It's the rules game!

General
236
To my cunning counterparts,


What fun we have had! All rules have been passed at some point, save one which I shall demonstrate forthwith. As I prepare for that, I am most curious what speculations you have regarding the content of the rules up to this point. I have, as I am sure some have surmised, sought to lay out breadcrumbs regarding the rules themselves. While you prepare your responses, allow me to elucidate the content of the fifth and final rule. Ah, I can hear you hissing in anticipation!

{slide=For curious companions}OH S- :snake: AH! CATCH IT! CATCH IT!{/slide}{slide=a secret missive}It’s getting away! :snake: {/slide}{slide=in a susfishous meter}F-:snake: IT BIT ME!{/slide}

No! It escaped! DAMN THAT SNAKE!

Well…doesn’t that just ruin everything!

Excuse me while I retire to the infirmary.


Oh right. This post passes rule 1, fails 2 (barely, by intention), fails 3 and 4 (by accident), and rule 5…rule 5 is undeterminable, it neither passes nor fails.
237

You ever just read a post and don’t parse a single word of it?

Bone Queen etc
238

Look Bone Queen, I was snake-bit so I am in a mood.

First off: Passes rule 1, nothing else. Same for this post actually.

Secondly: I don’t know how much clearer it could be. I was giving you a post that would have passed all rules save rule 2, (maybe not rule 1, who knows). But then crobert’s “bird” showed up in my secret note, caused havoc, and now that post only passes rule 1, and it can’t pass or fail rule 5.
239

Hello friends! Well wishes to all!

The snake has been caught and there is nothing to worry about! I have misplaced my good stationary but no reason we can’t return to the great puzzles and japery of days past!

I thank you all for your participation in the game so far, and I will mention that, as host I can assure a pleasant and reptile free environment from now onwards!

Gracefully yours,

BTP

I have no idea where that snake is. I hear it in the walls.

P.S. This post passes rule 1, 3, and 5.
240

Dear BTP and Mr. :snake:
{slide=I’ve solved}crash-bottle{/slide}
{slide=your puzzle}crash-bottle{/slide}
{slide=Riddle Master!}crash-bottle{/slide}


Sincerely,
Soda Ruiner
241

Ah, the accordion! Secret messages only a click away!

Indeed I was constructing the bbcode thread while writing the rules for this challenge. The accordion is the instrumental addition I mentioned on the second day.

However, I will say that while this block can be helpful for passing rules it is not required, and the context and content of its use is important. Out of the 5, only 1 rule can be reliably passed independently of context, as mentioned on day 3.

And with that context in mind, I will say that your post has passed Rule 1 and 3 (although some could argue against that). I will also give this bit of information:

No post with that :snake: will pass all rules.
242

Username: Ixcalibones
Name: The Bone Queen
Gender: Queen
Species: Bones
Colour: [background=#436B95]Bone (#E3DAC9) on Queen Blue (#436B95)[/background]
Backstory: There’s magic in bones. Any necromancer, any witch, any mortician or butcher will tell you that you must dispose of them carefully. Well they would tell you that there’s magic in more or less every part of the human body and you really ought to be careful with any part of it or anything derived of it. But with bones, well they last long, and they retain that magic long after death.

In the kingdom of Valting when the Soulbane Curse decimated their population, they were too busy to attend proper burial procedure. It was a matter of imperative that the bodies be off the streets before they could infect anybody else. Automated wicker homunculi would roam the streets, dragging away any corpse that they found, and for all those poor souls there was only one destination. The Curse Pit.

Eventually the Soulbane Curse passed and life returned to normal in the kingdom of Valting, but beneath their feet blighted magic was gathering. It took a long time. An unfathomably long time. The Soulbane Curse was all but gone from the memory of the residents of Valting by the time that the Bone Queen, the amalgam of all of the cursed dead, emerged from the depths. By then it was much too late.
Description: The unliving remains of every body thrown into an enormous curse pit. The clothing and flesh has all decayed away and the bones are all that remains.

Abilities: The Bone Queen has no set form, and can speak through any or all of the many skulls that are part of her form. She loses control of any bones that leave the main bulk of her form for long enough, but will gain control of any dead matter that is incorporated into her body. She carries the remnants of the Soulbane Curse within her. As such being in her presence for extended periods of time will cause intense fatigue, blotchy sores and eventually death.
243

Dearest Barty The Third

Why don’t we have backgrounds??

Yours sincerely Bone Queen.
244

Ah yes the classic origin of the bone queen. Such a tale will pass rule 1, but no other rules.

To Her Majesty of Many Joints,

I must apologize for any confusion. We in fact do have access to backgrounds through use of the [bg] tag. Please use this tag to your calcified heart’s content.

Your post passes rule 3. If you have any other inquiries, I would by most happy to oblige.

Most respectfully,
BTP
245

Thank you Bobtholemew. I am sending a team of Moopsies to help alleiviate the snake situation, should it prove to still be ongoing.
246

To whom it may concern.

The cellar is full of broken glass now.

Lankie’s been throwing bottles down there for the past twenty six days. The mingling scent of various different brands of cola is beginning to knock me sick.

Everything has become still and stagnant as though time simply froze, as though the universe ended in that moment and we’re just here holding our breath for as long as we can manage before the inevitability of it all sets in.

But I have not been restful. I have been gathering my energies, amassing my moopsies. I know why we are not passing any of the rules that will allow us egress from this prison of ettiquette.

It is simply that “bird”.

Even I dare not speak its name.

Dare not evoke what I know doing so can bring upon me.

It is loose. My Moopsies will find it and then we will learn whether “birds” have bones or not.

And perhaps we might know freedom again.
247

Yours sincerely the Bone Queen etc
248

What a delight! Thank you for your gracious contribution.

one vermin for another it seems

This post passes rules 1 and 3, but fails the remaining.

Ah, I wish you the best in your endeavors to bring your adorable marrow connoisseurs. I can hear the sounds of bone slurping as we speak…though I am unsure if the screams are those of a snake or of bottle tossing goons. You delightfully pass rule 1 and flirt with rule 3, but do not pass it.

Ah a delightful signature, You approach rule three evermore, and some may argue that you have passed it but I will have to say otherwise. This post passes no rules.

For working to bring us out of this drought I will offer a clue and a warning.

First a clue: This post I have made passes Rules 1, 3, and 5.

And a warning: You are right to identify this game as one involving etiquette; however, take care that you do not, like a certain snake, introduce anachronistic elements into our picture of a more refined time.

Yours sincerely,
BTP
249

Dearest Bartholomew Thaddeus Penrose III,

I hope that this communication finds you in good health and good cheer.

I am writing to you today to thank you for your most prompt and curteous responses to my previous correspondence. Indeed reading your reply is a most pleasant experience and I shall forgive your rather inflexible opinions on my dear and precious Moopsies. I remain convinced that if you simply gave them a chance, spent a little time with them, then you would see that they are adorable, cute and soft and ever so playful.

Really we must schedule a visit some time. I’d offer a beverage but my good friend Sir Lord Lankie von Pendlehurst-Smitly Esquire III (who happens to be quite wealthy but I shan’t be drawn upon the subject, after all 'tis improper to boast about such things) has been systematically destroying all of our soft drinks. Perhaps another time.

Please give my best wishes to the creature that must not be named.

Yours truly, your dear friend The Bone Queen.
250

To the esteemed Queen of Bones,

What a delightful missive! It pleases me greatly to see you entering into the festivities. With dutiful ceremony, I inform you that you have passed both the 1st and 3rd rules with grace. Do let me know if you have any inquires regarding the remaining 3, you were the first to pass the fourth rule, after all, and I would love to see a repeat of that accomplishment.

BTP
251

My Dear Friend Bartholomew Thaddeus Penrose III,

Please enjoy the Halloween stylings of my minions (no, not the Moopsies, I have other minions too):



I hope that you enjoy this musical treat, and I thank you for your kind advice. I wish you well in all of your endeavours.

Yours truly, your bestest friend in the whole world The Bone Queen.

P.S. I wanted to directly show you the antics of my minions but for some reason I found myself unable to do so. I suspect if you happen know of a thing called a computer you could quite easily find their playful song on a certain website. Please write back if you need further directions.
252

In a contest of ettiquette, who would be victorious?

Michael Myers?

This guy?

Oh yeah Super saiyans would write a nicely worded Thank You Letter for sure - “Lankie”

Untitled

Things that can’t hurt Goku

  • Poor table manners

  • Unthoughtful Christmas gift

  • Emotional pain

Things that can’t hurt Michael Myers’ feelings

  1. Burping

  2. Complaining loudly about the quality of the meal while you’re a guest at his house

  3. Crying

:+1: :+1: :+1: :+1:

2023-10-31T00:00:00Z

That’s the day that Goku and Michael are going on a special trip to the museum together.

  • Michael Myers

  • Goku
0 voters
253

To the Boniest of Queens,
Ah what a delightful clamor, You have passed rule 1 and rule 3, and are so very near to passing rule 4. I’d revisit your past choices rather than advancing airs.

What a delightful curio of content! I’m most curious about the result of their trip. This post passes rule 1 and rule 3. It fails rule 4 more spectacularly than the last and while there is an argument for rule 5, I do not believe it quite encounters the point.

To continued exploration,
BTP
254

Dearest Bob

Here’s that image you like so much. Now you can perceive it again in a slightly altered context.



Yours Sincerely, The Queen of Bones
255

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