Discussion thread -- 75 WORD WRITING CHALLENGE February 2013

[ratsy]

Thanks for the mention Springs!

I had a lot of stories written down for my favorites so here is the trimmed down but still long list.

JRiff - Amoeba Bomb - Great, fun story

Lenny - Live Lived Living - A real cool idea, it intrigued me

Victoria - A Touch of Green - As usual a well told, smart story

TheEndisNigh - The End - A plausible scenario, who knows what goes on in their little brains?

nixie - Forgotten Magic - neat sounding plot, a little fern gully grows up

Glitch - The Weapon - Really good story

The Judge - A Child for Van Diemens Land - A lot for so few words, great!

Paranoid Marvin - To be Frank - Very enjoyable Dr. Frankenstein Rhyme

My Vote eventually goes to ....Drumroll please

Talysia - A Life in Words

I voted for you because the story danced of the screen and into my brain. I could see this huge being, sitting in a chair by a fireplace with a room full of leather bound books, with human names on the spines. One for each human ever. And to think that each story would actually get read was a great thought. It made a really great scene! Well done.

 

[Talysia]

Many thanks for the vote, ratsy - you've just made my afternoon!

 

[Perpetual Man]

Eric – A rather clever look at the topic with an expression of life as binary, how with a flip of a switch (sort of) life can be implemented. In many ways the idea is simple, 1 is life, 0 is not, but at the same time as you start to think about it, you begin to realise just how clever and complicated it all is. Thought provoking and original, a truly great idea.

prizzley – In some ways a fun story, that takes the idea of finding out the sex of your child and runs with it in all new directions. How would it be if you could give birth to creatures of myth? Well fun might be a bit strong word for it, but I did like the ‘unseen’ references to what was going on around the ward. Makes you realise that in this reality at least it’s the doctors on the line, just as much as the kids.

TDZ – A great idea that for me at least is dominated by the idea of the Escher port. All it takes is to have seen one of his drawings and you can just imagine the crazy, orderly chaotic nature of the port. Of course there is a lot more than just that to the story, and it is one of those great tales where you can get lost in the ideas that are presented; for me it seems to be a place between life and death, where taking one of the many ships called ‘Life’ take you back to the land of the living, rebirth. But some are more ready than others.

TJ – Another great story, in this instance doing the timey-whiney thing. A young female criminal, destined to die, is made pregnant so that she cannot be executed, but instead must face deportation to Tasmania. But the pregnancy is by no means a typical affair, rather it is done by someone from the future, a descendent in fact, but this creates a beautiful paradox, in that if the to me traveller had not gone back in time the woman would never have become pregnant, so the future one would never have existed and would not be able to travel back in time... my head hurts, but I loved it.

Phyrebrat – One of those 75 worders that I think works well enough, but it feels as though it is slightly squeezed, and could be the basis for a lot longer piece. With the destruction of the Earth in sight, desperate measures are needed to save the population, but as always things don’t go according to plan and when the ship at last comes home, things are not what they were.

PM – Oh great story, and as always a wonderful poem. There was just the right amount of emotion included here to get an almost perfect balance, the feeling of a man waiting to be reborn, while at the same time dreading what will come. As always the word play is exemplary, and works perfectly with the story chosen.

Ursa – I’m not sure whether my interpretation is the correct one, but I enjoyed the tale of something – comet or planetoid – cutting through space and arriving at Earth. Is this the story of how the moon became our satellite, that is what it felt like to me, something that did not impact upon our planet, somehow forced to stay in orbit, looking at the world we destroy just by living there and out own nature.

Cul – And finally this month a magnificent idea, well told and a fitting end, When someone is caught and punished for heinous deeds what could be worse, a quick death or being forced to live time and again the pain of those that suffered at your hands. It is so apt, yet so terrible that it is perfect in its application.

 

[Perpetual Man]

And with the comments done I can take a quick moment to say a very big thank you to Anya for the vote, I was not expecting anything and that makes it all the more special.

And my short list:
BigJ
Kromanjon
Ratsy
Kylara
AMB
Talysia
Parson
Glen
Chris
Glitterspeck
Reiver
mosaix
TJ
PM
Cul

As always everyone did a magnificent job, and everyone deserves to be on the short list.

Now decide where the vote will go.

 

[Kylara]

Thanks for the shortlisting Perp!

 

[Perpetual Man]

My pleasure Kylara

 

[Bowler1]

Shortlist,
Hex
Glen
JohnnyJet
Glitch
TDZ
and Culwch and vote.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Wow, a vote! Thanks, alchemist!

Thanks also for reviews, Starbeast and Perp, and mention, Bowler!

I got started reading last night but it was just too late to finish, so I'll have to try again tonight.

 

[johnnyjet]

Commendations to all for excellent stories! But, after much rumination:

My Top Ten:
1. Eamonn Andrews - Bowler1
2. A.I. – Kylara
3. There's More to Life – Juliana
4. Amoeba Bomb - J Riff
5. But Not As We Know It - reiver33
6. A Touch of Green - Victoria Silverwolf
7. Milt Bank – AnyaKimlin
8. A Child for Van Diemen's Land - The Judge
9. To Be Frank - paranoid marvin
10. Life – Culhwch

And my favorite:
A.I. - Kylara

 

[ratsy]

Many thanks for the vote, ratsy - you've just made my afternoon!

You are more than welcome Talysia!

Perp thank you for the mention

 

[Bowler1]

Thank you, JJ - even a mention is enough to make me happy.

 

[nixie]

Thanks for the mention Ratsy

 

[Glen]

Thanks for the shortlistings PerpetualMan and Bowler1

 

[Talysia]

Indeed, thank you very much for the shortlisting, Perp.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Thanks for the shortlisting Johnny.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Here are my favourite infusions:

Karn Maeshalanadae - A Surprise Space Raid (for humour and irony)
Kylara - A.I. (for beautiful simplicity and logic)
Hex - Trust me, I'm a doctor (for inhumane clinical horror)
Chrispenycate - Generically Manipulative Organisation (for overall cleverness and reminding me of something I may one day see in The Spectator)
Victoria Silverwolf - A Touch Of Green (For the flipside argument of chlorophyll)
Alchemist - All The Small Things (I love the LHC and a teeny tiny perverse part of me was sad when nothing bad happened in real life...this settles that score)
mosaix - Worlds Within Worlds (for Escheriness)
EricWard - /Run (For making me envious that I wasn't smart enough to think of such a pure idea)
Culhwch - Life (For bringing an horrific concept to such a positive theme.)


From which I distilled my top three:

Hex - Trust me, I'm a doctor
Alchemist - All The Small Things
EricWard - /Run


And my triple-distilled malt* (Jameson, actually)

EricWard - /Run
I was so taken (and envious) with your pitch on the theme. It was so clever and so simple and so indignant (!) that it delighted me. And...a few months ago you accused one of my stories of being the geekiest when I used Schrödinger's Cat and now you've come and joined me with this offering

pH

*Before anyone wags the finger at me, I know Jameson is a blend of malted and unmalted…

 

[Glitch]

Thank you for the shortlist and mentions. I had to edit mine down to fit the word count. Originally I had intended that Earth was the target and the weapon was sent to destroy it.

All very good stories.

Shortlist
The Spurring Platty - Creatiolution
Hex - Trust me, I'm a doctor
Juliana - There's More To Life
Victoria Silverwolf - A Touch Of Green
The Judge - A Child for Van Diemen’s Land

With my vote going to
Victoria Silverwolf - A Touch Of Green

 

[EricWard]

Many thanks to Starbeast and Perp for the kind words. Additional thanks to Abernovo for the shortlisting. And even more thanks than that to Prizzley and Phyrebrat for the votes! I nearly spit out my coffee at the sight of it.

Down to business:
Hopewrites – A nice meta touch with the shading that I really dug
Karn Maeshalanadae – I’m in stitches. Taking things literally has always been the best kind of comedy to me
Glen – All kinds of frenetic and absolutely terrifying in the best of ways, but beautiful at the same time
Chrispenycate – A horrifying (and all-too-true) subject that meshed very well with the rhythm for me
Alchemist – I actually let out a small, audible “aw” at the end of yours. Can’t say that’s ever happened before
Culhwch – So much here condensed into such a small space. Completely blown away

It was so tough to narrow things down from such a great list, but I had to vote for Glen.

 

[Hex]

Thank you for the mentions! Wheeee.

My short list (chaotically assembled -- I loved all the stories on this, but there were others I also loved):

Cul, alc, Glitch, mosaix, Glen, reiver33, Bowler, Luiglin (and a special mention to DEO's -- I'm always entranced by a dark and stormy knight).

And... gah it was difficult. Cul, alc, reiver.

In the end, for making me read about science and because I couldn't get the story out of my head... alc.

 

[Culhwch]

Wow. I really wasn't sold on my story this month - I had the idea early on but could never get it down quite as I had hoped. So it's absolutely amazing to see two votes and a bunch of mentions! Many thanks for the votes, Taly and Bowler, and thanks as well to everyone for the short listings and mentions, and for the pocket reviews by StarBeast and Perp as well, of course!