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See, this is why my user name is Cringe-Factoryy.😐

... yeah, probably.
I think talking about WBWL fics just gave me the illusion of being productive (lol), because the only other thing I’ve done is scroll around the legendary badfic page and read part of My Immortal (also listened part of the dramatic reading, but I clicked out of it).

Also, I’m kinda curious as to which section the agents who PPCed the WBWL fic were in, since I’m planning on PPCing one for my first mission.

doesn't mean we don't know.

Trust me, I've dived into more WBWL fics than I can remember. And, if you dive deep enough you'll find there are the occasional ones that aren't too bad so don't tar them all with the same brush. You're also forgetting the 'fics that have Neville as the fake Boy-Who-Lived, of which some of those are quite interesting too, both in a good or bad way.

So, I'm not *quite* sure why you felt like you needed to exclaim this, rather over-used fanfic cliche to us, I'm fairly certain Ix has missioned a WBWL 'fic before. But thank you for your... efforts to keep us notified of such things, perhaps tone it down in the future. I'm not saying such spontaneity is bad, I'm just saying perhaps think before you post sometimes.

Novastorme

I just checked AO3 and there are seventeen works in the tag, not 179. But yes, they are awful. All of them. Once I get Permission I might mission one of them.

I'm going to preface this with a disclaimer: I've never played D&D. But I think I can still recognize an awful movie when I see one. And spoilers, I guess?

Alright, so there are three of them: Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeons and Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God, and Dungeons and Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness. Dungeons and Dragons, amusingly enough, was produced by New Line Cinema and released only one year before The Fellowship of the Ring, one of the best movies and movie adaptations I've ever seen. I guess they were saving all the good stuff for that. So it follows the adventures of Ridley, your typical white boy fantasy hero except worse, Snails, your typical black fantasy sidekick except worse (this character was handled in a pretty racist way), your typical fantasy female love interest whose name I can't remember (but she was an idiot), and a bunch of other people who were super unremarkable so I don't even remember them. I think Halle Berry might have been there? Don't quote me on that, though.

I could go on at length about what makes this movie bad in all the most hilarious ways, but I'll just link you to the Nostalgia Critic review of it. I think he hits most of the main points. The only one I think he doesn't hit is that Ridley and the love interest do the do inside a map. Yup, you read that right. They go inside a map, and then they do the do, and then it's never spoken of again. The whole thing is pretty funny. I'd highly recommend it.

The second movie is kind of boring, honestly. It was made for TV and managed to be good enough that I found myself feeling the most apathetic stirrings of an emotion that just might have been interest in seeing the heroes succeed. The special effects are pretty terrible, though. If you're looking for hilariously bad this might not be the one for you because if nothing else you can tell they were trying. Its biggest failing is that they kept on trying to link it back to the first one.

So the third film completely ignored the existence of the first two. Good move, right? Jury's still out. See, the third film was by far the worst of the three. It starts with an opening narration that goes on for long enough that you start to wonder if the whole movie is going to be like this and it isn't some kind of poorly illustrated audiobook. It isn't, (un)fortunately. Eventually it ends and the characters show up on the screen. What then follows is roughly an hour and fifteen minutes of absolutely nothing being explained ever. It's trying to deal with issues of grey morality but instead of doing that it just kind of never addresses morality at all until something depends on someone's morality, and then it aligns them either good or evil as needed to move the shambling wight that passes for a plot along. Phrases like "purest knight" are thrown about liberally, and the writing is so lazy that the macguffin actually morphs into a different object about two thirds of the way through.

And then the rest of it is torture porn.

It's not horribly graphic torture or anything. It's like weird agony ray stuff. Personally I'm less uncomfortable with the torture itself than I am with the... ah... evident interest in the torture that the movie has. If you do want to skip that part it should be easy. You'll know where it starts. Just stop watching the movie at that point because I wasn't even joking when I said the rest of it is torture porn. There is literally less than two minutes of movie left after the torture stops.

But for all that it's a glorious train wreck if you like pain. My biggest impression is that it's like they stuck the end and beginning of one movie onto the middle of a different one with Elmer's glue and then released it before it had finished drying.

I just started seeking the Name.

Wish me luck.

Okay so I think I may be the only one here who knows about WBWL fics and that... needs to be fixed.

So WBWL stands for Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived. These stories are... canon!Sues. They usually have Morally Ambiguous/Grey or Dark Harry, Hermione Bashing, Weasley Bashing, Potters Bashing, & Dumbledore Bashing.

So basically, Harry has a twin and that twin is mistaken for the BWL. And his parents are usually alive.

In terms of ‘Sue tropes, these are probably unique because the oc, Harry’s Twin, is not the Mary Sue. The oc, in fact, is usually arrogant, brash, loud, and obnoxious. Also, Harry usually beats him EASILY despite the fact the the oc has been apparently training his entire life (the grammar is also really good... so there’s also that, at least).

Oh, and Harry’s abuse at the hands of the Dursleys’ is often exaggerated or added to unnecessarily, he is usually some sort of prodigy, and at least half have Good!Slytherins. I wouldn’t even be surprised if someone made him have wandless magic.

Also, if Harry’s not sent to the Dursleys, then James and Lily abuse/neglect him. For ABSOLUTELY NO REASON.

Also, there are currently 179 works in it’s ao3 tag. 179 works. And that’s not even counting the ones on FFN-

Why did I add (nm)?

Whoops

I’m in the HP Fandom, but I also tend to partially read/watch things and forget about them so technically I know a lot of fandoms, like the first 3 or so seasons of RWBY, etc, and later I’ll be able to remember with more than a little help from wiki.

I tend to over plan as well. In fact, I’ve already claimed a badfic even though I’m still procrastinating-er, editing my permission attempt.

Well, I just got back from a weekend at Universal Studios in Orlando, and it's definitely given me a fun idea!

So... imagine that somehow, we have the rights and the resources to build a theme park themed around the PPC universe. What would we put in it, in terms of rides, shops and dining, shows, other attractions, and events?

Currently, I have a ride idea that I've grown rather fond of. It would function rather similar to the Universal ride "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey", with the riders being moved about on seats attached to the ends of hiddden robotic arms and with much of the needed graphics being a projection that creates the illusion of motion. "Plot" wise, it's based on my recent plan for a self-insert agent in the DoSAT, who mainly prototypes new PPC devices and some personal passion projects, with the premise of the ride being that you have volunteered to test a flying machine she has created. I'm currently working out the plot from there. Also like the Harry Potter ride it's inspired by, some degree of exposition is given by projections of characters while the riders wait in line.

Alright, that's my idea, now what flights of fancy do you guys have to offer?

-Twistey

Hi Cringe-Factoryy! My name is Twistey, and I'm a Boarder of one year. I have a lot of ideas that I tend to overplan. I guess that's all I can say about myself right now.

So, I know this has been asked before, but what about you? How did you get here? Why did you decide to join? What are your fandoms? Et cetera. I'd really like to know more about you.

And as for your newbie gift, my present to you is an early access ticket to the grand virtual opening of the theme park in the thread I'm about to start. Stay tuned to watch it develop.

Well, I hope you have a wonderful time here! Welcome aBoard!

-Twistey

Hehe, I was into Ghostbusters for a while (the original, though the reboot wasn't yet a thing when I started), and my favorite character was Gozer, because up until recently I've always gravitated towards the villain of any medium. This thread brought back a couple memories of that.

-Twistey

Now I want to see that. Especially since you said they were bad. I absolutely love poorly made/cheesy things. Can you give me the rundown on what all you found notable about them?

-Twistey

(And the mascot costume has a derpy face, which makes it even better.)

-Twistey

Inarguably, all of Christie's heroes make extensive use of their brains. Arguably, ze little grey cells are also the prime antagonist: specifically, when they're /not/ doing their job and putting the pieces together.

hS

Have a cupcake!

First, on introductions to 40k:
The Gaunt's Ghosts First and Only the first (but not only) 40k novel I read, though I was introduced to the wargame first, and I would recommend it (the novel) highly.

Second, on Gilgamesh:
I just want to say that I really enjoy a lot of ancient mythology, especially when its strange, and the heroes die.

Care to share anything else? You're welcome here either way but I think we'd like to get to know you more,
Oh! Have a geniune WWII-vintage M-22 "Locust" light tank, complete with ammunition and fuel! Now you just need someone to br a driver and a loader!

Jump to Ahriman
Jump to Gilgamesh

No central theme this week, it's just that those are the two things I read.

When I say "Ahriman," I refer to John French's Ahriman Trilogy, specifically the version contained within the Ahriman: The Omnibus volume, complete with sidestories, which follows the character in Warhammer 40,000 that goes by the same name. It's not to be confused with any other Ahriman Trilogy (yes, as it turns out there is another one), or any other Ahriman, although that Ahriman is the way the guy gets his name, because GW loves their historical references.

Anyways, this is a 40k tie-in series. And... not really one I'd suggest to newcomers to either 40k or to the Thousand Sons, at least not off the bat. Go read some Horus Heresy (specifically, A Thousand Sons, one of the better books in the series and the canonical introduction to the titular legion), or maybe Ciaphas Cain for a better introduction to the setting. Oh, and definitely go watch If The Emperor Had a Text To Speech Device, a hilarious fan-based parody that's become an ingrained part of the fandom at this point (sidenote: that playlist opens with the video "An Intro to the Dark Millenium", which is unfortunate because the TTSVerse actually hasn't reached the Dark Millenium yet, so it just confuses things. Skip it!)

For those of you who are at least aware of 40k, but maybe not aware of the Thousand Sons, still probably go read A Thousand Sons if you intend to read this thing. Yeah, I know you could probably puzzle it out with the Wiki's help, but it really use useful to just read in that order.

Onwards from my suggestions on how to actually get into 40k and read this thing to my thoughts on it. Which are that I really really really really really like this series. This shouldn't really be a surprise to most people who have heard me talk 40k before: I've raised these books more than a few times, and I've gone on record saying that Ahriman is my favorite character in 40k. Were it up to me, these books would probably be some sort of required reading, at least for 40k fans.

Now, some of you may be aware that 40k has a bit of a split personality. On the one hand, "grim dark future", on the other hand, one faction is literally a bunch of green football hooligan mushrooms who run on the power of being too stupid to realize that they're wrong (that's not an exaggeration). So depending on the writer, the 40k setting and cast can be the subject or horror, hot-blooded action, or dark comedy. Other genres, too, but it's usually one of those three. Ahriman definitely comes in on the darker side of the spectrum. This vision of 40k is vast, bleak, and oppressive. Which is... really appropriate, given the context and themes. Ahriman the character has always walked the line between anti-hero and outright villain, driven on an eternal quest that may not even be achievable by hope, dreams, and a gnawing guilt that may yet drive him mad. And sure, his goals are noble, but... do the ends really justify it?

And the smart thing about the series is that it leaves it up to you. In the very introduction, French say that's his intent, and I think it pulls it off well. If you want to believe that Ahriman is mad and delusional and arrogant and utterly beyond ever achieving anything, you can. If you want to see him as a genius, an anti-hero, a straight up villain corrupted by power... those are all valid interpretations of what's happening in the story. There are an awful lot of characters who believe any number of those things.

But yeah, this series is dark. Even in the first book, and it keeps going down. The quote in there that I still think sums it up the best is this: "We are falling, and light is but a memory."

Man, this is getting kinda depressing. Let's lighten the mood by talking about an epic poem about the elevation of a hero though an endless parade of misery and despair... said no-one ever until now.

Yes, the other thing I read this week was Gilgamesh. Specifically, Gilgamesh: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell, a version of the poem that I really can't recommend highly enough. It makes the poem accessible to the English reader without sacrificing the heart of the thing, and it's a heck of a lot easier on the eyes and brain than most other translations I've looked up since. It does not, however, include the independent poem (that serves as... a sort of noncanon epilogue, I guess? It's a little weird...) on the 12th tablet, so you'll need to find another version for that if you really want to go read it (although I honestly don't think you're missing much).

This is also helped by the fact that, even unaided by a translation this strong, Gilgamesh is... really, really compelling. It opens with an introduction that just makes you want to keep reading, and that keeps going throughout. Part of that is the translation, Mitchell having done for Gilgamesh what Heaney did for Beowulf, but when I looked up more literal translations, I was surprised to what degree those same hooks were present. It's a good piece of literature.

Also, if you're used to hero mythology, Gilgamesh might not be what you expect. In some ways, it's Campbell to the absolute, with many steps in the journey of a hero present. But that view starts to break down in some ways, because, at least by my reading, Gilgamesh is not about a mighty hero going out and achieving something for their civilization. It's about a man who, while powerful, is ultimately deeply unheroic becoming the sort of hero who can ultimately go on to do those things. For you Fate fans out in the audience, it's the story of how Archer!Gilgamesh became Caster!Gilgamesh (some would argue otherwise regarding Archer's Origins. I say they're wrong. Fight me). It is about loss, and the fear of death, and coming to terms with the consequence of your actions. In that sense, it perhaps has more in common with a coming of age story than a traditional Hero's Journey.

Given, this is all my perspective, and I'm not exactly well known for being right.

If you all have thoughts about any of these things, or questions about the disorganized mess of my ideas that I've presented before you, please share them below. I really want there to be some actual discussion, and I know that there are other people on the board who've read both these works and I'm totally missing stuff.

-Thoth, signing off.

Tell us a little about yourself! Have an industrial-grade bouncy ball!