DISCUSSION THREAD -- October 2016 75-word Writing Challenge

[Luiglin]

That would also explain why I can't catch Baylor (who has a lot to answer for in the Trump thread (if you've not been there, think carefully before you do)).

I've tried clicking my heels and calling out 'There's no place like home' but unfortunately when I open my eyes Trump is still in the news.

 

[Hex]

Ugh. That was really difficult. I loved Cul's story (ugh!), and TDZ's (shudder), StilLearning's made me cry and mosaix's made me snarl. AJB's was brilliant, crystal haven's was wry and funny, Clockworkbot's was thoroughly disgusting, Glen's made me laugh, Stephen Thomson's was perfectly chilling, Victoria's beautiful, Wruter's desolate -- it made me see pictures -- AmberEyes' was astounding (worldbuilding and story all in 75 words). Reiver's was superb, as ever, and Shyrka's very neat (I was tempted...) -- and those are just the ones that spring to mind immediately.

In the end, after much (mental) wrestling, I voted for Phyrebrat's eerie and beautiful story of the sands.

 

[Mith]

Hello folks, as I have been missing in action again, I'd like to say thanks to all those who have kindly reviewed or mentioned my little effort.

I had been intending on participating more around here a bit more than I have, however a couple of weeks back my Nan died and most everything else took a back seat to dealing with that.

I can't stay away from all the things I like to do forever though, and reading through all the excellent stories here has been a big help the last couple of days.

But I came here to vote, so here is my finalists list and winner:

Perpetual Man
reiver33
Clockworkbot
Hex
Bowler1
Glen
Ursa Major

But the winner is Culhwch, that's a damn creepy story, might just give me nightmares...

 

[Ursa major]

You can panic if you want to...


...but there's no need: I'm presenting the results of the Ursa jury a day earlier than usual.


Honourable Mentions:

• It’s the way I tell ‘em! by Luiglin
• Spoilers by reiver33
• Hung out to dry by Crystal Haven
• On the Rocks by paranoid marvin

Runners Up:

• Summer Queen by Hex
• A Lesson From History? by mosaix
• Who Will Remember US? by StilLearning

Winner:

• Off the Wagon by Shyrka

(In the above, each category is ordered by time of posting.)

 

[Zoe Mackay]

Ultra-short list:
Hex - Summer Queen
Crystal Haven - Hung Out To Dry
Phyrebrat - Will'o the Wind

And I voted for Hex, because of the last sentence, which was a triumph of cadence and assonance.

 

[Starbeast]

Thank you johnnyjet and bowler for the mentions, and a super surprised thankyou to starbeast for the vote

You're immensely welcome HazelRah. I really like your Martian Water tale. Fresh water for Earth, but, should there be further testing? That's what stuck in my mind.

Keep up the awesomeness.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Had to stealth-vote this morning, as I suddenly remembered I'd forgotten last night, and I'll get the shortlist up later tonight.

 

[Ashleyne]

A gargantuan thanks to all those who mentioned my story, to the reviewers and of course, thanks to everyone else simply for reading my story.

My favourites were from Cullhwch, Mad Alice, Stephen Thompson and Shyrka.

My vote goes to ratsy.

 

[mosaix]

Had to stealth-vote this morning, as I suddenly remembered I'd forgotten last night, and I'll get the shortlist up later tonight.

A stealth vote for me!

I'd given up on a vote this month. Plenty of mentions but no votes. Thanks TDZ.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Favourites
Victoria Silverwolf
reiver33
Shyrka
Culhwch
TDZ
ratsy

Finalists
johnnyjet
Hex
mosaix

In the end I went with Hex. I couldn't shake the scale and darkness of the tale from the moment I saw it and even on successive read-throughs it never got old.
Thank you to everyone for the mentions.

pH

 

[ratsy]

A huge thanks to Ashleyne, and Hazelrah

And Droflet, Wruter, Cathbad, Parson, johnnyjet, bowler1, Littlestar, and Phyrebrat for the mentions!

After what feels like years, it was awesome to get a couple votes and a bunch of shortlists

I really liked a lot of stories this month ! cool theme this month

Mith – The Wine ran Dry
Victoria Silverwolf – The Ocean
Shykra – Off the Wagon
Hex – Summer Queen
Parson – The New Martian
Stephen Thompson – Ouroboros
Mosaix – A Lesson from History?
Culhwch – The Dry

Culhwch gets my vote in a close call with the others!

Congrats on a fun month, and an early congrats to Hex! Way to go. Super cool story.

and thanks to Shykra and Victoria once again for the reviews!

 

[Cathbad]

Yes, great theme this month! And, as usual, great Reviewers!

 

[crystal haven]

Shortlist:
Cathbad- Why is this happening to me?
Coast - The South Ridge
Bowler1 - Eternal Thirst
Glen - Pub with no Beer
Paranoid Marvin - On the Rocks

Favourites:
Luiglin - It’s the way I tell ‘em!
Hex - Summer Queen
Mosaix - A Lesson From History?

Vote: Ratsy - Dust to Dust

And thank you for all the mentions: Johnnyjet, Nixie, Hex, Ursa Major, and Robert Mackay.

 

[Calliopenjo]

These people made the list because either they made me laugh or made me wonder if the idea was expanded how would it read.

Ashleyne. B. Watts
Mith
Victoria Silverwolf
AmberEyes
reiver33
Shyrka
Cory Swanson
Starbeast
Droflet
Cathbad
AJB
johnnyjet
AstroZon
Parson
Devil's Advocate
HazelRah

The one I chose: Clockworkbot

 

[Droflet]

Thanks for the mention, Calli.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

The poll is closed, and the victory goes to Hex!

Congratulations!

 

[Cathbad]

Congrats, Hex!​

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Well done, Hex, congrats!
And a big thanks to HazelRah for the mention! CC

 

[Starbeast]

Congratulations HEX​

@StilLearning Thank you very much for the Stealth Vote. You made my night, shine bright with delight.

These people made the list because either they made me laugh or made me wonder if the idea was expanded how would it read.

Starbeast

Thank you for the mention Calliopenjo. You made my night.




My Entry: Mishap at Miskatonic...or...Keep that Alien Mummy Dry, You Idiot.

Since it is October (and no Halloween theme was given), I still decided to go with a monster, I chose a MUMMY ( a classic creature). I figured, a mummy is something you definitely have to keep DRY, as well as everything else in a museum. But a wrapped up corpse from outer space sounded very interesting to me. Then I thought, what if the mummy was located at Miskatonic University, and the one who discovered it, gave it a name. Not long after, I decided on, Ramaspama Tut. (Spam, Spam, Spam, etc...)

All I needed was a chain-of-events that led up to the alien mummy getting wet, so it could come back to life and run amok. AHHHHH, this looked like a job for a very simple minded individual, I named, Smegly. And yes. I'm a RED DWARF fan, so I derived the name from "smeg head".

Then I needed someone he could interact with, the curator, of course. I thought about a 300 Word Challenge I wrote a while back, where I had a museum curator named Mr Kissengroper. After placing the two characters together, it became easy to write out the story. And before you could say "Klattulu Verboten Nicotine", I posted on the first page, to my surprise. Because at first, "DRY" stumped me. I kept thinking of natural disasters.

​

 

[Droflet]

Well done Hex.