Discussion 75 Word Challenge -- MARCH

[nixie]

Thanks for the mention Vertigo. Pep, we are going to miss your comments, saying thanks doesn't seem enough. Good luck with the new arrival.


Wonders if Pep has a time machine he's not sharing, it was only days ago he mentioned the patter of tiny feet and I'm talking about the first pep junior.

 

[Aaron Stone]

Thank you so much for the vote, Olive Skye!!

 

[Perpetual Man]

Thanks for the mention Vertigo. Pep, we are going to miss your comments, saying thanks doesn't seem enough. Good luck with the new arrival.


Wonders if Pep has a time machine he's not sharing, it was only days ago he mentioned the patter of tiny feet and I'm talking about the first pep junior.

I hate to say it Nixie, but that was three and a half years ago...

 

[Parson]

Okay, that was weird. I feel as though I should just be able to walk through walls or something. Magical Realism is probably what made Hitchcock great.

Short list

Hex -- I think she was channeling the Hunger Games.
Alchemist --- I have one word. "A Woman!!!????"
Nixie --- Showing my age and inclinations it made me think of Merle Haggard. "Rainbow Stew" has this lyric:

"When a politician goes to Washington
and does what he says he'll do.
We'll all be drinking that free Bubble Up
And eating rainbow stew."

Hopewrites --- I don't her anywhere near by refrigerator!!
Pyan --- Plain Brown wrapper.... "Indeed!"

Vote Getter (despite very deficient theology)
Culhwch a tear-jerker indeed.

 

[Warren_Paul]

That being said I've decided to stop doing my comments or the time being. I started doing them just as a one off and everyone liked them so much that I just kept going, month after month, 75 word and 300 word challenges.

As many of you know, myself and Mrs Perp. are expecting our second child in a few weeks (yup time has gone that quickly we could be counting in days...) and the baby could come at any time. With that in mind and knowing how busy I'm going to be in the coming months, I've decided now is the right time to stop the comments for the time being.

Thanks Perp, and don't worry about us, we might miss them, but we will survive, and live in hope of one day reading your comments again, when there are two lots of pattering feet running around you - although if this baby is up and about that early, I'd be a bit scared of what the future entailed.

 

[Abernovo]

Best wishes to you and your family, Perp. We'll miss your comments.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Perp, you're quite right; if my other half had spent the first hectic months sticking comments on an internet site, there'd have been murder... Enjoy the first days, and when in doubt stick number one in front of number two with a bottle of bubbles, tell them to blow 'em, not feed them to the baby, sit and kick back. (for 2 minutes, but every minute counts....)
Hoping all goes well, keep us up to date if you can!

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Baby Perp is more important than us Have a good few months.

 

[nixie]

Thanks for the mention Parson. Pep its scary in just over a month I'll have been a member here 7 years, where on earth does time go.

 

[Parson]

Perp,

Thanks for the review. And I did not know that there was a monthly post that hinted at smut. I must be missing something.

 

[alchemist]

alchemist - The House On The Edge Of The Forest
Properly uncanny. Atmosphere, depth, human character, a comedic end. A story that has grabbed the double horns of the theme and genre and thrown the beast of a challenge to the ground. A tour de force.

Thank you very much, Glen, for the kind words and the vote! Thanks to TDZ for another one, and thanks to Aaron, slindeman, johnnyjet, Perp man, Vertigo and Parson for the mentions/shortlisting.

Good luck Perp and Mrs Perp. I'm sure we'll see you again before the event. Thanks for all the hard work.



My own voting: *= shortlist, **=the votegetter

Springs1971
Scott R Forshaw
DEO
Aun Doorback*
Stormcrow
Vertigo
R_j_dando
Aaron Stone
Tactical Loco
Pyan*
Phyrebrat**
Moonbat
Culhwch
The Judge

 

[Vertigo]

Best wishes to you and Mrs Perp! I trust all will go smoothly over the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for the mention Alchemist!

 

[Aaron Stone]

Ever much thankfulness for the mention, Alchemist!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Cheers, Alc. I'm assuming you understood the native lingo.

 

[alchemist]

Arrah, shur it was aisy enough.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Have you been drinking the faeries poteen again? They'll find out, you know... they always do.

 

[Scott R. Forshaw]

Well, I take a fewweeks leave of absence, and look what happens – all hell breaksloose!

It's taken me a full day of playing catch-up to get up to speed with this months challenge entries, and I have to say: there are some absolute beauties in there. Well done to everyone who participated.

The most difficult part, however, was deliberating which story came out on top of the pile. It took me a few hours just to get my shortlist to a reasonable size, let alone choose a winner.

So here it is:

(My top 3 are inhighlighted in bold)

Springs

Teresa Edgerton

Bob S. Sr

David Evil Overlord

alchemist

Vertigo

Aaron Stone

TheDustyZebra

Harebrain

Culhwch

The Judge


My vote (just about) goes to Vertigo, but it was admittedly an extremely difficult decision to have to make. The story reminded me very much of Terry Pratchett's work, and in the end that's what swung it for me. I've always had a soft spot for Pratchett. Well done on writing a fantastic story, Vertigo!

 

[r_j_dando]

Alchemist - thanks for the short-list mention!

 

[hopewrites]

Short List (with reasoning, because its nice to know why your name gets on a list isnt it?)

Abernovo: Foreshadow- quick action, depth of world, full circle plot. Excellent use of Magical Realism in the creation of shadow people, origin and substance undescribed giving full reign to our imagination (I imagined Shadows from Neverwinter Nights) backstory of aid implied in the second sentence, without giving them a benevolent tint. Especially liked the way the gunfire was used to break the action while showing it and made the close of the story feel it came at a natural point. Tricked us out of missing what we missed, essential for such a limited word count.

Perpetual Man: Inverted- high emotional content, knife in the heart finish. A story anyone with an ability not shared with their peers can empathize with.

Scott R Forshaw: Witch Tea?- quick simple and funny, but makes one think for a long time afterward. Loved the real world implications of the tea erasing frustrations from one’s life.

Alchemist: The House on the Edge of the Forest- so many questions unanswered for one answer unquestioned. Beautiful village painted in drab and lifeless shades of grey turned to warmth and happiness by the passing of a mysterious stranger. Was it magic that set them free? Or magic that imprisoned them? I want to believe it was the simplicity of the solution that made the women of the village laugh. A wonderful tale hinting that not all who wander with wisdom are old men, that not all strangers who bring suspicious knowledge should be untrusted.

Hoopy Frood: And I Will Try to Fix You- beautiful dedication, terrifying consequences for failure. A wonderful illustration of perpetual estrangement.

Vertigo: Parallel Universe- fantastic concept, and telling last line. Don’t know what more to say than “perfect”

Memory Tail: Bob- mirror view of Perpetual Man’s and loved for all the same reasons.

Chrispenycate: Again Elfin Safety- sagacious last line ties everything eloquently together. Only a sound man could come so close to describing the intoxicating magic of music.

Pyan: Plane Brown Wrapper- a blushingly hushed giggle for this delightful dirty secret.

Mosaix: The WaitingRoom- the silent pride that colors the descriptions of the other fathers who wait, for who knows what, is driven home with the last sentence. How much more dangerous is this narrator that he has pride in his son’s deeds and calmly withstands the open hatred of the fathers of more magical killers. This story amazingly strips the power of the unknown from the other deaths and gives it all over to the cold hard steel truth of simple pain. His open disdain for the others, and his pride in his son brighten and darken this story at the same time giving it vibrant depth and multiple layers and shadings.

Moonbat: A Simple Spell- best origin of a saying story I have ever heard!! I can just imagine the simplicity of it going over the narrators head at first and the smirking laughter as the answer is repeated until it becomes clear.

 

[mosaix]

That being said I've decided to stop doing my comments or the time being. I started doing them just as a one off and everyone liked them so much that I just kept going, month after month, 75 word and 300 word challenges.

I have to say that I loved doing it - I haven't even kept count, I cannot tell when I started - how long I have been doing it, but I know I have not missed a month and I'm proud of that, but more importantly I really appreciated the way everyone else really appreciated it. (Even to the extent of getting my appreciation thread - I cannot say how much that meant to me!)

As many of you know, myself and Mrs Perp. are expecting our second child in a few weeks (yup time has gone that quickly we could be counting in days...) and the baby could come at any time. With that in mind and knowing how busy I'm going to be in the coming months, I've decided now is the right time to stop the comments for the time being.

Perp, your comments will be sorely missed and I'm sure we all hope you'll start again at some time in the future.

Best wishes to you and your family.