@Ihe -
Alpha and Omega - Whoa. I didn't expect that. Ihe might only have posted 12 messages but he's in danger of setting dangerous new precedents on Chrons - the 33-word story! Seriously impressive that, condensing a whole consideration of the world into a pithy aphorism tucked away in Chrons corner. I think this shows life as spiralling rather than cyclical, with life trying to perpetuate upon itself but just missing a beat with every rotation, generating just enough difference to keep everyone fooled. We're all mid-cycle. Deal with it.
@Jo Zebedee -
DAYLIGHT ROBBERY - Reality TV is dead. How about reality novels, then? Sprin...sorry, Jo has really got something here. While Jed might have splurged an extortionate amount of cash to stroll his way onto Grendall's murder-by-numbers piece, the real innovation's having Joe Bloggs play Jed. Maybe it's the way forwards. When the X-Factor finally runs out of legs, bung the Great Unwashed 200 quid and write their lives for them. Give them something exciting to read about, give them a surrogate, fantasy life on paper that will whisk them away from the humdrum of charity raffles and the like. Sinister and cynical, but sparky.
@Starbeast -
The Quiet Side Of My Real Life - now this is an unexpected turn from the Beast. We've had a number of tales taking on big, philosohical themes, but this is quietly introspective and rather more charming for all that. As writers, I think we generally tend to be introspective, and by extension introverted, because everything we do externalise ends up on a page, and requires a lot of internal churning and mental mastication before we get to that stage. But here the cute denouement is the humble self-satisfaction of the writer. And that's a place a lot of us should strive to reach.
@Karn Maeshalanadae -
No Reason At All - sometimes our characters talk literally, most usually when they're actually being a part of the story. But they sometimes can be figurative as well, and not always also in service of the plot. Here our two female fighters swing from the literal (the visceral jousting pit) to the figurative (questioning their role in the current set-piece). Sometimes it takes a writer to write out a full set piece to realise that the characters involved are thinking "why the hell are we doing this?" Sometimes our characters are our own biggest critics. And I think it's telling that the writer making the two gals slug it out is a "guy". Check
@Tywin's story to see why.
@WinterLight -
To Not Be Read Until This Day's Date - a contemplative mystery that mulls on the idea of identity; not of the author, who's left completely out of the process here, but that of the character. The character here is self-aware, like many we've seen through this challenge, but here we're introduced to a kind of awakening of the soul, a Burroughs-like realisation of the futility of his existence and a sudden inclination to do something about it. Writers often talk about their characters having 'agency', but we bind them in paper walls that might be thin, but are indestructible. Here's one character who takes the knife, an object of agency (see
Chekov's Pistol), and takes it upon himself to truly write the tale of his own life, before it's too late. Lyrical and haunting.
