Discussion -- May 2011 Challenge

[Precise Calibre]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Well there went my track record. Sometimes I hate the world and its clock and stuff...

 

[Talysia]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Thanks for the honourable mention, MstrTal - that was a nice surprise!

There were some great stories this month, and I enjoyed reading through them all. Here's my shortlist:

HareBrain - The Rebels
psychotick - The Best Of Friends
Mouse - What Rat Friends Do
Michelle Ann - To Life
Mosaix - Kindred Spirit
reiver33 - Imperfect Day
digs - Part of your World
Teresa Edgerton - One Night in Pandaemonium
HoopyFrood - Once Upon a Time
Dozmonic - Woof Woof

After much deliberation, I was able to whittle it down to three - Mouse, Mosaix and Hoopy - but eventually I voted for Hoopy.

Well done everyone!

 

[MstrTal]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Um wow thanks to everyone who mentioned my name I am not only truly humbled. I am also in a state of shock that I actually received a vote.

When I saw that I must of danced around giddy as my 5 year old when I told her we where going to Chuck E Cheese for her birthday when she was 3.

Oh and to be honest I was a bit leery of using the term "chav" in my story. It's a bit of slang I picked up on an UK Steampunk board I frequent. While I thought it fit I was worried I might of overstepped my bounds a bit.

 

[Mouse]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

goldenapples, Taly, thanks for being daft enough to mention my silly poem!

 

[nixie]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Well I have my short list, yesterday I thought I'd narrowed it down to 4 but after a reread its got bigger.

HareBrain- The Rebels

Mouse- What Rat Friends Do

Mistral- Seeking Corporeal Encounter... Have Wand Will Travel

Taylsia- A Friend In Need

Telford- Man's Best Friend

Teresa Edgerton- One Night In Pandemonium

The End is Nigh- Urban Meths

Hoopy Frood- Once Upon A Time

Dozmonic- Woof Woof

The Judge- Philiapolis (or City 4 Wolves 0)

 

[Mouse]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Thanks, nixie!

 

[nixie]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

It should be noted that my vote is a mistake, I was meant to click goldenapples' post. I've asked Teresa to change it for me :-/

I've taking a vote of yours and added one for Goldenapples, although I haven't been able to make it show who you've voted for. Maybe one of the others will know how to do it.

 

[mosaix]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Chel thanks for the vote, and thanks to everyone who's short-listed me.

At the moment there are ten people each with a vote.

 

[Dozmonic]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

I've taking a vote of yours and added one for Goldenapples, although I haven't been able to make it show who you've voted for. Maybe one of the others will know how to do it.

The results are as they should be and that's what matters. They can see my vote here so it'll do. Normally my mousewheel slips and gets me killed in black ops - on a webpage it nudged the page slightly ;-/

 

[chrispenycate]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

At the moment there are ten people each with a vote.

Oh, nice; a potential ten way tiebreaker. Although mine came from the flip of a coin.

But it does show how difficult voting's going to be (there are still about six which are not even on my spreadsheet yet, let alone on the 'refining' run. And tonight's going to be another busy one at work).

 

[Mouse]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Ok, shortlist:

HareBrain: Vampoodles rule. I want one. And a zombie ferret.
Chrispy: After Perp's comments it all made sense!
Arkose: Funny. But evil.
TDZ: Simple, and yet feels like a complete story.
Cornelius: Reminds me of a sestina
TJ: Good stuff.
Cul: Tragic again! What's up with that? I'm a sucker for the tragedy though.

Not voted yet...

 

[alchemist]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Honourable mentions

Harebrain – The Rebels – what’s to say; it’s just so cool. The makings of a cartoon series here.
Paranoid Marvin – Dear diary… - Maybe I’m just glad I got the background story, but it’s a nice one.
Devil’s Advocate – Frank- Anne-Stein – Not a lot of fantasy in it, except the title, but it’s so well done that it had to go on the list.
Psychotick – The Best of Friends – An ahhhh moment; gentle and very well written.
Aun Doorback – We built this city with rock hard trolls – almost for the title alone but the story too.
Mosaix – Kindred spirit – ahhhh again
Reiver33 – Imperfect Day – the last line nailed it.
Telford – Man’s best friend – bad Rover. Bad, bad rover.
Chel - Never trust someone you meet online – love the transition from “him” to “it”

The shortlist

Chrispenycate – Elf discovery – for a story which apparently didn’t have enough fantasy, it had plenty of fantasy. I loved the style and the story’s great.


J Riff - ONLYIF YOU SAY PLEIADES – excellent, loved it, almost LOLled, except people would have looked funny at me.

Teresa - ONE NIGHT IN PANDAEMONIUM ... – for someone who claimed to be struggling, that was some story. A great last line again.

And the grovelling admiration goes to…

First impressions win again, it’s Chrispenycate

 

[High Eight]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

I went with Dusty Zebra. Nastyness, grue and black humour - all in 75 words. Loved it.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Thanks, High Eight!

And thanks to TEIN, Boneman and Mouse for the mentions, as well!

I have a shortlist, but I'm still thinking. Or stalling. Or something.

 

[onebigpotato]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Thanks Boney!

To explain my somewhat silly story. I could say I ran out of time on my other one. Or I could say.....

Climbing up the proverbial mountain that is story writing I could tell I was drawing close. Over the next rise it would be there, my stories ending. As my hands drew me up I saw someone standing there, my Brain. It knelt down so it was looking both at me and to the cliff I had been climbing. It grabbed my hands, came close to my ear and said "This story sucks". I looked up at it and cried "No, I've worked so long on it, please".
The sun was setting over the Brains shoulder, he whispered one last thing to me in a sorrowful and yet hopeful way "You're out time, just make them laugh OBP. Make them laugh". He pulled my hands of the rock and threw me back over the cliff.....

So like...isn't that how you guys write your stories?

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Well, on reflection, it turns out that I really did have an idea who to vote for before it all ended -- the story that struck me most along the way was still there in the end, it's just that I had forgotten all the stories in the utter chaos that has been the month of May. And it was tough even with that first impression, given some other contenders!

There were quite a few otherwise great stories that I reluctantly had to leave off the list for issues of genre/theme and/or serious pedantic technicalities. There are a couple that made the list anyway, despite the same objections, so this may not be strictly fair, but there you have it.

So here is, as usual, the shortlist and the shorter list.


Harebrain -- The Rebels
Bob S. Sr -- Rose
Nixie -- One Rather Wet Evening
paranoid marvin -- Dear Diary....
Allanon -- Old Enemies, New Friends
Moonbat -- Blob's Your Uncle
Mouse -- What Rat Friends Do
mosaix -- Kindred Spirit
J Riff -- Only if You Say Pleiades
reiver33 -- Imperfect Day
Teresa Edgerton -- One Night in Pandaemonium
onebigpotato -- A Mothers Worst Nightmare
Cornelius -- Bigsmile
The Judge -- Philiapolis

And the vote (as can be seen) went to Allanon.

Honorable Mentions to MstrTal and Chel for stories of the sort that I was aiming for when I somehow went astray and wrote something completely different.

 

[Culhwch]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Cul: Tragic again! What's up with that? I'm a sucker for the tragedy though.

I don't know! You'd have thought from my output recently I'd been spurned by a lady-love, but no, still happily married...

 

[cornelius]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

Cornelius – In some ways very thematically similar to the one above, different perceptions of mythical/fictional creatures, but different angles as well. This one is equally well put together, but seemed to have a more emotional feeling to it, almost a underlying sadness that unacceptance has brought to the creature.

Thank you once again for that, you have a knack at finding the core I try to convey. Myself, I wield a size 13UK/14US/48 EUR, so there was a personal tone to it as well (just kidding of course)

Thanks for the mention, Mouse. I did tweak the "build" a bit, but all in all I blotted this in ten minutes, so I feel your mention is a but undeserved, but appreciated nonetheless.

Also thanks to TheDustyZebra for the mention.

 

[mosaix]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

I went with Dusty Zebra. Nastyness, grue and black humour - all in 75 words. Loved it.

Yes, it's TDZ for me as well.

 

[goldenapples]

Re: DISCUSSION -- The 75 Word Challenge May 2011

It should be noted that my vote is a mistake, I was meant to click goldenapples' post. I've asked Teresa to change it for me :-/

No, it's the system. It's rigged. I tried to vote for myself but the pointer just veers away at the last second every time