suagr quill beyotchs

THE HISTORY
Back in late 2000 some of the founders of the Sugar
Quill (notably Zsenya, Moey and Elanor Gamgee aka
Cap'n Kathy) were all members of a discussion group,
HP4GU or "Harry Potter for Grown Ups" (aka GRUMPS).
Another member of that forum was Ebony aka AngieJ. She
also went by the names Ebony Elizabeth Thomas and
Ebonyink. I'll call her "Ebony." She was a H/Hr
supporter, but announced that she was interested in
writing a R/hr fic. Initially, the SQ gals and Ebony
seemed to be good friends and supportive of her
writing.

Some time in late 2000/early 2001 Ebony started her
fic, "Trouble In Paradise" (hence "tip" clues,
"paradise" clues). Originally she posted it on FF.Net,
but removed her story in mid-2001 and posted in at the
(then brand new) FictionAlley. But perhaps the best
place to find the fic is on Ebony's own Yahoo!group,
HP_Paradise. The fic is incredibly long and I've been
told you don't need to read it all to learn the
meaning of 87. But it was this fic that started all
the fuss.

Ebony set her story ten years after the defeat of
Voldemort, when Ron and Hermione were married. To cut
a long (and stupid) story short, she broke the couple
up. Hermione (surprise, surprise) ran to Harry for
comfort. Ron (a philanderer throughout the fic) wound
up in the arms of a character called Maureen Ludlam.

The reason that the SQ professors hate this fic so
much is because "Maureen Ludlam" was based entirely on
Moey's real life identity, including her name, where
she was born and educated, and her physical
description. I believe Moey originally agreed to a
"cameo" in the fic, but had no idea how Ebony would
use (abuse?) her identity. You can get a clear picture
of how much the SQ professors at the time dislike the
fic if you read the minutes of the first and second SQ
summits, which you'll find via the Gringotts Vault
link on the SQ homepage.

To understand all the clues, you can read chapter
nine, titled Lady Marmalade ("jelly" clues, "jam"
clues). In chapter nine, Maureen Ludlam is revealed as
Ron Weasley's lover and mother of his illegitimate
child ("slut" clues, "baby" clues). It is also
revealed that Hermione and Harry had a pre-marital
affair that she was memory-charmed into forgetting
(Moey's "memory-charmed" clues).

Moey's haiku refers to Ebony previously bearing a
series of other names.

THE HOLY GRAIL
The Holy Grail is a post from Ebony, which you can
still find on her Yahoo!group, HP_Paradise. When Ebony
posted notices that new chapters were ready, she
included "cookies" -- ficlets or previews of coming
chapters. You'll notice the Masters referred to
"cookies" a lot.

On May 5, 2001, Ebony posted the following:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HP_Paradise/message/919

"For Eb so loved the Paradisers,
That she gave away her ticket to "The Mummy Returns"
opener,
And has several off-line friends really mad at her,
She doesn't care... for a few of her poor fandom
friends only have
one finger left on the cliff.

(And you thought *you* had issues. ;-))

I'm so pleased that the Chapter That Would Not End is
now in the hands of my beta-readers. 87 pages...
they're going to scream whenever they get around to
opening their mail. <eg> Will post whenever a majority
get back to me. Don't expect miracles, though...
it's spring, it's nice outside, and there are good
movies afoot.
And... tomorrow's CINCO DE MAYO! (tosses her Thalia CD
into the changer)

Anyway... on to the fun stuff.

Chapter 9's title is "Lady Marmalade". Yes, I was
inspired by the current remake of the old Patti
Labelle (I think) song. Direct reference to the most
important--and most featured--female character in this
section of the fic.

Chapter nine of TiP, 87 pages in betaing, the chapter
that never ends."

FINISHING UP
And the final element/clue is that Elanor/Kathy is
responsible for pointing this out (Kathy's "every
post" clue).

Of course, seeing 87 in that context makes it very
"obvious" that it's a diss. Reading the chapter of the
story makes it very clear that this is the chapter so
objected to and horrifying that it requires all this
secrecy.