Quincunx

"YAY! Candywords!" Minta climbs up the projecting lines of the poem 'til she gets to the top couplet and samples one of the dots over an 'i'. "Yuck. It still tastes like ink," she frowns, sticking out an ink-dark tongue and going crosseyed to inspect the stain.

"Done," Ludmila announced. The hovering table glided away from the robotic arm, pointing Tzimfemme's feet at the doorway; Czalfemme kept pace with the table and halted at its other end. "The Experimentals will send someone to collect her." Her eyes flickered over to the doorway, then back to the huddled Parthenes. "You can go now." Czalfemme shook her head. "No, you need to leave first. We have," Meigan's ears reddened, "rituals, and we don't have any place for," she lowered her face, "outsiders." Ludmila propped up Czalfemme's chin with one finger and examined her face at close range. "I need to leave?" "We were with her," Odeafemme blurted out, while Meigan wilted. "All this time!" Though Ludmila did not move any closer, Czalfemme withdrew her head like a turtle until the barest edge of the older woman's fingertip held her head upright. Ludmila spat words around her. "I haven't locked my doors for weeks. Go do your. . .rituals. Then go, and do not come back. Any of you." She wheeled, fingertips whipping the air, and strode through the doorway; it crackled with feedback and released a burst of lily-of-the-valley scent as it turned opaque. Before Czalfemme recovered, Odeafemme reached down and clasped the bloodless right hand. "Summa Lucretya sum," she began, hurrying through the words, then unconsciously squeezing Tzimfemme's fingers while searching for more. Lucia almost smiled, and she moved Tzimfemme's hand up to her bared breastbone. "Spiro, spero." "Summa Mauretanya sum," declared Czalfemme. She extended two fingers, lying together, and touched them to the forehead before continuing, faster than Odeafemme could understand, "Igni aerterni fervens negri omnino non depere." "Summa Julya sum," Mirfemme recited. She ducked and walked underneath the table, coming up on the other side to take Tzimfemme's left hand, and offered the only bit of Latin she'd learned. "Salve, Sophya." Some male swore from the next room; the Parthenes let go of Tzimfemme and scattered away from the table. Ludmila propelled him into the room with shoves, words, and sometimes a knee raised again to prod his backside. "Collector's here," she rasped, letting him tumble towards the table, as he put out one hand to catch himself and kept the other cupped at his coveralls, "and he won't be loving his job quite as much as usual today. Isn't that right, Jeremy?" He opened his mouth to groan, gagged, and clamped his lips shut. "You could, at least, have pretended it was for me," Ludmila added, and jerked a thumb over her shoulder, towards the doorway. "Take the body--Go! All of you! Go!"

Rydia's ears flattened out slightly as she continued washing the dishes. Tzimfemme had discarded the bursts of knocking for a steady four-second beat, and pushing the shiny green comfy chair in front of the staircase hadn't muffled her. Minta stood in the corner, forgotten jacks lying all around her, and flung the preserved eyeball at the floor; it bounced high but not quite far enough to brush against the ceiling. She caught it as it fell, frowned, and wound up for an even faster throw. She sacrificed accuracy for speed; the eyeball bounced off of the floor at a low angle, ricocheted off of the wall of the stairwell, and flew upwards. The gnome shot after it, bounced on the chair's cushions and over its back, scampered up the steps, grabbed her toy, and opened the door without thinking. The naked mage looked down at Minta. "Oops," the gnome remarked, "but this means I don't gotta stay inside any more!" With that, she zipped between Tzimfemme and the doorframe and jumped into the peat, two-footed, with a marrow-chilling squelching noise. "Rydia." Rydia redoubled her scrubbing, ear-tips trained on the saucer. "You're not fooling anyone, Rydia. Come outside. I've defaced one of your rocks, and you need to decide what to do with it." Tzimfemme tapped her finger on empty air, just outside the doorframe. "You don't belong underground, white mage. You panicked and inverted things, now come and help me undo what's reversible." The elf came to the door with as much goodwill as Minta had come downstairs, tea towel still in hand. "What do you mean, 'defaced'. . ." she began, turning her head in the doorway to follow Tzimfemme's pointing finger. "Oh dear." One of the largest boulders in the outcropping had been shorn of its lichen, and its surface had been scarred as though it were made of clay. Rydia stepped out of the doorway to further survey the damage. Afternoon sunshine shifted the shadows on the rock, and her ears shot straight upwards in surprise--one set of hollows in the rock were not gouged out by fingers, but impressed into it with arms and legs and cheek, as though the boulder were Starlight. . . Tzimfemme tilted her head to one side. "You understand those symbols now?" she inquired, looking at the finger-tracks and back at Rydia. "Not the way you do," she hedged. The naked mage snorted a laugh. "Truer words were never spoken! I--I can't talk about it. You can't think about it. It's your rock, though, so you need to know." She drew in one deep breath and turned her body towards the forest and Minta. "I saw what's coming for Minta, and it's soon. Those scrawls hold all the details. I want to take the boulder back to the Pen grounds; everything's so stable there, maybe I can read that without losing it. If I can do that, maybe. . .I can intercede." "Break a contract of the soul?! It's impossible!" Rydia waved hands and ears, attempting to convey how impossible it was. "Even if you did somehow do it, it'd, I don't know, stop things dying, or being born! Some things are more powerful than all-powerful--" "Bullshit." She'd jumped sideways, across the threshold, before even registering Tzimfemme's word. "Anyway, you can't lever the rock out of place," the elf continued, after a few moments. "Call Minta. I need to get something." Her boots thumped down the steps. Tzimfemme reached out and pulled a portal from the empty air, a connection back to her quarters. Before she could even reach in and grab some candy as gnome-bait, Minta sprinted up to the rock ridge so fast she almost left a silver streak, with chocolate smudged on her bottom lip. The naked mage let go of one edge, and the blue circle dwindled to nonexistence. Minta poked her tongue out and licked away the marks. In the doorway, Rydia reappeared with fresh sheets of parchment, normal wax crayons, and a winning smile. "Minta! Did you ever learn how to take rubbings off of statues or petrified creatures?"

I've lost count of the number of times I've come to this topic and started to type a reply, cut it off for rawness or abusiveness or listlessness, and instead pushed the mood which I was setting down into a reply to someone else's topic or a new topic of thought. I have drawn inspiration from this topic merely existing, without replying to it.

My favorite poem of this group is "An Ocean of Words", probably because I was expecting the cliché of "message in a bottle" and instead received a message outside of the bottle.

The pyre and the earth around it quivered. Tzimfemme's step, aiming for where the ground had been and not so much where it was, ended with her nearly doing a split. She recovered and double-timed it out of there before an aftershock hit. Below ground, the gnomish tunneling sphere picked up the rock over which it had stumbled in one claw, brought it up to a windshield for inspection, then tossed it over its curve into the already-roofed portion of tunnel. The sphere halted directly under Xaious's funeral pyre, a hatch opened like a camera aperture, a pneumatic safety slide billowed out of the aperture, and Minta slid down before it had fully unfurled. "Don't got the spot where he went splat," Minta sighed, "but I guess it'll work okok. . ." She crossed her arms and looked upwards at the roofing tiles (solid slabs of rock candy), then down at the undressed earth and spat blood without the usual precision. The evil loogie soaked into the soil and dragged the grains down with it, opening up a slender sinkhole. A few seconds later, Minta began dancing from foot to foot, mumbling, "Awww, not another almost-dud hellhole. . .Stupid Pen wards! I want another neato spell-casting lich!"

(Because I prefer to show, instead of tell. . .) Tzimfemme pulled a slip of paper from the side of the Emotional IQ Test Bot. "What? I didn't even get an 'IQ' score. I got. . .waaaaitaminute. . .doubt I'm supposed to use those letters on Pen property, we have decorum y'know. . ."

Tzimfemme leaned over the head of the pyre. . .well, about half a lean's worth of leaning, since the stack wasn't too much shorter than she was. She took a deep sniff of the scent of--dead. "DAMMIT! Now who am I gonna rent a time travel off of? . . .of course, since he is a time traveler, or was, or will be, it might still happen. . .argh, the grammar makes my head ache. . ." The naked mage slunk away from the pyre, mumbling to herself, but roused herself enough to tell Nickolai, "If you see a gnome heading this way, light 'er up quickly!"

A circular pressure hatch on Q's underside flopped open, a rope ladder unrolled from the opening, and Minta skidded down the side of the ladder, giggling like mad. "Cousin. . .teehehehee. . .cousin looks like Captain KIRK!" she shrilled before collapsing on the painted grass and rolling around, kicking her heels and giggling. The next gnomie to come down the ladder paused halfway and picked off his pompadour wig, returning to a more natural Captain-Picard-esque look, with proper Starfleet-styled robes. After that comes a similar boy gnomie who runs over to the shiiiiiiny silver bullet's surface. Following him are a pair of gnomies in fantastically bright multicolored plate armor; she zips over to the slide, he goes to the sushi plate. Minta's giggling subsides to a hiccup and "teehee" every now and again.

Minta marches through the thread, holding a fresh and dripping brain overhead with both hands and chanting: Z is for zombie, that's good enough for me, Z is for zombie, that's good enough for me, Z is for zombie, that's good enough for me, 'cause zombie, zombie, zombie starts with zeeeeeeee! ("I told you we should have cleaned out Kithicor Forest," whines a distant and high-pitched voice, "but nooooo. . .") A pack of slobbering zombies stumbles after the gnomie, biting whatever they bump into (including one another) and mumbling, "braaaaaaaaaaaains. . ."

The last time we had such an exercise, guesses for answers were given via PM so as not to spoil the surprises for anyone else. Since we have contributions flying in from all directions, may as well send guesses directly to each author. . .and Regel, stop picking the same person each time, that's cheating!

Unearthing the long-buried poem, a rarity, since this one is noted as maybe being incomplete. If there's a later version, feel free to poke me towards it. Loki was right in that the last stanza stood out, but for its polish, not for not fitting the rest of the poem. If the coldness in the first stanza was deepened into something more fatal, that may smooth it out, but I think the second and fourth lines just need to be polished a bit. Wild roses on a bed of white coldness enters; body into blight The blight is perfect, not just for the rhyme; it also fulfills the foreshadowing. I try to assemble the line "coldness enters body" despite the half-stop semicolon telling me not to, as that's what I've seen before, and "body into blight" is unfamiliar. Perhaps changing "into" would better glue together the second half of the line and pull "body" away from the first half. Warm red petals on a bed of snow hands twisted;boddily bloodflow "Hands twisted" is fine, but "bodily bloodflow" does not make sense in English, nor am I certain why blood leaks from a freezing corpse. (A dab of research says that extremely cold air can damage the inside of your nose, throat, or lungs--it's not very good research--and cause bleeding from the nose and mouth.) I think that if you took out "bodily" and filled in that space with the description of why or where the blood is flowing, the line would flow more easily. Dampening air above a bed of final verification of ending life . . . Any cutting I would do to this stanza is a personal opinion, not necessary to the poem.

*pokes tentatively at the prologue* There's the mystery, and I'll admit it leaves me thirsty for an answer--further reading. I hesitate to critique prologues and introductions, first because they're almost as difficult to write as conclusions, and second because the tone of many stories changes as the stories go on, and prologue critiques don't relate well to the story as a whole.

Why not use this as a spot to practice? I shall practice. . .kennings. (From the direction of the Writer's Workshop, Assignment 25, can be heard a chorus of groans.) [EDIT: I made a mistake. The form's not about adding your own interpretations, but skillfully plucking and weaving others' quotes and allusions to obscure your point.] [EDIT #2: reverie, you and Rosemary must cross fingers some time and unravel the spinning world.] (A voting member.) Globe-spanning caltrop machinist, the beet-juice-drinkers fled before you as from corpse-sacred sowings. * (A page.) On wasp kisses, in moth bindings, a star on the sandal, a rain that waters the dead. * (A quill-bearer.) Oliver's nightmares scream from the goose not yet beheaded.

Completed Quill Quests as of February 10, 2007 not listed above: Aardvark: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=10064 (cooperative writing from prompt) Black: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=12909 (writing one piece from many prompts) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=12898 (OOC) Cryptomancer: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13451 (various poetic forms from prompts) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13371 (OOC) Gryphon: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13437 (writing items to Pennite prompts) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13385 (OOC) Katzaniel: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?/forum/50-the-piazza-of-portraits/ (Character defintion forum, also with Pennite interviews) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=12365 (OOC #1) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13520 (OOC #2) Merelas: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=12092 (fashion show, collaborative roleplaying) http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=10432 (contest, canceled) Mynx: <not available> (collaborative roleplay from prompts) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13314 (OOC) Patrick Durham: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=14112 (cooperative roleplay quiz show) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=14113 (OOC) reverie: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13578 (poetry slam roleplay/contest/critique) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13577 (OOC) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13517 (tutorial) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13933 (reward) Sweetcherrie: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13947 (writing to Pennite prompts) and and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=14035 (part 2) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13913 (OOC) Tanuchan: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?/topic/17280-tannys-trove-archive/?p=134230 <reposted> (poems based on other Pennites) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=12091 (OOC) Vlad: <not available> (cooperative Choose-Your-Own-Adventure) and <not available> (OOC) Zariah: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13138 (cooperative roleplaying and cooperative writing from prompts) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=12926 (OOC) http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=10479 (newsletter, canceled) *** Quill Quests in Progress: Appy: --- (writing to Pennite prompts/cooperative writing) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=14106 (OOC) dragonqueen: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=12822 (poems based on other Pennites) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=12235 (OOC) Psimon: --- (poems based on other Pennites) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13614 (OOC) Venefyxatu: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=16013 (Map of the Pen Keep) Yan Yan Ganaffi: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13497 (Poker and roleplaying) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13459 (OOC) http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13426 (definitions of Pen terms, canceled) *** Quill Quests on Hiatus The Big Pointy One: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=11377 (Pen character play, canceled) Justin Silverblade: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=9080 (collaborative writing, canceled) Solivagus: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=11435 (50-word limit collaborative story. Not a Quill Quest but a neat idea for one.) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=14596 (chain poems. . .again, good idea for a Quill Quest.) Tralla: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=10799 (Choose Your Own Adventure, canceled) Venefyxatu: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13819 (writing to Pennite prompts) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=13743 (OOC) http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=11182 (a pot of QQ ideas)

Evolution of the Quest July 30, 2001: Cerulean (aka Scarlett O'Harpy), Degenero Angelos, Gwaihir (aka Myst), Yui Temae and Zadown; I send you on a Quill Quest! Each of you are to seek out and find a SHUBBERY! You shall have it carried back here by a person, who you feel is equal to your skill, requesting membership and Initiate status in your name! --Jechum Newbie issues the first Quill Quests. (Nowadays, we'd probably say that their shrub-bearer has to show some commitment to Penmanship by becoming a Page.) Cerulean: (did not complete--current Quill Bearer) Degenero Angelus: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=7319 (Himself, the first recorded multiple-posting-accounts) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=7338 (Belizean). Gwaihir: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=7336 (retseJ) Yui Temae: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=7326 (The Squirrel Duo, in service to Isachar) Zadown: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=7320 (Jakob) Also possibly http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=7321 (Foe Calibur). October 18, 2001: Imposter; I send you on a Quill Quest! You are to seek out and find a Beast to guard "The Pen's Shrubbery"! You shall post a description of the beast on AM AND another post here at The Pen about its assignment to guard The Pen’s Shrubbery! --Imposter was a wise commentator, and this Quill Quest (which may have been simple for some of us) was meant to take him outside of his comfort zone. Imposter: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=8214 (A series of parodies.) and Cheyenne: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=6811; http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=6546 (the roleplaying) December 20, 2001: Cheyenne, Lord Jakob and Morgane; I send you on a Quill Quest! You are to start the making of The Pen’s Quill! You shall start/participate in the adventure (in the Conservatory) to obtain the first artifact, a feather from a Dominion that belongs to a young Guildmaster. (* Make it fun, others should be able to help (or hinder) and will see where it lands! *) --This was the first cooperative Quill Quest. Later Jechum remarked, "Lord Jokab and Morgane, great job… my intent behind your Quill Quest was to start only one RP thread. With participation from the assigned Questers. Never expected to see TWO Threads!" Cheyenne: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?show...?showtopic=6811 (This story, while diverging far from its assigned goal, involved many writers, and resembles the standard form for later Quill Quests.) Jakob: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=6808://http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=6808 and OOC: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=7692 Morgane: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=6803 February 22, 2002: Foe Calibur, Balladore, Falcon2K1, Lady Celes Crusader, Valdar and Astralis; I send you on a Quill Quest! You are to explore and search the ethereal realms and return with a neglected prose related location to add to the Pen's List of Useful Sites. This link should be accompanied by a poem or story of how this site inspired or assisted you. Balladore, Falcon2k1, and Lady Celes Crusader: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=6524 (The first Quill Quest that involved multiple Questers on one Quest.) Foe Calibur (did not complete--current Quill Bearer) Valdar and Astralis: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=9133 (collaborative Pennite prompt stories) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=9566 (index) (This is NOT the quest assigned at this point, but the first of what would become the new Quill Quest standard.) --At this point, Jechum retired from Eldership, and Quill Quests were not public during 2002. Many Quill Bearers promoted during this time completed their quests far later or not at all, so I assume that there was a PM exchange of options and a great deal of confusion. In fact, a few Quill Bearers turned in multiple Quill Quests! March 13, 2003: Old Quill Bearers, as well as Cyril Darkcloud and Rune who have had the opportunity of jumping two rankings, will be PMed options for their Quill Quests which they can use to advance to the next level of ranking. Three options will be available which the Quill Bearers will be able to choose from, and the completion of one of these options will allow them to advance another rank. --(Wyvern) --This was the first promotion after the move from the old boards to the current site, and everything was in flux. Brute: (did not complete--current Quill Bearer) Canid: (did not complete--current Quill Bearer) Cyril Darkcloud: (did not complete--current Quill Bearer) Kasmandre: (did not complete--current Quill Bearer) Tasslehof: (did not complete--current Quill Bearer) Rune: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/ (Rune was awarded voting-member status for site creation & database migration, recognizing that while she hadn't written a Quill Quest, she had made a huge contribution to the Pen's community. Those of you who have tried to maintain a long-term EZBoard will know what grief she freed us from.) July 7, 2003: "Ah yes... here's an announcement on the subject of Quill Quests. After the lack of success we had with the last quests, the Eldership has decided to impliment a new system for them. The choice of the Quest will be left entirely to the Quill Bearer, who will need to come up with a community project that sparks the interest of the membership. The only requirements are that the project has some effort put into it, and that the Elders are consulted about it. If the community project is executed successfully, the Quill Bearer will be promoted at the next promotion. Valdar and Astralis is the first official example of somone promoted through this new Quill Quest system. His "Writing Exchange Program" is a community project that had effort put into it and that was executed successfully, thus it fufills his Quill Quest and allows him to move up in rank. Congratulations Valdar. --Quill Quests have followed that pattern since then, drawing on the body of the membership itself. Members who have earned their vote since 2003 have contributed to the Pen, not by bringing in new ideas or members, but by inspiring the people already here. Alaeha: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=11512 (Pennite personality quiz) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=11376 (OOC/pre-quest) Annael: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=10296 (a description of an item, which became the reward for another contest being held at the time. Perhaps the origin of the carnival's Item Creation Contests?) Ayshela: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=10279 (cooperative roleplaying/character database) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=10210 (pre-planning and OOC) Damon Inferel (did not complete--current Quill Bearer) Salinye: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=9710 (Pennite predictions) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=9683 (IC signup) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=9682 (OOC) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=12176 (backstory) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=9721 (prompt writings) Vincent Silver: (did not complete--current Quill Bearer) Nyyark, Vlad: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=8577 (IC thread) and http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen//index.php?act=ST&f=11&t=8581 (OOC thread) roleplaying tutorial. The OOC thread contained clear explanations and the IC thread was a playground in which to test them out. --Nyyark and Vlad were two 2002 Quill Bearers who turned in multiple Quill Quests. September 30, 2003: "Several months ago, a group of Quill-bearers was assigned their Quill Quest. They were given the option to choose among three different quests. One of these quests was to provide truly constructive and useful criticism for a piece that he or she liked. Almost two weeks ago, one of those Quill-bearers completed this quill quest and reported the results to me. After due deliberation with the other Elders, it has been decided that this member is worthy of promotion." "The piece that was analyzed was reverie's 'Sand' in the Writer's Workshop. The Quill-bearer was Nyyark." (Gyrfalcon) Nyyark: http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=9894"]http://patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=9894 (extremely detailed ((level 5)) analysis) April 12, 2005: On a different note - but while we're on the subject of places for things - do we have a post/sticky anywhere that provides links to completed Quill Quests? I know we have information about current ones, but how about those done a while ago? I'd love to look back and see how others approached their QQ. (Cerulean) --Er. . .better late than never?

Firefox 2.0; spell checker included in the text submission field, underlining faults with red lines. I haven't looked into how to add words to its lexicon, but it's handy for catching simple typos.

Woohoo! A contest of obliqueness! I win by default (unless Loki Wyrd reappears with his well-wrought poems). --Tzimfemme, the nekkid Understands more of what she wrote, seven years later, than she did while writing it down

Signe was hosting sig files at the time for ÅoÅ and a (slight) majority of slow-server Pennites were affiliated with them, so I think she'd be your best bet; Peredhil may have had his geocities account by then, but I believe he was relying on someone else's hosting.

Rydia was lying on the grass on a nicely sloped hill, enjoying the afternoon sunshine. Of course, it was still winter, so she was well-wrapped in green fuzzy knitted accessories, and only her nose was getting sunned. It was nice to have zero bugs around in the chill, though. . .until something loomed and threw a shadow over her nose. One ear curled into a ? while she pulled up her elbows and looked towards the sun. A rosebush was still rapidly growing right next to her, but slowing down; it became more puzzling after it finished growing, for then it shimmered and transformed to a pruned root-stock, instead of the flexible green stems it had been while growing. The air near the root-stock trembled again, and a little note materialized, tied to the rosebush by twine: Spacing out the roses in the garden--please do not remove this tag--Alliance of Vanguards and Vagabonds. The elf flicked her ears in puzzlement and snagged one fuzzy knitted ear warmer on a dry thorn. Her ears leaned together and worked it loose while she pulled up her knees and sat up fully. Once she was free, she went around to the other side of the rosebush and once again lay down in the feeble winter sunshine.

Greasepaper lies somewhere between waxed paper and oilcloth; it's for wrapping items which need a lot of greasing but not much flexibility in their wrappers, such as AK-47s.

*boing* *boing* *boing* The rising sun suffers from an unscheduled eclipse: Q, bot of #thepen, paddling itself over the horizon with flicks of its Q tail. Sunlight glints off of boilerplate, then winks out. Steam puffs from rippling venetian-blind-style vents. As Q approaches, the corona around it rises to blinding glare, but the early impressions are that it is A: More spherical than it looks on IRC; B: Also rather larger than it looks on IRC; C: Hopping with unsafe velocity. *boing* *boing* *boing* Q flips its mechanical tail down and digs into the dirt. This makeshift anchor plows up half of the garden before Q grinds to a halt alongside the Garden Gnome Tinkering Table. Two parallel slices flip downwards from the sides of Q, revealing ramps to the table's surface. Winches creak, pulleys squeal, and a pair of oversized titanium rollerblades lower themselves onto the ramp, CAT-5 laces extending up to another pulley. Sparks appear in the door locks, igniting rocket boosters on the back of the skates. *ZOOM* The skates careen down the ramp, onto, over, around, under, down one leg of the table and up another. Sunlight dapples a webcam lens embedded into an axle, then another concealed in an eyelet, then another inserted into the skate's tongue. Meanwhile, Q extends a collapsible construction crane over the table, and the winches whirr again. The winches stop. The rocket boosters run out of fuel. A brake releases. From the end of the construction crane drops a giant whisk-broom, which sweeps the skates into a shoebox that is sliding down the ramps which have been lowered to below the table. All at once, Q's various components fold back into storage, sweeping the box back inside before slamming shut. Anyone who pressed their ear to the unbroken sphere might hear a passionate argument in Gnomish. To be continued. . .because Q does not need any more gnomes fooling with it.

The poem falls like a jacob's ladder, showing each side of each line in turn. I only hesitated at "to want/to what?", and that might be due to having an accent where the two words are not at all alike (the 'a' of "what" is much more harsh than the other). What I find most clever are the connections between the lines, never repeating just for the sake of repeating, but carrying the poem forward.

That's the second unusual (to the point of incomprehensible) use of "fuzzy" in the past few poems. . .does someone have any insight to offer on when it became a synonym for "good" when applied to non-fuzzy objects?

Kaw. Krrrrrrrrraw. Jemmy's apple's caught in his craw but he don't sound quite like that. He don't pick at the shingles. He strips them off clean, never dropped moss and mold into my glass. O Mary, mother of us all, Send us a woman with warm lips, Send us someone who won't shudder at a crow.