Time I got my own votes in. Here's my shortlist:
Hex - Hell yeah! I love it when a plan comes together. Those crumbbums fell for the old switcheroo in the long grass - oldest trick in the book!
Venusian Broon - if there's an unfunny story about human sacrifice with willy gags thrown in, then I've not read it.
Littlestar - oodles and oodles of time and effort clearly went into this. The more I read it, the more I love it.
Mr Orange - right up my alley, this. A mystery we have to piece together, with something sinister lurking just below the surface. Would love to see this as a longer piece.
Ratsy - another oh-so-clever story. There's so much implied history and scope crammed in here, and the character of the king is rounded and real.
Moonbat - simple but clever combination of formatting and psychology ensures the reader is the one being deceived. And did MP778 write that last paragraph, compounding the illusion?
Harebrain - witty and wargish, a dark tale of revenge and attempted murder that ends with a boy getting a pet puppy. More stories should end this way.
Chrisp - this fairly skipped along to a JJ Cale-style Cajun beat. Our host with the most turns the rules of hospitality on their head to satisfy his appetite for blood. Only the occasional blip in flow, but overall a dark and lyrically bluesy tale by the Bayou. Would be intrigued to hear it set to music. EDIT: by music I mean bottleneck slide guitar, not string quartet or bangin' Eurobeatz.
Alchemist - That crock of gold at the end of the rainbow turned out to be a crock of sh...enanigans abound as the Eurozone economy problems hit, inevitably, the ends of rainbows everywhere. But you can't fault the ingenuity of those little rapscallions. I like their gumption.
In the end it was a tough decision, with Chrisp probably in third place, Littlestar in second and Ratsy bagging the vote at the top. It was a great story, full of depth and possibility.
Hex - Hell yeah! I love it when a plan comes together. Those crumbbums fell for the old switcheroo in the long grass - oldest trick in the book!
Venusian Broon - if there's an unfunny story about human sacrifice with willy gags thrown in, then I've not read it.
Littlestar - oodles and oodles of time and effort clearly went into this. The more I read it, the more I love it.
Mr Orange - right up my alley, this. A mystery we have to piece together, with something sinister lurking just below the surface. Would love to see this as a longer piece.
Ratsy - another oh-so-clever story. There's so much implied history and scope crammed in here, and the character of the king is rounded and real.
Moonbat - simple but clever combination of formatting and psychology ensures the reader is the one being deceived. And did MP778 write that last paragraph, compounding the illusion?
Harebrain - witty and wargish, a dark tale of revenge and attempted murder that ends with a boy getting a pet puppy. More stories should end this way.
Chrisp - this fairly skipped along to a JJ Cale-style Cajun beat. Our host with the most turns the rules of hospitality on their head to satisfy his appetite for blood. Only the occasional blip in flow, but overall a dark and lyrically bluesy tale by the Bayou. Would be intrigued to hear it set to music. EDIT: by music I mean bottleneck slide guitar, not string quartet or bangin' Eurobeatz.
Alchemist - That crock of gold at the end of the rainbow turned out to be a crock of sh...enanigans abound as the Eurozone economy problems hit, inevitably, the ends of rainbows everywhere. But you can't fault the ingenuity of those little rapscallions. I like their gumption.
In the end it was a tough decision, with Chrisp probably in third place, Littlestar in second and Ratsy bagging the vote at the top. It was a great story, full of depth and possibility.
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