DISCUSSION -- February 2015 75-word Writing Challenge

[Dan Jones]

Haha, you're welcome! Ma fee is one million dollars - and you will find that I am worth every penny!

 

[ratsy]

Now I just want to get a story in so I can get a few reviews!

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Great review, DG Jones, thank you.

 

[Locksmith]

Hello all. I enjoyed reading the entries so far, so I've made my first attempt at one of these.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Good job! Welcome to the challenges.

 

[Locksmith]

Thanks Springs. Looks like they could be addictive...

 

[Michael Colton]

Thanks Springs. Looks like they could be addictive...

Indeed, they are. After a theme and genre are posted you find yourself thinking about it throughout your day to day activities. Even when I took a break from Chrons a while back, I would find myself thinking, "I wonder what the challenge is this month..."

 

[Locksmith]

I've been on more of an extended sabbatical from Chrons (ahem 7 years, hence the strong join date to post count ratio), but I'm back!

 

[Anne Martin]

Thanks for the reviews Victoria and DG. Gawking like Hawking sounds like a good movie title, starring Parminder Nagra and ... hmm ... Noah Wylie?

Welcome back, Locksmith!

 

[Perpetual Man]

Mr Orange – An interesting and well executed idea that successfully caught the feeling of magic mixed with the mundane while maintaining a strong humour throughout. I really liked the feeling that true magic was too easy and involved no skill. An excellent start to the month.

Hex – Another great idea, and something that feels as though it could be real. Corporate sponsorship gone wild, to a degree that seems almost magical in itself. Throw in a bit of sexism and an interesting revenge and we have a secret ingredient for a fun and entertaining story.

Ashleyne B. Watts – How do you deal with a child, one that has perhaps been taken by a devil? Well it seems that there is magic in the dance. Perhaps in this instance the music really can set you free. Something that has a beauty and wonder of its own truly is magic.

ddawson – I really liked the idea of people being made invisible by the tumult of a dancing, heaving carnival procession. The fact that the pure essence of fun can make the old feel young is the icing on the cake.

Cascade – There is something that can be said for the power of a mask. In its own right the freedom that hiding your visage can bring is truly remarkable. Perhaps in itself that is a form of magic, one that is shown here most effectively.

DG Jones – this is a story that actually put a shiver down my back. The moment when those horns don’t move elevates the tale into something a lot more sinister. Are they well fixed? Or are they something a lot more sinister. This is a story that speaks volumes and could well work as something longer!

Luiglin – This prompted me with the question of what is magic? If the exceptional in our mundane world is magic, then what makes magic in a fantastical world? The idea of Google Glass being given a magic quantity was fun enough, but the payoff of them being used to elevate ones skill as a dancer was entertaining and clever.

holland – there is the feeling of myth and superstition interwoven in a tale of annual events that have their own rules, and the consequences of breaking them. But there is the other feeling, that there might be other forces out protecting those who unwittingly bend those rules…

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I'm in.

 

[Dan Jones]

Perp, thanks for the awesome review, you rule.

 

[Dan Jones]

@Locksmith - Magic Lantern - When human emotions and behaviours are given free rein, as permitted by the mass catharsis of Carnival, it's inevitable that there will be fallout. This haunting tale shows that where there's revelry, there's disaffection, and where's there's disaffection, there are predators hiding among the shadows just waiting to take advantage. And how about the use of the Carousel as a metaphor for the flux and shift of life?

@willwallace - Beads - One can only worry about the intended final destination of those bewitched baubles, but luckily our wizened wheezer (gotta love that assonance!) has her beady eye upon the situation. She probably knows that festival time always brings out the bottom-feeders.

@Teresa Edgerton - A Wicked Pack - When a sharky shyster's shuffling the deck you'd better beware. Neatly juxtaposing the ancient occultism of tarot with the modern banality of texting, we might infer from this tale that it's all too easy to let one's judgment be swayed by a cheap sideshow trick. But in games of cards like this, don't be fooled into thinking you're playing with the Queen of Hearts.

 

[Luiglin]

Cheers Perp ... together with the Cyrano twist that was exactly my idea

Edit: the mundane magic fantasy part anything clever was a byproduct

 

[holland]

Thanks you, Perpetual Man, for your lovely review

 

[willwallace]

Thanks for the review, DG Jones.

 

[Droflet]

Well, I'm in. Or out, depending how you view my effort. Cough.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Coughing might have been the cause of the, err, disheveldness....

 

[Parson]

What is wrong with you people? You get a genre like "magical realism" and a theme like "Mardi Gras" and you act like this is the easiest thing to write a story about ever!!??? At the rate the stories are coming in 80 seems possible. My mouth's still hanging open. My mind has a hard time bending in such a way. Mardi Gras to me brings pictures of wretched debauchery and unrestrained evil. Hmmmm maybe there is a story there.....

 

[Jo Zebedee]

@Parson but mardi gras also heralds lent - it's the traditional shrove Tuesday. it's one of the reasons I included it - for the breadth of connotations.