[Graham King]

Originally Posted by Brian Allgar

As you [Janice Soderling] say, Drills and Amusements is a special case.
...
True, Erik's post was not for a competition, but the revival of an old thread. Yet there too, as I understand it, members are requested not to do so unless they have something substantial to add, which I would have thought is the case here.

Hear, hear! May I join in wishing you (and your poem) a hearty welcome, Erik!

[Erik Olson]

Excuse me, you speak as though I were trying to get away with something, which I am not. I didn't read I was not allowed to post anything remotely poetic in the Drills and Amusements section. And this is not something I was trying to slip through, as you say "lurking in the dark". Why such amplification? I saw other New members had done the drill, read nowhere I could not in this section, and so was mistaken, not willfully doing something immoral. I am willing to submit to reprimanded for what was an honest mistake, yet the severity of the "scowl" is hardly encouraging to one who is new, means well and hopes to contribute as best I can. Why must you speak to me like some pest. It is quite severe. I accept I made a mistake and am sorry for it. I am not trying to do any thing wrong here. I'm not some immoral pest that conspires to slip thought the net by a system glitch to put it in your words. I respectfully acknowledge my mistake, what else can I say. I hope you will not look on me thus hateful and disparagingly, as I aspire to contribute, by no means to ruffle your feathers. I am sorry for this breach, so sorry, I did it out of total ignorance, not willingness to get away with something.

[Janice D. Soderling]

Spheroid police lurk everywhere, writing tickets and admonishing the young with lectures dripping of morals and heavy sighs.

I thought this would signal friendly humor. Alas, I will never make it as a stand-up comedienne.

First of all, greetings from the Eratosphere community and thank you for joining us! We're very happy you've found The 'Sphere!

You are most welcome, Erik. If other new members have "done the drill" before giving the required crits, I would appreciate having the rules officially reworded to that effect.

Perhaps a little sticky to that effect would clarify that anyone new member can dive right in without paying attention to the usual requirement to post 15 crits.

Hopefully we will get some guidance from the moderator staff in this sticky matter. (Yoke, yoke.)

[Ann Drysdale]

I'm just smiling to myself as Olson faces Soderling on Bifröst... Ragnarök!


(Yoke!)

.

[Allen Tice]

May they both come back intact from the island.

[Shaun J. Russell]

This thread has been reported a couple of times now, and, after discussing it amongst ourselves in mod Valhalla, we're letting it stand as is. D&A is a separate entity from the workshop forums, so the "15 posts" requirement does not apply. As for the "resurrecting old threads" aspect, the language in the guidelines is open to a thread bump

if the post contains substantive critique or reaction to critique.

That language is clearly written with workshop threads in mind, but I suspect the same grain applies to D&A. There has to be a reason to bump a thread. But further to that language is the following sentence, emphasis mine:

But once a thread has become inactive for several days, it’s best to use PM if there isn’t something quite significant still to say.

In the context of D&A, I think reading an old "drills" thread that inspires a poem is, frankly, "something quite significant." I wouldn't want to see it happen all the time, and I acknowledge that there is the possibility of a slippery slope here...but since this seems to be the first time it has happened in several years, I'm not too worried about it. If it does become an issue, then we'll deal with it accordingly, but as of now, I don't think it's an issue, nor do any of the mods who chimed in over the last couple of days in the mod forum. Including Jayne, one of this forum's co-mods.

In other words, carry on!