DISCUSSION THREAD -- November 75-word challenge

[Abernovo]

Congratulations, Hex and The Dusty Zebra!

We have agreed a truly marvellous challenge, and I'm sure you'll all love us for it (muhahahaha!). We're waiting for moderator approval and then all will be clear.

*exits, cackling evilly*

Now, I'm really scared!

 

[ratsy]

Congrats to both of you!! Well done.

Maybe one month we will write SF based on a future's history.

"Milky Ways Last Stand of 3250"
In the style of..... Canadian

Lol...ok maybe not

 

[The Judge]

My little story was about Henry Tudor who became Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York. (Hank and Beth)

I got it! I got it!

I thought it was an E or a C, but if you look at it, it looks like an armadillo. Clearly, it's the SFF armadillo.

Am I prescient, or am I prescient?!! Pity the armadillo gets it...



A tied tie-break! Congratulations, both!

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

The tension is killing me.


Do we really have to wait for the mods on this one, though?

 

[Mouse]

I bet the theme's 'Smut.'

 

[Ursa major]

Less of the wishful thinking, please, Mouse.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

The tension is killing me.


Do we really have to wait for the mods on this one, though?

Well, they said so. Sorry! I know what it is, and the tension is killing me, too!

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

I bet the theme's 'Smut.'

Nah, they wouldn't want to give you and I the advantage, Mouse.

 

[Abernovo]

I bet the theme's 'Smut.'

Oh no, my delicate sensibilities couldn't handle such.

Well, they said so. Sorry! I know what it is, and the tension is killing me, too!

Hmm, Mouse, I notice nobody's denying it!

 

[FeedMeTV]

I bet the theme's 'Smut.'

Blimey, will Percival and Gwaine from Merlin be making an appearance in your entry, Mouse?

 

[David Evil Overlord]

I'll bet the challenge is to write smut, in the science fiction genre (fantasy is too easy), without ever setting off the magic spell...I mean software, that turns a naughty word into a frog...I mean, an asterisk.

 

[StilLearning]

Thanks to james Coote for the vote, and to Dusty zebra, Tactical Loco, Perpetual Man, Johnnyjet, Stormcrow,Ratsy, Starbeast, Crispenykate, The Judge, Phyrebat. for the mentions. And my sincere apologies to all, I left it until the last minute and then my daughter has had the flu. I just couldn't find time to get through all the entires.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I guess I should explain mine, too, for those who didn't want to research my shameless name-dropping.

I started out wanting to write about Sir Thomas More, as he's always been one of my fascinations, and I really thought I could fit his Utopia into a story -- especially since it tells of the travels of his character to strange lands. But then I couldn't fit fire into it, and there weren't enough words available for what I wanted to do.

In the course of researching what else happened in Tudor times, I discovered so many interesting things that I hadn't really connected to that time period, I was just paralyzed at the possibilities. Leonardo da Vinci sketched tons of things that were way ahead of the times, and the astronomical discoveries seemed quite ahead as well. Galileo got in trouble over his, and Copernicus and Brahe found things that were well out of time.

Then I got fascinated by the invention of bottled beer, because it was an "accidental invention" of the sort that I have in my time travel WIP. I started out with a time traveler going back to see the invention of bottled beer and having a fire in the control room which bounced them around through the century and caused a bunch of the other things to happen.

Then I realized that the Spanish Armada was the perfect thing to cause that, with the use of "fire ships" -- a good source of the fire that hit the time machine. So it stood to reason that the original history of the time travelers was that the Spanish Armada won that battle and they wanted to go and see it. In the course of trying to visit the famous victory, they were hit by a fireball and went careening through the time period and making what we know as our history happen instead. The Duke of Medina Sidonia was the leader of the Spanish ships, and I figured if Spain won, the future exploring ship would be His/Her Majesty's Time Machine, named for the hero of the decisive battle in history.

I never got the bottled beer in at all, in the end, but More went exploring in the future and saw his Utopia (it occurred to me much too late that I should have used the year 8272 -- U2PA on a keypad -- instead of the randomly chosen 2435), the Gregorian calendar was taken back to the past to be introduced there at the proper time, Mercator got his inspiration for his map, the astronomers saw their various discoveries out the window, Shakespeare found his "muse of fire" (from Henry V), and Spain got their butts kicked by the fire ships.

Thanks for the history lessons, HB!

 

[David Evil Overlord]

The only shameless part is your admission you never got the bottled beer.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I know, huh? That probably lost me a few votes.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Hmmm. December is Christmas, vampires, and beer...

 

[Ursa major]

Shouldn't that be Christmas, vampires, and bier?

 

[Boneman]

So I was chuffed that I was able to vote before I left for China, and then I come back to find the tiebreaker didn't. I could have chosen the winner, (you remember the first Superman film, when Terence Stamp says to Marlon Brando, that he alone will condemn them to the phantom zone after all the others have found them guilty, and it had to be unanimous? I would have felt that way...) so guess what? Though I'm sorry I didn't vote, I'm glad I didn't have to!!! Choosing between them would have been a nightmare. Internet in China is rubbish, and to be honest, every day was so full of action there was barely time - I'll try and put a picture of me attempting to 'plank' on the Great Wall at some stage...

So Congratulations to Hex and TDZ.

Thank you all so much, belatedly, for the mentions and Prizzley for the vote!! Now to gear up for Christmas. Do we have three votes this month in honour of the three wise men??