Discussion Thread -- April 2016 75-word Writing Challenge

[Bowler1]

Droflet, Perp, HazelRah, Mosaix, Culhwch and the Cheeky (the Bear looks cute, but don't be fooled) Bear. Mosaix would have got the single vote in the old format, but I still prefer the new voting set up. Right then, I'm off to shoot something.

 

[Ursa major]

Many thanks for the vote, Bowler1.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Some wonderful stories across the board as always. This made it hard to choose a vote, and strangely three votes just makes it harder.

On the short list:
Cathbad
Victoria
Wruter
DG
Cascade
Phyre
Ursa

Close but no cigar (this time)
HazelRah
Bowler1
Bob

and the votes go to:
farntfar
TDZ
TJ

 

[Christopher Lee]

Thanks for the votes chrispenycate, reiver33, Venusian Broon, and Duttster! And to those of you for the Short List mentions. First challenge in months, I'll take four votes and some short lists all day long. The stories really were great this month, weren't they?

 

[Ajid]

My votes go the way of Bowler1 VictoriaSilverwolf and TheDustyZebra. I actually found 3 votes harder as I had a clear winner and the rest were very hard to differentiate between.

 

[nixie]

Thank you for the vote Bob Senior

 

[Bob Senior]

Howdy,
A BIG THANK YOU TO, Cathbad and Calliopenjo for their votes, thank you, thank you.
Thanks to, Perp Man and Glen for listings. Welcome back Perp Man!
Thanks to Victoria, Shyrka and Calliopenjo for kind reviews.

Votes went to Nixie, Mosaix and Ajid.

No matter what Parson say's three votes makes things three times harder, how some manage to come up with lists is beyond me.

Hope everyone had a good time this month and if next month has anything to do with 1940"s Gumshoes OR Steampunk I for one would not mind.

Bob

 

[Parson]

No matter what Parson say's three votes makes things three times harder, how some manage to come up with lists is beyond me.

Now Bob, you should listen to your Parson. He knows what he's talking about.

 

[Ursa major]

Ask a coven...:




...they know about witch they speak.

​

 

[Cathbad]

...they know about witch they speak.

 

[Starbeast]

This month, you get THREE votes, but these must be cast at the same time!

​

And yes, you read that right: Three Votes.

EDIT: And if you read the first post in the poll thread -- of course you did; you always do -- you'll have noticed that there's an extra prize this month, a paperback copy of:

The Haunting of Lake Manor Hotel​

very generously donated by our very own ratsy.

​

​

A huge THANK YOU to the mods for the extra two votes (it helps immensely). And a mighty big THANK YOU to Ratsy for donating a the book prize. That was very cool of you to do that.

Shortlist and vote:

starbeast

Thank you for adding me to your Short List Ihe. You made my night.

I promised myself I would get this done this month, so here is the rest of them.

Starbeast-Maybe A little surprise in this tale, between two people and a native being.

Thank you for your review Calliopenjo. It's always nice to have a new reviewer comment on the stories.

Ooh three votes, lovely. Makes it so much easier when there's fractions between the top ones you really like.

And this month's - a very door and scratching selection of stories - that I picked were:

The others that for me almost broke into the voting circle: chrispenycate, Cascade, Starbeast, Culhwch, Phyrebrat, and J5V

You made my night Venusian Broon. I am honored to be among your finalist choices.

Alright, my shortlist (with votes in bold):

Starbeast

Thanks a heap for including me in your Short List. You made my night.




I'd also like to mention that we had a great bunch of reviewers this month. A big THANK YOU goes to

Victoria Silverwolf
Shyrka
Calliopenjo
and Heijan Xavier for his selective reviews.

 

[Starbeast]

Finalist List:

Luiglin - Cathbad - Kerrybuchanan - Perpetual Man - Farntfar - Victoria Silverwolf - Wruter -

Vaz - Willwallace - Cascade - Mosaix - BluePhoenix711 - Culhwch - Glen - Parson - Reiver33 -

SilentRoamer - Bob Senior - TheDustyZebra - Ajid


VOTES

​

Chrispenycate "Guardian" - Once again thee resident pedantissimo unsheathes his rhyming wit, and brings forth an astonishing poetic story. This time with a bestial "outsider" that dines on fairy folk, and is tough enough to defend the garden, where he dwells. Great stuff.

Venusian Broon "tattarrattat" - Outstanding tale, featuring two groups of "outsiders" wanting entrance to the opposite side of each other. Marvelously written right-side up, and up-side down. Plus a wonderful palindrome title, which is like the icing on a favored cake.

Ratsy "On the Wall" - Very eerie entry, about a supernatural "living" mirror, that silently watches the odd behavior of "outsiders", humans. This strange story caught my attention because it has a unique creepiness to it, that shines bright, like a Twilight Zone episode.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Many thanks to everyone who mentioned my story, and much appreciation to chrispy, Perp, Parson, Ihe, Cathbad and Ajid for the lovely votes!
Luckily, the three votes coincided perfectly with the stories that I had earmarked throughout the month as contenders for my vote. But there was still a sizeable collection for the shorter list.

*Luiglin -- White Room*
Cathbad -- Superiority
Perp -- On a Blood Red World
farntfar -- Legal Entry
Wruter -- The Outsiders
DG Jones -- The Depreciation of Ploughshares
*Ihe -- Selective Autism*
Vaz -- The Cutting Room
willwallace -- Convert
Cascade -- What We Don't Understand
*mosaix -- Outsiders? For Now*
Culhwch -- Outsiders
Phyrebrat -- Homesick
J5V -- Fulfilment
Bob Senior -- Party Animals
TJ -- Even If the Legend...

 

[Grimward]

Inspiration didn't visit me again this month (and work stole what little time it might have had, anyway). Didn't keep me from reading your excellent offerings, though. Lot's of good stuff, and these in particular stood out for me:

Honorable Mention:
Dusty - Nooo! Not Fiction! Nice twist.
Bob Sr - Thanks for the chuckle.
BluePhoenix - Creepy.

Standing Just a Head Taller:
Mosaix - Well-crafted.
Venusian Broon - Bravo. Well-imagined!

King of the Hill This Month:
Glen - Because even Doug Adams didn't foresee it all coming down to a horse race.

Kudos, Glen. Nice effort all!


P.S. Missed the update to voting structure. Correcting? ...or not (already cast the one; my apologies for being an obliviot, Mosaix and VB )

 

[Ihe]

the three votes coincided perfectly with the stories that I had earmarked throughout the month

I'd never been earmarked before. Not complaining.

P.S. Missed the update to voting structure. Correcting? ...or not (already cast the one; my apologies for being an obliviot, Mosaix and VB )

Is there any way mods can correct this? It'd be a pity for Mosaix and VB to lose out on a vote because of a technicality. Moooooooods.

PS: We should have a @mods tag, making us able to notify and direct all of them at once to particular threads that need their wisdom and reality-altering superpowers. I don't think anybody here would abuse this perk, so mods' "alerts" inbox wouldn't explode if we implemented it. Do we have anything like this in place?

 

[crystal haven]

My shortlist:
Nixie – Watcher
Droflet – The Freak
Chrispenycate – Guardian
Victoria Silverwolf - View from a Height
Bowler1 - Duck and Cover
Venusian Broon - tattarrattat
Duttster
Starbeast - Outsiders KEEP OUT Or I'll be mean to you.
Bluephoenix711 - The Lone Patron
Ursa Major – Rank Outsiders
The Judge – Even if the Legend Never Becomes Fact, Print the Legend
Ajid - Parasites Lost

Votes:
Farntfar – Legal Entry
Mosaix - Outsiders? For Now...
Ratsy - On the Wall

 

[StilLearning]

apoogies for not finding time to do a list, but they were all entertaining, and often moving. OK, back to moving house.

 

[Droflet]

Thanks for the short, Crystal.

Edit: Many thanks to Wruter and Bowler for the votes. It's been a long dry spell so I appreciate it.
I like this 3 votes set up. So mods, can we keep it. Huh? Can we?
All jokes aside the sheer quality if the stories does, imho, suggest this might be worth consideration. I'll leave it with you.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Thank you for the listing, Calliopenjo! And thanks so much for the vote, Glen!!

 

[Ursa major]

like this 3 votes set up. So mods, can we keep it. Huh? Can we?

I suppose we might consider allowing three votes for the next seventh anniversary of the 75-word challenges....