It's kind of like a Brevity Quest, but with more words … and Hair¹! ! !

"Her dark eye flashing like a sun-lit gem,
And her luxuriant hair--’twas like the sweep
Of a swift wing in visions!
-- N. P. Willis

The long and the short of it is that more writeups are wanted:
50 to 500 words on any & all topics hair-related, specifically.

<Tem42> hair style is not noded.
… Nor is dirty blonde
… Nor highlight or highlights, in the hair-do sense.
… Does E2 just not do hair?
… HairQuest 2024
… also not noded.

Upon reading that, I offered to run such a quest and Tem42 responded, saying:

"You should run HairQuest 2024, and you should overlap it with BQ24, for double the noding excitement! We usually only do one BQ a year, but with the Spaghetti Monster, all things are possible."

With those words and this node, HairQuest 2024 is born; a topical quest covering hair (real or synthetic, components, styles, uses, and any other topics hair-related, such as idioms, colloquialisms, folklore, celebrities known for their hair or hairstyle, anecdotes, pertinent occupations, or even reviews of hair care products. Hair can cover so much!

Rules:

• Beginning Thursday, November 28th at 00:00:00 and ending Sunday, December 29th at 23:59:99 (E2 server time), this quest seeks concise, well-coifed and crafted fact, fiction, poetry, and/or prose. New writeups only, please and thank you.
• Including the word or affix hair in the node title is not a condition of acceptance for the quest, but any writeup submitted must focus on or emphasize the topic of hair, somehow, someway.
• Day logs are permitted if they deal with hair in any way, such as having one's hair done, getting waxed or threaded, documenting that day's hair care routine, or having a bad hair day (or a good one for that matter!).
• There is a minimum length of 50 words for writeups and they are capped at a maximum of 500 words. Nuked nodes (those cut by staff) will not count. Final rewards will therefore not be dispensed until a couple of days into the new year, to allow last-minute writeups to be admired, voted on, and survive the editors.
• Material may be prepared in advance, and as many writeups may be submitted as desired. Hidden writeups are acceptable if preferred.
• Entries should be labeled as such. Word counts and a /msg to inform me are considerate, helpful, and appreciated. Soft link to this node for posterity. In fact, nodes with writeups included as entries must have at least six (6) soft links in total, including the one to here.
• HairQuest 2024 runs alongside, within, concurrently, and/or independently of other quests and should not hamper, hinder, or replace normal noding activities. And, if all parameters for each quest are met, shall count for all such quests actively running.

Rewards:

• 2GP per successful writeup, reflecting putting one's two cents in.
• 25GP bonus for participating, seeing that a shave and a haircut is two bits.
• An easter egg per participant, simply because I can.
• XP as per normal rules and regulations.
• Opportunities to level up and possibly gain powers, be blessed, get sanctified, receive stars, unlock achievements, et cetera, depending on where one is and the skill(s) applied to the noding.
• Refining skills and obtaining (and sharing) knowledge.
• Legendary fame and the respect of one's peers. And maybe a C! or two.

FAQ

• Why is there a minimum word count?

  Because, although bald is beautiful, writeups for this endeavor need body and substance.

• Why is the maximum 500 words instead of 300?

  Because this isn't, strictly speaking, a Brevity Quest, hair extensions exist, and it takes place during a season of giving! Besides, we Americans need to exercise our free spech and get in every word we can while we can, just in case.

• Why does this quest overlap Iron Noder XVII?

  It was conceived and birthed during, and noded for, that's why.

• How strictly does the emphasis on hair need to be? I mean, are puns acceptable, such as bad heir day or her suit or … ?

  That's a fine question, and one I can't answer without reading the writeup. I do believe, though, that you'll know if it qualifies before I will.

So, if interested, get out the fine-toothed comb, search E2 for missing hair information or nodeshells or both, and sculpt and style a submission and show that E2 does indeed do hair.

Currently, I am the only judge but would love to have others' input, as I'm not the entire jury. If you'd like to help out, please let me know.

Tip: Don't rely solely on the word count in the draft/writeup header (as it counts HTML and pipelinked text, too). The E2 Word Counter exists, but please also note the Brevity Quest Word Count Guidelines.

Submissions:

¹HAIR: (a word common to Teutonic languages), the general term for the characteristic outgrowth of the epidermis forming the coat of mammals. The word is also applied by analogy to the filamentous outgrowths from the body of insects, &c., plants, and metaphorically to anything of like appearance. -- Encyclopædia Britannica 1911.

30?