Discussion thread -- July 2018 75-word Writing Challenge

[Parson]

It's tough trading ordinary work hours for unpredictable hours watching grandchildren --- tough, but someone has to do it. ---- Reviews follow:

@Mr Orange .... How Many Times? .... The Great Orange One twists a tale (or is it a tail?) that had me doing a palm head slap.

@Ursa major .... The Magician and the Merle Queen .... Can someone explain to me why I was surprised when our own North Star twists his tale into a horrific pun. ---- Good job Ursa!

@The Judge .... Warped .... Her Honor had so many twists and turns (or should I say torsions, pleaches, plaites, spirals, and twinings) that someone running strait is an unbelievable twist.

@TheDustyZebra .... Untitled (Not undiagrammed!) .... Ole' Stripey gives us hints and then "NO!" she says, "I have a twist for you." (Mahahaha!)

 

[Ursa major]

Can someone explain to me why I was surprised when our own North Star twists his tale into a horrific pun.

If you thought that was horrific, you're lucky that I didn't have to post the alternative** entry I'd been contemplating....


** - Oddly enough, I had two ideas this month (so two more than most months...), and didn't think I could squeeze the one I eventually entered into 75 words. (When I'm not forced to come up with with an idea in the last hour or so before a challenge closes, I do it while out walking, which was the case this month. This gives me little opportunity to test my ability to fit the story within the word limit until I get home.) That meant I needed a back-up, and the one that came to me was (and, by its nature, had to be) rife with puns, either obvious ones (such as its punch line), or ones whose punnish nature would only become apparent once the punch line was read. As the first draft of the entered story did, miraculously***, fit within the word limit, I didn't have to write the other one down.

*** - Perhaps my muse wanted to protect you all from the far more groan-worthy puns that the alternative story required.

 

[Ursa major]

Many thanks for the stealth vote, DEO.

 

[scarpelius]

My vote went to @johnnyjet Twist Open the moment it was posted. I've re-read the stories after contest close and found some interesting ones, @mosaix A Twist in the Tale. was the second runner. I've also liked @Victoria Silverwolf March 2, 2003 but her plot twist didn't clicked with me. I had to google the title and the name to understand it.

P.S. I'd like to ask @Calliopenjo why is he/she posting with pale green font color? I had to make a serious effort to read it. Also "Times New Roman" is smaller than normal forum font and adds to the difficulty of reading.

P.P.S Could the voting thread make it to the home page? Maybe it will attract more voters.

P.P.P.S Thanks @althea for the courage to vote my story

 

[mosaix]

My vote went to @johnnyjet Twist Open the moment it was posted. I've re-read the stories after contest close and found some interesting ones, @mosaix A Twist in the Tale. was the second runner. I've also liked @Victoria Silverwolf March 2, 2003 but her plot twist didn't clicked with me. I had to google the title and the name to understand it.

P.S. I'd like to ask @Calliopenjo why is he/she posting with pale green font color? I had to make a serious effort to read it. Also "Times New Roman" is smaller than normal forum font and adds to the difficulty of reading.

P.P.S Could the voting thread make it to the home page? Maybe it will attract more voters.

P.P.P.S Thanks @althea for the courage to vote my story

I, too, have trouble with the font & colour that our friend @Calliopenjo uses.

 

[Justin Swanton]

My shortlist was Mosaix - A Twist in the Tail, Harpo- Cherry Twist, and Shyrka - Far from the Tree.

Shyrka gets the laurels.

 

[Justin Swanton]

Voted.
First place to cheesy puffs.
Second to Justin's redux of invasion of the body snatchers.
Third to Perpetual Man

Three mentions. Woo-hoo!

 

[Peter V]

Please accept my apologies for my brevity.

Shortlist:

Luiglin. Macabrely twisted and delightfully humorous.
Phyrebrat. As often the case with the author, essences of an identifiable real world echo within the tale.
Harpo. Nicely done. Clever
Stable. Definitely the most twisted. Horribly entertaining!
Shyrka. Twisted. Sad. Well written... hard to look elsewhere really... Vote

These are just my particular favourites but if I had more time right now I would list and comment on others which caught my eye.

Peter

 

[johnnyjet]

My Short List and **** Favorite ****:

March 2, 2003 - Victoria Silverwolf
What the Dickens? - Peter V
Mavis and Beryl Keep Their Hand In – Luiglin
Tim's Totally Twisted Tale - Perpetual Man
The Bigger the Pain … - scarpelius
**** And Then There Were None … - Justin Swanton ****
Beginnings – althea
A Twist in the Tale – mosaix
Cheesy Twist – Harpo
Bloody Ella – Stable
Far From the Tree – Shyrka
Warped - The Judge
Mine – TheDustyZebra

 

[Danny McG]

No list because I liked too many.

I voted for Harpo and his cheesy twist...and then went "wow" when I saw how many votes he'd got for his two way fun

 

[Parson]

Time to vote ..... After reading through the stories yet again, there were a couple which stood out for me.

@Victoria Silverwolf .... March 2, 2003 .... For deep knowledge of Hank Ballard. (But for me, when a singer is called Hank, the only one I think of is Hank Williams.)

@jackwinabox57 .... No Good Spy .... For a complete story in 75 words with a super twist at the end. (This story just rang true for me.)

@Phyrebrat .... Landed Gentry .... For giving us a twist that we can all see in our future. (I just wish it didn't seem so immanent for me.)

@Bob Senior .... All's Well that Ends .... For making Frankenstein fearful, rather than fearsome.

@Shyrka .... Far From the Tree .... For the best twist at the end of the story for me.

@TheDustyZebra .... Untitled or so I thought! But after voting I saw you titled it "Mine" .... I loved the clever presentation, but I don't vote for clever without a story and your's had the best "Gotcha!" at the end of it. So.... My vote went to TDZ. Well done!

 

[CTRandall]

My shortlist:
Luiglin
Perpetual Man
Phyrebrat
Harpo
Stable

and the vote goes to Victoria Silverwolf. Clever and fun!

 

[Luiglin]

Top three for me...

@D.A. Xiaolin Spires - cosmic misharmony
@Perpetual Man - take thy tricksy thesaurus to the therapist
@Stable - I wonder if she said to each in turn ... 'It put the lotion on it's skin, or else it gets the cinders again.'

And the vote went to @D.A. Xiaolin Spires just because the fine description reminded me of all the old cosmic Marvel comics drawn by Jack Kirby.

Thanks for the ninja stealth vote @M. Robert Gibson and the mentions so far folks. Mavis and Beryl are now firmly stuck in my head. Who doesn't like a spot of tea, biscuits and torture?

 

[Joshua Jones]

My list of honourable mentions:

Luiglin - Mavis and Beryl Keep Their Hand In
Harliebunny - Lucy
Jackwinabox57 - No Good Spy
Perpetual Man - Tim's Totally Twisted Tale (Perp's avatar looks like an illustration for this story)
johnnyjet - Twist Open
Justin Swanton - And then there were none
Phyrebrat - Landed Gentry
Joshua Jones - The Ball Couldn't Wait
Ursa major - The Magician and the Merle Queen

The runner up:
The Dusty Zebra - Untitled DNA poem (I loved your idea of showing the double helix here, very cool)

My vote went to:
Shyrka - Far From The Tree (I thought this story was so effective, bravo!)

Thanks for the mention!

 

[mosaix]

I have stealth votes from nixie and Cathbad - thanks.

 

[Stable]

@Stable - I wonder if she said to each in turn ... 'It put the lotion on it's skin, or else it gets the cinders again.'

Oh my gosh, they should have got the cinders. Of course. Missed. Opportunity.

I bow before you Luiglin.

 

[Luiglin]

Oh my gosh, they should have got the cinders. Of course. Missed. Opportunity.

I bow before you Luiglin.

Kudos should go to you for the words that made me think of that

 

[Shyrka]

Some cracking stuff this month. Here's my shortlist & favourites:

What the Dickens, @Peter V
Canning Season, @Cathbad
No Good Spy, @jackwinabox57
Twist Open, @johnnyjet
A Twisted Escape, @Parson
And Then There Were None, @Justin Swanton
Landed Gentry, @Phyrebrat
Cheesy Twist, @Harpo
Bloody Ella, @Stable
Mine, @TheDustyZebra

Vote-wise, it was a toss up between @Justin Swanton and @Phyrebrat but, in the end, @Phyrebrat's tale of a family curse won me over with its artful world-building and vivid prose.

 

[Shyrka]

Big thanks for the votes & mentions so far, by the way. I'd name names but I daren't jinx it.

 

[Hugh]

I voted for @johnnyjet

Here's a (longer than usual) list of those who caught my eye for one reason or another:
@scarpelius
@Justin Swanton
@HoopyFrood
@althea
@Phyrebrat
@mosaix
@LittleStar
@Ursa major
@The Judge
@Cat's Cradle
@Victoria Silverwolf : for providing the music for a couple of lengthy car journeys
@Harliebunny : for the yuck factor
@Perpetual Man : for unusually creative use of the letter "t"

Commiserations also to a certain Benevolent Being.