Discussion thread -- seventy-five word challenge September 2013

[sooC]

It was hard to decide between Alchemist and Bedlamite, both stories had convincing listeners. Aun Doorback and Juliana were in with a shout for my vote too.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Time for me to catch up here.

Culhwch -- This story uses an unexpected twist to remind us that the the evolution of life on Earth might have gone in a very different direction.

Perpetual Man -- This sad tale of frustrated effort shows us that what is done cannot be undone.

Phyrebrat -- A subtle and evocative account of the ways in which technology might have changed

Boneman -- A sly, tongue-in-cheek account of beginnings, and how they can be endings as well.

Ursa Major -- An inspiring vision of how we all wish the life of a great genius had been improved.

The Judge -- This rewriting of an event which has been narrated in song, story, and other art forms shows us how tiny errors can lead to great disasters.

Lenny -- A darkly comic tale which shows how accidents can be lucky or unlucky.

 

[Mr Orange]

thanks very much for the top 3 listing ratsy and the shortlisting TDZ.. off to re-read the postings...

right, so a short list:

required reading - juliana
searching - alchemist
history is written by the winner - boneman
50 years ago - perpetual man

and my vote goes to.... juliana

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The way in which the themes of these stories interacted with each other made coming up with a short list very difficult. Instead I will offer bronze, silver, and gold medals.

Bronze: "Absolution" by springs. Outstanding for its emotional power.

Silver: "Lost Time" by Glen. Remarkable for the way in which the theme of the "time patrol" is made personal.

Gold: "Blowin' in the Wind" by johnnyjet. Astonishingly original and imaginative, creating a parallel Sixties in a few words.

 

[Juliana]

Thank you very much for the vote, Mr Orange! And for the shortlisting, sooC.

 

[alchemist]

I'd like to be the first to congratulate Alchemist, I think you've got it mate.

Shhhhh There's time yet for the late voting surge.



Huge thanks to Glen, springs, johnnyjet, Juliana, ratsy, Mith and TDZ for the votes. Thanks also to Hex, Tywin, sooC and Mr Orange for the mentions.

Now, to voting...

 

[paranoid marvin]

Thanks for the shortlistings TDZ and ratsy.


A clear winner for me with Aun Doorback's excellent entry; very imaginative!

 

[alchemist]

Honourable mentions (*= shortlisted)

Victoria Silverwolf
springs
mosaix
Glen*
Bowler1
TheDustyZebra
pyan
Abernovo*
TacticalLoco*
bedlamite
Boneman




And the winner, whose story brought out an audible "awww", is Abernovo!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Ty, Alc for the shortlist and Victoria for the bronze! I might offload what it was all about at the end of voting. If I can cope with it.

 

[BigJ]

Mentions, Karn, Bigj, Aun and Lenny.

Karn, Bigj, Aun and lenny sounds like a group of hardened NPC mercenaries. I think we should join up to form a special 'inklings' group!

Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly does NPC stand for? My first thought was non-player character, but that doesn't make any sense.

 

[Starbeast]

here are the lists for the rest:

Starbeast -- Advanced History Class of 2062

Thank you for the listing. You made my night Zebra.

As always a lot of good work out there. Was interesting to see what bits of history interested everybody. My shortlist:

Starbeast – Advanced History Class of 2062

Wow-zer, another mention. Thanks Tywin, you made my night.

Thanks for the mini-review, Starbeast.

You're welcome Ursa Major.

Starbeast, many thanks for your excellent review. I was stuck for ages, trying to pick a point in history and did think about the big bang fuse burning, but not the 'bang', but couldn't make it work, so chose the next bit of history...

You're welcome Boneman, you did great. As for me, I had too many ideas, and even more after I posted.


With so many great entries, I had to make a micro list, by means of a.....

Runner's Up List

​

Stormcrow
Mosaix
Luiglin
Ratsy
The DustyZebra
Johnnyjet
TacticalLoco
Paranoid Marvin
Boneman
Lenny​

 

[Bowler1]

Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly does NPC stand for? My first thought was non-player character, but that doesn't make any sense.

I got some computer game characters when I searched as well.

Thank you, Alchemist for the mention. Still with a comfortable lead of 5 when I wrote this, your tug on the heart strings really did the job. My hat off to you, sir, if I wore one, they keep sliding off my smooth yellow head!

 

[David Evil Overlord]

I got some computer game characters when I searched as well.

Thank you, Alchemist for the mention. Still with a comfortable lead of 5 when I wrote this, your tug on the heart strings really did the job. My hat off to you, sir, if I wore one, they keep sliding off my smooth yellow head!

Funny, I never have that problem...

 

[BigJ]

I got some computer game characters when I searched as well.

I can't figure it out and can't stop thinking about it.

Nationalist Pedantic Curs?
Net Positive Charge?
Nested Placeholder Code?
Noble Philanthropic Combat?
Nascent Psychopathic Children?
Naughty Pun Cavalry?
Notorious Peruvian Corps?
Nuclear Pink Candy?
New Pornographic Chastisers?
Nimble Poetic Canaries?
Nice People Collective?
Northern Photon College?
Neutral Plebeian Court?

At some point I'm going to have to vote on the challenge here too.

 

[Boneman]

Non-participating chronites?

 

[Glen]

Thx Hex (sexy!). Thx Victoria Silverwolf (Silver!). Thx Alchemist (*!).

 

[Ursa major]

Thanks for the mini-review, Victoria.

 

[chrispenycate]

While we got an excellent selection of alternative histories, I felt a number of the stories lacked the 'listening' theme, like the dusty zee's sssplended essssay (and is that alternate history, or alternative mythology?).

Whoopee! that gives me an excuse to eliminate some of the entries; always a useful triage. Along with the grammar and punctuation ones.

Still far too many good ones: Hex's christmas slaughter, Bowler's trenches, Pyan's Eastern alliance, the Judge's Atlantic halt, Bedlamite's giant leap, Juliana's sermon and even Victoria's festival, even if you don't tend to listen at a concert like that, so much as experience the sensation.

But I finally went with Ursa's ninth, hoping that the theta-laking Germans pronounce the 'th' in 'author' as a 't', not a 'z'.

 

[Bowler1]

I can't figure it out and can't stop thinking about it.

Nationalist Pedantic Curs?
Net Positive Charge?
Nested Placeholder Code?
Noble Philanthropic Combat?
Nascent Psychopathic Children?
Naughty Pun Cavalry?
Notorious Peruvian Corps?
Nuclear Pink Candy?
New Pornographic Chastisers?
Nimble Poetic Canaries?
Nice People Collective?
Northern Photon College?
Neutral Plebeian Court?

It is an Aun comment, expect the un-expected.

DOE, considering where your smiley face is, it's just as well.

Finally, - I've made it! - a mention from Chrispy.

 

[ratsy]

Thanks Jastius and SB for the listings!