DISCUSSION -- The 75 word Challenge, April 2011

[Brev]

Thanks to The Procrastinator and Hex for the mentions.

I'm still to vote, actually im still to get my shortlist below ten ... how many votes do we get again?? .. Oh right, hmm, thats not enough.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Thanks for the mention, HB!

I finally "narrowed" it down and managed to vote, so here is the (longer than) usual shortlist, shorter list and vote. In my defense, there are quite a few more stories than usual to choose from!

paranoid marvin -- A Ballad of Love Unrequited
Mouse -- Stop Being Dandy
Hex -- Committed
Harebrain -- I Married Cthulhu
Perpetual Man -- Titles are Just Words, Mother is Forever
Boneman -- Cold-hearted Love
No One -- Ghost in the Machine
Brev -- Angels Never Lie
onebigpotato -- Unfashionable Innocence
MstrTal -- Free at Last
Culhwch -- Beastly
Moonbat -- Her Shoe
Parson -- The Text of Love
J Riff -- The Transparent Fundead...
The Spurring Platty -- Haunted by Beauty
GreenKidx -- Multiplication
mosaix -- Love Conquers All
psychotick -- A Paranormal Romance
Ursa major -- Paradise Lust
The Judge -- The Song of Orpheus

I had a real battle among my shorter list contenders, but in the end I had to go with *Ursa major* for the sheer justice of it all.

 

[Ursa major]

Many thanks for the vote, TDZ.


And yes, the quantity and quality of this month's entries is giving me problems in constructing a long list, never mind anything closer to delivering a vote. TJ must be congratulated for devising a topic and genre that really got our creative juices going.

 

[Boneman]

Not much time to go, and loadsa possible votes to come in yet. Looking like a tie-breaker to me... The votes themselves have been spread over a goodly amount of stories, and if you look at the shortlists, it's ...erm... even longer...

 

[Moonbat]

Thanks for the all the mentions.
And also for the votes.

Presently, Ursa and No-One neck and neck, 6 votes each. Plenty more to come in (hopefully)
As Boneman says, a wide spread of stories voted for this month and another possible tie-breaker. It all very exciting.

 

[cornelius]

Still haven't decided. tick tock says the clock... oh wait, that's the 300 word challenge

 

[HareBrain]

58 stories and 36 votes, with only twelve hours left. Looks like this could be the biggest disparity yet.

O Queen of Stats (TJ), have we ever had more votes than stories?

 

[RoninJedi84]

Thanks for the mention, Arkose. Nice to know I made a shortlist. Now that's progress!

Finally put my vote in. Whittled my shortlist down to HareBrain, Perpetual Man, chrispenycate, Chel, and Ursa major.

It came down to HareBrain and Perp as my final two, as I have a bit of a soft spot for Lovecraft references and Brain's story truly made me laugh out loud. In the end, though, I had to give it to Perp because even when I read that story for the 6th time, the last line gave me the chills.

Here's to another incredible month!

 

[Ursa major]

Thanks for the shortlisting, Ronin.


(And thanks for the mention you're about to give my story, No One. )

 

[No One]

With thanks to TDZ for the mention AND another mystery voter

It's been a hugely mixed bag of interpretations, but the quality remains dauntingly high. I've had to give up on listing all the stories that appealed to me for fear of "re-reading madness" and there being a whole lot of them (Boneman, Teresa, TDZ, Precise Caliber, Slack, Cornelius, Hoopy, Psychotick, Stormfeather, Ursa, to name a few!).

These are just my finalists:

Harebrain - I Married Cthulhu
Onebigpotato - Unfashionable Innocence
Chrispenycate - Rubaiyat in a Djinn Bottle
J-Riff - The Transparent Fundead...
Greenkidx - Multiplication
Hilarious Joke - Let Me Tell You How I Have Run
The Judge - The Song of Orpheus

The difficulty of choosing has made me go with my first impression, which was Chrispy's wonderfully rendered poem (off to vote now).

PS: commiserations Greenkidx, whose disturbing take on self-love might've easily got my vote on another day.

 

[Anne Martin]

Thanks to whomever voted for mine, so I successfully avoided a null point. I'm happy to see also that my favourite is the current joint leader. (psst - I was the first to go out on a limb to vote for it. It's nice to see that I wasn't alone.)

 

[Ursa major]

After bearly imaginable soul-searching, here are my thoughts on who should get my vote. (As usual, the stories are ordered by date of posting within category.)



Honourable Mentions:

• How Do YOU Want To Go? by Karn Maeshalanadae
• Stop Being Dandy by Mouse
• Cold-hearted Love BC by Boneman
• Two Sides to Every Tale by TheDustyZebra
• Her Shoe by Moonbat

Runners Up:

• I Married Cthulhu by Harebrain
• In Ordinary Things by digs
• Rubaiyat in a Djinn bottle by chrispenycate

Winner:

• Tonight Will Be A Memory To by HoopyFrood.

 

[Parson]

Hey Dusty Z -- Thanks for the mention. Now let's get going people and vote.

 

[MstrTal]

TheDustyZebra: Thank You I am truly humbled by the mention.

Due to the sheer talent presented by this group I had despaired of even receiving that.

 

[The Judge]

O Queen of Stats (TJ), have we ever had more votes than stories?

Yes. Twice. Once in December, which is only to be expected since we had three votes apiece! (43 entries and 108 votes) And then last month when we had 48 entries and 54 votes.

The worst disparity we've ever had was in January when we had 57 entries but only 46 votes, followed by November with 49 entries and 41 votes.

So this month isn't looking too good at the moment. Last minute voters (including me...) better get a move on if we're not to hit rock bottom.


And while I'm here, thanks for the shortlist honourable mentions Chaoticheart, HareBrain, TDZ and No One! And thanks for the creative-juices congrat, Ursa, though really those are due to everyone who has entered. Pity we couldn't have some real happy ever afters though...

 

[Gary Compton]

Hi

Some great stories this month.

I voted for Ursa; as the other night there was a knock on my door. As I nervously opened it. Two very large teddy's stood there, with leather jackets and shades, looking very terrifying!

The bigger of the two said, 'Compton, you owe the boss, for impersonating him, and trying to buy into his reputation of being thread bear.'

I swallowed nervously; before I could answer him, he hit me with a fluffy base ball bat.

So well done Ursa, I woudl've voted for you anyway as your a geordie; and your an old bugger, like me.

More importantly though, it was a damn good tale

 

[alchemist]

Hi

So well done Ursa, I woudl've voted for you anyway as your a geordie; and your an old bugger, like me.

Why doesn't threadbear have black and white stripes, then? Or even white and black ones?

 

[crys]

This was the first of the challenges that I've either voted or participated in where the genre was specified. I enjoyed the narrower focus when it came to writing my own story, but I've found it really tough choosing who to vote for. I'm not sure if there's some kind of connection there or just a coincidence.

Anyway, my favourite stories included those by mygoditsraining, No One, slack, Chel, TEIN, and Ursa major... but my vote finally went to Stormfeather's wonderfully epic story.

 

[Brev]

After much deliberation ... my final few, who all made an impression with excellent and diverse tales..

Boneman, digs, TheDustyZebra, Culhwch, Moonbat, Ursa, Chel and HoopyFrood.

Final decision went to Moonbat - hauntingly real.

 

[Gary Compton]

Why doesn't threadbear have black and white stripes, then? Or even white and black ones?

It's rumoured he's from Darlington, it's the none black and white area of Geordie land.

GULP...what have I said