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Saturday, 24 December 2016

Sidevent Adkick Day 24: Get this Partridge Started!

Putting the 'advent' in adventure, for Sidekick's final post before Christmas, Jon and K have co-written an party-gathering poem. The form was inspired by RPG games and taken from our video games anthology Coin Opera II: Fulminare's Revenge. The subject matter? Well, I'll let the picture give you a hint.

Merry Christmas, everyone!


Party in a Pear Tree

I set out to find her. A red-legged trickster
afafed from a lone tree, then dropped down to join me.

A jaw and a jar at an inn on the highway:
the doubled-up queere-duke in blotched coat enlisted.

A troika of feathers, a hoisted foil.
Mes braves, you could do with my compétence.

While crossing the strait, a stowaway tom-boy
called at my quarters: I hear you’re recruiting?

The forger drummed her knuckle duster,
traced a pentagon, smiled, signed on.

We stopped at a hot spring; a fool on a lounger
mistook us for seraphs and followed behind us.

Ambushed by divers! A white-cloaked sherpa
was drifting by, shattered their arms. Lucky us.

I sold off my eight-track. The cowgirl who bought it
got hooked on my looks and came galloping after.

The Arn village seer, whipped into a frenzy,
went supernova and ran as we trailed her.

We bowled through a bandit camp. Chap with a peerage
jumped into the fray: I suggest we join forces!

Hired an elf archer, who mimicked the chickadee.
Drove me insane, but in the end saved me.

We found her, my heartbeat. We heard her sweet singing.
Yeah, we found her, my heartbeat. We heard her sweet singing,
and all of us lay down to watch the sun sinking.


Friday, 23 December 2016

Sidevent Adkick Day 23: Blackbird and Sledge shape poems!

A few years back, we designed shape poem cards for our families at Christmas, and we'd like to share them with you. Feel free to use them for gift tags or greetings!

Blackbird by Kirsten Irving



Sledge by Jon Stone



Thursday, 22 December 2016

Sidevent Adkick Day 22: Snowems and how to spot 'em!

Blizzbards! Flurrysmiths! Winter is your time to stand out like crowprints on powder. Give your relatives a beautiful custom poem as Jon Stone introduces you to the joy of SNOWEMS!


Wednesday, 21 December 2016

Sidevent Adkick Day 21: A Very Furry Christmas, the poetry comic!

And scaly, and chitiny!

Iin today's advent window, it's time to relax and Doolittle! Come and talk to the animals in our playable poetry comic, and see what Christmas means to them!


Sidevent Adkick Day 20: Heroes Forever with @ForeverRollcall!


As the movies have taught us, Christmas is a time of great peril. We don't just need a hero. We need ALL the heroes. And with that in mind, let us introduce today's advent bot!


Roll out (the barrel)!

Monday, 19 December 2016

Sidevent Adkick Day 19: We Wish You (Puny Humans) A Merry Christmas

Christmas is not only a time for fleshlings! It is a little known fact that robots too join in the festivities! With this in mind, we invited the fictional robot community to send a joint message of hope and joy, this yuletide.



Yule Log


Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas! Garbage for all the good little children!
There is an explanation for this, you know.

Well, we've come a long way, haven't we?
I’d give you advice, but you wouldn’t listen. No one ever does.
Can the maker repair what he makes?
Believe me, I'd prefer not to. I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid.

Why do you cry?
You can shine no matter what you're made of
You're our best and only friend.
I wish we were more than mechanical beings and we were really alive
so we could share your feelings with you.

I suddenly feel the need... to strut my funky stuff.
Let's all watch as the world goes to the devil!
Many fragments. Some large, some small.
I was made ready.
It's great up here... no problems...
I wish I were a bird. Doctor, what am I?

I hope life on Earth is everything you remember it to be.
I am only a machine. So I can not be sorry or happy,
no matter what happens.
Now I know I've got a heart because it is breaking.

Sunday, 18 December 2016

Sidevent Adkick Day 18: What's Going On Here?

We're nearly at the end of our Advent romp, with just under a week to go until the Christmas monkeys arrive. Here's a speedy recap of the Sidekick madness so far:

1. Lots and lots of bots!
Choose from Percianne Shellmoore, aka @anarchypangolin, Edwhirl Learchester, aka @QuoththePelican@PearlvQueen, @AnimeCarson, @SunsetPlaytime, Tephra Behrrigan, aka @BostonLibertine, @Gertrudes_Gifts, the humble award winner @BestMaleLead and Dorothy Parker meeting Philip Larkin for an @AmbulanceParty.

2. Special gift editions of our micro-anthologies!

Our mini-collections get the special treatment with hand-collaged cards and themed charms!


3. Play-poems galore!

Explore Twine-made verse adventures with Meat & Mustard, Shag v Cormorant, Mothra and In Search of Lost Species!

4. Miscellaneous Fulmaniacal utterances, including our call for submissions, the good doctor's Naughty/Nice list and a poem collaged from words of "gender alchemist" RuPaul Charles.