Discussion Thread - SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE May 2013

[Ursa major]

Thanks for the favouriting, Mary Faerie.

And many, many thanks for the vote, PM.

 

[crystal haven]

These are my favourites and my vote.

Perpetual Man – Look Upon My Works...
Boneman – The One True Gift
Springs – Braving the New World
Fishii – A Beary Great Love
Victoria Silverwolf – Rust
Alchemist – A Sidekick’s Life For Me
The Judge – A Mother’s Last Will and Testament

My vote goes to TheDustyZebra – We’re Counting On You

And thank you for the mentions, Springs and johnnyjet.

And thank you for the review, Starbeast.

 

[stormcrow]

Time to vote then. Good month - some unexpected angles covered!

My shortlist, and my **vote-winner**:

EloiseA - Great concept. There's a whole not-so-distant future implied here.
ratsy - Should I be sad? There's something very poignant in the lovely understated way this unfolds.
Abernovo - A lovely, seemingly dark piece. Stands alone in it's voicing, I'd say.
Aun Doorback - A fitting return! Nice realism in your use of correct process terminology. Neat too, in that it can be read at both macro and micro levels.
alchemist - Wickedly funny and a nice strong rhyme!
jimness - A great "what if" speculation around that sword taking another path. Good stuff!
crystal haven - There's a lovely 'lightness' to this entry; reads beautifully. Creepy too; I like that!
HareBrain - Possibly the wickedest twist in these 75-word tales?
Victoria Silverwolf - A 'close second' for me. I love your economy with words, especially as you capture such crisp, discreet imagery.
**David Evil Overlord** - A neat, complete story; lovely pace too. Nice work my friend!

Good Work All!

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Wow, I wake up to find I've accumulated two votes overnight!

Thanks stormcrow for the vote and the kind comments.

And thank you Cathy M for the stealth vote.

And thanks for the shortlisting (below), TDZ

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Thanks for the vote, crystal haven!

I did manage to come up with a list today, so here goes:

Perpetual Man -- Look Upon My Works...
DEO -- The Last Sunset
johnnyjet -- The Master's Wish
Velocius quam lucem -- untitled
Culhwch -- Legacies
Aun Doorback -- Redundant Hardware Will Be Decommissioned
alchemist -- A Sidekick's Life for Me
Moonbat -- Bricks and Water
Jimness -- Expunged From Memory
*Ursa Major -- The Limits of Military Intelligence*
Jastius -- A Legacy of Storms
TJ -- A Mother's Last Will and Testament
Phyrebrat -- Temporal Assassin
mosaix -- He Who Smiles Last...
Lenny -- The Printing Dead

And Honorable Mention to HareBrain for ... well, I'm not going to say that. I refuse.

 

[Gabrielle]

Ajb - Your story was fantastic! I really enjoyed it and would love to read on. You have a vote from me.

 

[AMB]

Thanks, Mary Faerie and Lenny.

One of these months, I might even get a vote. Nah...

 

[AJB]

As much as id love to have a genuine vote, gabrielle happens to be my wife who tried to be nice. Very sorry! Can one of the mods erase that vote please?? I'm very embaressed!

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Ha! I had that happen once -- got somebody on the site, he wrote a story, and then he went and voted for me. I nearly killed him! He did write a few stories for challenges after that, but he knew better than to vote for me again, even if he wanted to.

 

[Dream Walker]

AJB, your very nice indeed moment was on my short list, don't blame your Lady fair for her good taste.

Also, Phyrebrat's Temporal Assassin; Crystal Haven's very nice yours eternal, and Mr Maeshalalanadae's very nice effort, MAD. Femcri's bitter tale of abused becoming abuser.

I went with Drethon's depiction of the unraveling of humanity through the deprivities of war

 

[Perpetual Man]

Many thanks to Crystal and TDZ for the mentions, it's greatly appreciated.

I was not expecting any mentions at all this month after just throwing something together so I could see what it was like to post first.

Maybe I should do a bit more of this off the cuff writing, not only was it incredible fun - to see the challenge, write, post but it stops me worrying about it for the rest of the month

 

[HareBrain]

My vote goes to Victoria Silverwolf, for a very well done example of the kind of thing I was vaguely thinking of and hoping for when I set the theme. She just pipped TJ and Springs, with PerpMan, Ursa and Chrispy close behind, and then a whole host of others I also enjoyed. AMB gets a special mention for provoking the deepest shudder of horror.

 

[Boneman]

Oh... Voting. Been so long since I submitted, I almost forgot!

We get excellent reviews every months and I'll thank Perp again, and then thank EloiseA, Starbeast and Victoria for their wonderful contributions to our work. Nobody feels like a loser, because of you guys, even if they don't have a vote!

Many thanks Crystal Haven for the favouring and immense thanks Ratsy for the vote! Made my day. So: my list. Shortlist, Finalists and *winner*

Ratsy
*DEO*
The Spurring Platty
Glen
The Dusty Zebra
Alchemist
Crystal Haven
Ursa Major
Mary Faerie
The Judge
Phyrebrat

Well done all! And so nice to see new members entering the challenge.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Wow, thanks boneman.

Um, it's currently a three way tie...and I know how often these things end up in a tiebreaker...goes off to have a lie down, even though he's at work and that sort of thing is frowned upon...

 

[Moonbat]

Her is my shortlist, shorter list and winner


Luiglin – you will not want
Bowler 1 – legacy systems
Eliose A – post digital legacy
Karn – MAD consequences
Chrispy – Respect your elders
DEO – the last sunset
Anya Kimlin – the house
Culhwch – Legacies
alchemist – A sidekicks life for me
Mosaix – he who smiles last
AMB - Legacy Support

I think whoever wins must choose HB's suggestion for next month.

 

[Ursa major]

Thanks for the mention, HB, and for the shortlisting, Boneman.

And a great many thanks to TDZ for the vote.

 

[Glen]

I forgot about the voting deadline so I've had to read this month's entries very quickly, and probably the stories didn't get the attention they deserved. Apologies. Lots of comic stories this month (in a month I decided to get all serious). I enjoyed the comedy, even the IT related 'legacy' stories (despite the hideous legacy decommissioning project I was involved with today).

But JordanSC5's story takes my vote this month - I just loved the line "I don't understand what is happening." that, for me, tied the holocaust legacy scenario closely to character.

My rough, abbreviated notes as follows. My favourites, marked with the Aus "Movie Show" star rating system ("I'm giving it three stars, David", "I thought it was marvellous, Margaret. I'm giving it four stars".)

Perpetual Man - Hah! Take that. ****
Luiglin - Silent Running droids! ***
EloiseA - cyber dreams ****
The Spurring Platty - rite of passage ****
JordanSC5 - facing into ambiguity *****
Aun Doorback - bespoke earth (topical! for me at least) ***
jimness - clumsy arthur ***
HareBrain - it could be worse, at least they have underpants ***


Thanks to Boneman for shortlist status, Mary Faerie for fave status (and thanks for the review), Starbeast for runner up status.

See you all next month. Here's hoping we get to write about, what was it, monkey pirates with underpants.

 

[jimness]

Lenny, stormcrow, TDZ, Glen - thanks for the shortlist! Who knows, maybe one day it'll convert to a vote - anyway very happy with that considering my minimal efforts of late!

 

[Bowler1]

Bowler1 – the idea of self upgrading robots in an overarching story of decaying cycles is a compelling concept. A bit 2001, a bit AI and a lot Bowler1.

I liked the comment above. There is a robot story brewing within me, some plot ideas knocking around my happy yellow head but nothing final yet.

Well, I'm as happy as I can be and not get a vote. Thank you, Moonbat, Phyrebrat, TacticalLoco, Johnnyjet and Starbeast a second time. I know the voting is not complete, but I'm not likely to catch up with the front runners now. So I'll stand happily by the finishing line cheering on the winner.

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Thank you, jastius, for the stealth vote.

Um, can we stop the poll now? Please?

Goes off to quietly hyperventilate in a corner...