman arrogance" thing.

- Tomash

But yeah, I have to wonder if I could have been clearer with Derik's reactions, too, because Thoth being condescending was largely responsible for his irritation in L1. That and getting straight to business, no friendly talk at all, being extremely contrary to Derik's expectations and needs.

Though, it would sorta make sense for it to come through most strongly in this situation, where Thoth is annoyed with Derik. Plus, we're in Derik's head at the beginning of L2, so unlike in L1, we know exactly why he's feeling the way he feels. So maybe it's okay?

I'll see if I can get any more insight out of Phobos (the other person who mentioned being surprised by this), but he's busy doing important bill-paying type stuff tonight.

~Neshomeh

I tend to think of losing one's dragon in terms of an amputation, or sudden blindness/deafness. It's permanent all right, because he's never getting back what he lost and its absence will affect him for the rest of his life, but he does have some choice in how he handles it. He'll figure that out eventually. I might revel in the angst, but somehow, despite being jaded, bitter, and cynical, I'm still an optimist at heart. {= )

Thanks for commenting! It's always appreciated.

~Neshomeh

I got the reference (heck, I took my username from the title of another Rush song), but things like that are no fun if you don't understand them.

Well, from my perspective. We enjoyed writing Thoth and Derik so much that we wrote a series of it.

Fun fact: I started reading Pern out of an eventual need to write this scene.

I mean, I was gonna do it anyways, but...

See, a part of the takeaway from the first Lessons was supposed to be about Thoth's arrogance. He may want to connect with Derik, but he's unwilling to do it on equal terms, out of a mixture of fear and a sense of superiority, looking down on the "puny mortal" no matter how much he may respect him. He presumes Derik has ulterior motives for even attempting to form any sort of connection because... well, that's his default assumption about everyone.

While this story did show Derik changing, a big part of why this didn't end the same way as the first Lessons was because of development in Thoth: his self-reflection and his prior failure has lead him to try and approach Derik on more equal terms, and to accept the connection between them as friends more properly.

If I didn't actually show that clearly... that's an issue with my character writing, and I need to put some thought into how to make this sort of thing clearer. (Just so you know, you aren't the only one to bring this up, so... yeah).

>I'd like to see him change over time as well, though I'm not certain it's possible with his biology.

Oh, he's changing already. That's all part of it. We definitely have A Plan. Or something.

You're welcome. Also expect the fic to have character replacements.

I want to get more into podcasts but they're like an hour long and I have a short attention span.

That said, I'm a huge fan of Welcome to Night Vale. It might take some getting used to, but once you really get into it it's a worthwhile listen. Despite being audio-only the descriptions are so vivid you can really picture them. The story is surprisingly engaging, full of humor, surreal horror and surprisingly heartwarming moments.

Granted, this might not be much of a description, but I still highly recommend this one.

Hmm, maybe I should put a link to the source of those summaries in the end notes. In-jokes are all well and good, but letting people in on them without making them Google it is probably better. {= )

~Neshomeh

Oh, wow. This was a deep, heavy read. I'm glad that Derik was able to take even a little, tiny step towards conquering his grief, because it was kind of starting to feel like the loss of his dragon was a permanent personality trait for him.

I had never before gotten any vibes of such arrogance on Thoth's part, so that came as a surprise in the beginning. It's difficult to even put myself in the headspace of a being that's immortal and nearly emotionless. I'd like to see him change over time as well, though I'm not certain it's possible with his biology.

—doctorlit, pondering these characters a bit more now

I'm now very disappointed this isn't an actual playable character.

But I happen to have one in my brain's music repository which may be of the type you seek.

—doctorlit, dropping a sad all over this Board

Email's clickable.

However, it might take me until this (or, at worst, next) weekend to get around to it.

I love these two characters, and the summaries gave me little thrills of nostalgia. ;)

I finally finished it after much procrastination. :D

While I have slipped more into consuming youtube content than podcasts, there are a few I have been listening to that I would gladly recommend.

* Mike Duncan's The History of Rome
One of the classics of podcasting, Mike Duncan provides and overview of the History of Rome, going over all of it's several hundred year history. Much like the Roman Empire, this podcast is the one all history podcasts are compared to. Mike is that cool teacher who is not as interested in the dates and figures of history, but the stories within. He is clearly passionate about the subject, bringing an infections joy to learning history, even at it's most brutal. While the podcast has been concluded for several years, if you are at all interested in the history of the great Empire that shaped the West.

* Chris Stewart's The History of China
Extremely similar to The History of Rome (the creator credits the Rome podcast as his primary inspiration) Chris Stewart takes on the daunting task of presenting the vast, rich, and often broken history of Asia's most influential nations to a western audience. If Duncan is the cool professor, than Stewart is the excited amateur, giddy to take on the challenge before him. With an admittedly rough start, Stewart quickly grows into the role of podcaster, and learns the tricks of the trade, becoming just as processional as any NPR production. Unlike The History of Rome this podcast is still ongoing, with a new episode posted every Sunday.

* John Zhu's Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast
It is difficult to put into words just how important the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is to Chinese and east Asian culture as a whole. To put it into context for westerners, the epic history is compared to the Iliad and the Odyssey, if the books had the continued popularity of the Lord of the Rings. Everybody is familiar, at least to some degree, of the story and the characters found within. What makes it more interesting is how it is, to a greater or lesser degree, based on true history. While many would suggest just reading the book, many western readers find themselves without the needed context to really understand what is going on. John Zhu seeks to provide that context, so western audiences can truly understand why the epic has maintained such popularity for so long. If you ever wondered why you should not peruse Lu Bu in Dynasty Warriors, or wanted the backstory behind the generals in Total War: Three Kingdoms, give this podcast a listen.

* Thomas Smith and Andrew Torrez's Opening Arguments
A legal podcast with a humorous tone, Thomas Smith acts as the every man to ask legal questions and interpretations of case law from noted lawyer Andrew Torrez. If you are interested in the legal process, and having a professional's take on various aspects of the law, with a lighter tone to ease it through, give this podcast a listen.

* The Elder Scrolls Lorecast
The Elder Scrolls in one of the most popular fantasy properties in gaming, with a vast library of lore to interpret. Unlike many fictional universes, the Elder Scrolls has a very open idea towards it's canon. It is very difficult to nail down what, exactly, is true or not about the world's history, as it is all presented though in-universe understandings. What may be a mere myth to some, may be hard fact to others. As such, having somebody ready to take on the task of sharing the lore that is (mostly) accepted fact across the setting is a thrilling and difficult task in itself. This particular podcast is good for those who are relatively new to Elder Scrolls lore, the player who has neglected reading the in-game books or hasent tried any games before Skyrim. What makes this podcast interesting is how the host will bring in parallels to real-world histories and theologies, connecting the esoteric lore of this world to a more familiar concept. For this aspect alone, even if you are more familiar with the lore, I would recommend giving this podcast a listen.

* Aramithius' Written in Uncertainty
If you are familiar with the Elder Scrolls lore, however, and are more interested in the strange and unclear aspects of this setting, Written in Uncertainty will provide that deep dive into the weird and wonderful that makes Tamriel so unique. What is CHIM? What, exactly, happened to the Dwemer? What is going on in C0DA, and how does it effect the concept of cannon? These questions and more are tackled by one of the most knowledgeable people of the setting. This podcast assumes you have at least a passing familiarity with the basic concepts, so you might want to get into it after listening to most of the episodes in The Elder Scrolls Lorecast.


And, lastly, I would feel remiss if I didn't mention:

* Chappo Trap House NSFW
This is a leftist political podcast, where Liberal is a dirty word, and right-wing chuds are ruthlessly mocked. If you are not a communist, or at least commie sympathetic, this podcast may be a tad radical for you. It's also full of swearing. Lots of swearing. While the hosts can be a tad bro-cialist for my tastes, and rather edgy, the boys have provided me hours of catharsis in this capitalist hellscape I find myself living in.

...the Iximaz is drawn to angst. And what a delicious story that was.

I'm very excited to see more of these two interacting in the future. They just work really well together in a story and I could buy them as the stars of a coffee shop AU, just chilling in the corner and quietly talking about life.

Basically: me likey.

"Lessons," Part 2 is finished, finally. Thanks to Irish Samurai, who returned to beta for us again. If you haven't read Part 1 yet, you'll obviously want to do that first. {= ) You have your choice of three (3!) lovely platforms:

My website: Part 1 Part 2

AO3: Part 1 Part 2 Don't forget to like and subscribe!

Google Docs: Part 1 Part 2

Whew! That's done. ^_^ We've got another one coming, too—sort of a special edition—but I'll give you guys at least a couple of weeks before I drop that on you.

~Neshomeh

. . . most PPC agents would end up a long series of echo fighters. I know we have a few outliers with unique powers, like Wyldehorse and Tawaki, but mostly, our staff is humans with crappy tech. So, while brainstorming this idea while stuck at work late last night, the concept I came up with is a single, thematic representative of the PPC. So:

PPC AGENT
smashes the uncanon!

So I couldn't use the internet while I was doing this because my family's data plan is very low. I tried to work as many different references in as I could, but I was only operating off top-of-my-head memory, so there are probably other, more creative choices that would have been better.

Costumes: For costumes, we could probably do like Bowser Jr. and have eight unique characters as alternate costumes. There are too many agents for me to really sort through and decide who would get the cut beyond Jay and Acacia, so I'm going to leave that there.

Entrance Animation: The only real option here is our standard blue portal, the way every mission gets started. It winks out in TV-turning-off fashion after the agent exits.

Neutral Attack: I felt that this was the best place to use the spork. "Sporking" is the catch-all turn for mission-writing, so I wanted the most basic attack to involve a literal spork. It even represents fandom in general, since even real-world sporks originate, conceptually, from Star Trek.

Tilt Attacks:
Up-The agent jabs a whisk upwards, and it boing-oing-oings a bit to hit multiple times. Probably a normal-sized whisk, unless Flip Finley is one of the eight costumes.
Forward-Agents are sneaky, so I imagined the forward tilt being a sneaky slide to the side, leading with a foot and an elbow, and following with the rest of the body. It's like sneaking up on a canon to exorcise them!
Down-Nothing beats the good old trip-the-Sue. The down tilt is a nice, simple foot trip. Perhaps even with the tripping mechanic?

Smash Attacks:
Up-The Agent cheers, leaping up into the air with a raised fist. When fully charged, Bjam's "Go PPC!" banner appears for a moment.
Forward-The agent swings the butt of a gun forward. Let's make it the same gun Agent Sergio used, I don't remember the actual name at the moment.
Down-The agent takes a boot in each hand and slams them into the ground on either side. The boots are definitely probably not from Discworld.

Aerial Attacks: The aerials gave me the most difficulty to think up . . .
Neutral-Tumbling in a circle. But they meant to do that!
Up-Both arms overhead, flailing. PPC agents belong on the ground!
Forward-A headbutt.
Backward-The agent pulls a giant open book out and slams it closed behind them, pushing them forward a bit. Yes, I blatantly stole Corrin's back air, but I wanted a giant book in here somewhere.
Down-They're just overtly falling. PPC agents belong on the ground! They look kind of scared. They hit the ground with a big crash.

Special Moves:
Neutral-Sandal Throw. Am I going crazy? I could swear Makes-Things keeps a sandal on his desk that thrown at him by either Jay or Acacia during the Original Series. I was going to make this move a sandal throw to reference that, but now I can't find that event referenced anywhere. Did I make that up, guys?
Up-Equipment Malfunction. The CAD in the agent's back pocket overheats and sends them leaping into the air, pants on fire despite not a liar.
Forward-Glomp. Smash is full of canon characters! For the side special, the agent lunges forward, and glomps onto another character, dealing damage through repeated hugging by pressing the B button repeatedly. Of course, agents should be punished for such lack of candor on a mission, so there will be lots of lag after the hug ends.
Down-Neuralyzer. A blatant rip-off of Mewtwo's Disable, stunning an opponent if they're facing the neuralyzer as it goes off.

Grabs and Throws:
Grab-Nothing fancy. The agent reaches out with a hand.
Pummel-Since the main scenario where an agent would be grabbing someone else on missions would be for exorcisms, I based a lot of the grabbing animations of those. For the pummel, the agent pulls out a DVD or video game case and smacks the grabbed character on the head.
Up Throw-Swiping upwards with an exorcism bell.
Forward Throw-Shoving forward, then using a bow-and-arrow to fire at the target.
Back Throw-Shoving them backwards, then a mini-Balrog pops out from the behind the agent and whips the opponent. You knew a mini had to make an appearance, and the original definitely deserves the cameo!
Down Throw-The agent tosses the foe downwards into a ring of lit exorcism candles.

Shield and Dodges: Agents are good at getting out of danger! Or at least, the still alive and sane ones are . . .
Shield-The agent curls up, ducks, and covers their head with their arms.
In-Place Dodge-The agent backpedals in place, pinwheeling their arms.
Side Dodge-The agent stumbles to the side.
Aerial Dodge-The agents stiffens, with a shocked expression on their face.

Final Smash: Having a flashy super-move rather flies in the face of the PPC's theme of under-equipped normies fighting super-beings. So what I settled on is:
Red Pen: The Words appear on the screen, with some typos. After a few moments, all the typos get underlined with red ink, which damages and launches any fighter touching those spots. I reckon the agent can keep moving and fighting while the Words are on screen, so they can try to maneuver opponents into the typos.

Taunt Animations:
Up-The DORKS malfunctions, and briefly turns the agent into a random something. I'm running out of time to finish this, so I'll just leave this as it is.
Side-The agent points the CAD in both directions, looking for readings. Maybe there's a little beep if another fighter is close enough?
Down-Whip out that Bleeprin bottle and guzzle down some pills! Maybe you can make the animation last endlessly by holding down the button?

Victory Poses:
1. The agent is laying down reading a book when a large [BEEP] startles them into throwing the book up into the air.
2. The agent peers at the CAD's screen, scratching their head and furrowing their brow. "It's recommending . . . to smash?"
3. The agent uses an RA to open a portal, then hops through. the portal closes.

So yeah.

—doctorlit, being nerdy.