DISCUSSION THREAD -- April 2020 -- 85-Word Writing Challenge

Wait, what do you mean we usually only get ONE vote??? It was hard enough narrowing it down to 3...

First of all, thank you to those that considered my little story worthy of a vote or even being shortlisted, most unexpected and rewarding! Also, once again, thank you to Victoria and Parson for reading and commenting on all the stories. It is baffling and amazing that you manage to do so!

Lastly, I think providing shortlists is a wonderful thought, so I'm glad I noted down my finalists (in bold the ones I finally voted on). It was a very difficult choice!

"Goodbye, Sugarland" – @Guttersnipe
Escape – @Mouse
To Travel Anywhere, While Going Nowhere – @BigJ
Missing link – @Marvin
O Paraíso é ... -- @BT Jones
The uninvited Universe. – @StilLearning
Excursion – @Peeling
Observation: Great Plague, London. Mission Ref 209-B. 08-15-1665. -- @Peter V
Fairest of All – @AMB
Planet of Exile -- @Teresa Edgerton
 
I didn't mean to stealth vote, really - just wanted to get my votes in before time snuck up on me.

Thus, I'd beaten my short list down to BigJ, Culhwch, elvet, Mouse, Mr Orange, Simbelmynë, The Judge and TheDustyZebra, the bold ones being votes and rejoiced that we didn't get a record input (that was already enough for the brain cells), . If it seems sad that there are so many established chalengees chosen, with the selection of newcomers this anniversary attracted, please believe I took no notice of what was written by whom before preparing this list.

Thanks to BTJones and nixie for the commontaries, and (obviously) Luiglin, for the vote. Hugh, it wasn't G&S - for the theme it would have had to be Iolanthe, and she was only homesick for stasis.

A good anniversary - who knows, I might even see the next one :).
 
Difficult choices this month, but I've finally gotten my lists, and voting, done. I enjoyed reading every story, and could have listed more.

Shortlist:
"Goodbye, Sugarland" – Guttersnipe
To Travel Anywhere, While Going Nowhere – BigJ
Plain Jane - Victoria Silverwolf
No direction home - chrispenycate
O Paraíso é ... -- BT Jones
Excursion – Peeling
Observation: Great Plague, London. Mission Ref 209-B. 08-15-1665. -- Peter V
"The Carnival Sign" - Parson
Decaying Worlds - paranoid marvin
Planet of Exile -- Teresa Edgerton
The Land of Cockaigne - The Judge

Votes:
Escape – Mouse
A Garden in the Cells - Simbelmynë
What Happens After – Culhwch

Many thanks to BT Jones, Simbelmynë, and Perpetual Man for the listings, and kind words (@Perpetual Man, 'profound' is as good as a vote, to me. ;)).
And huge thanks to Peeling and Marvin for the votes! Chrispenycate, I'll look forward to seeing you at the 20th anniversary Challenge. :)
 
10th Anniversary, and people brought it. Some amazing entries.

My votes went to @Mouse, @Boneman, and @elvet. All three were really well done, and really hit the spot for me.

@TheDustyZebra as runner-up - and it was down to a coin toss.

But, there were others who I thought were brilliant. Victoria, I want to read more of Jane/Jeanne/Joan. Garfunkel produced the first of a crop of stories with the character slipping away to another world. Daysman brought a lump to my throat with nostalgia, possibly because my grandfather was a highly-ranked golfer. Teresa made me chuckle.
 
Checked to see who had won and was absolutely stunned to find I had a vote.

Thanks very much @TheDustyZebra, made my day.

Having said that I assume the vote still has an hour to go GMT and all that.
 
Well, there were some very difficult decisions to be made this month. First of all, it was hard to eliminate anything from my long list (which even after pruning is still quite long), and then at each of the next two stages also very hard. As I often say, just by meeting the challenge everyone deserves to be congratulated, but this month, such was the quality of the stories, that goes double for every single one of them.

But here were my final decisions, long list, short list, and *votes*:

Guttersnipe
Big J
Victoria Silverwolf
Cat's Cradle
M. Robert Gibson
Kharn
nixie
Perpetual Man
johnnyjet
TheEndIsNigh
Mouse
Simbelmynë
Parson
Eickerlyc
The Dusty Zebra
AMB
*StilLearning*
*Culhwch*
*The Judge*
 
Here are the results of the Ursa jury, with the stories in posting order within the categories:

Honourable Mentions:
  • Maybe One Day by Garfunkel
  • Sometimes the rules are taken too far. by M. Robert Gibson
  • The Physics of Snow Globes by Abernove

Runners Up:
  • Escape by Mouse
  • Missing Link by Marvin
  • And then I woke up. by Boneman

Winners:
  • The uninvited Universe. by StilLearning
  • Drop Zone by mosaix
  • Decaying Worlds by Paranoid Marvin
​
 
Oh, we over already? Time is going wonky.

Well done to the Mousey one.

Thanks to Mouse and StillLearning for the votes, BT Jones for the long listing, and to Menolly, TJ, and Teresa Edgerton for the short listings (plus anyone I may have missed).

Also, I think I forgot to thank Parson for the review. Thank you Parson.
 
Congratulations @Mouse :)

Thanks for the votes paranoid marvin, M. Robert Gibson, Daysman and BT Jones plus the mentions folks.

There is a real story behind the tale of mine that still makes me chuckle. I'm a long time roleplayer and it concerns a member of our gaming group who has since left us as he had to move away.

It just seemed to be a coincidence at first but when it occurred but when it continued it more than just that. Somehow, someway, without any conscious thought on the player, he always managed to have his characters (and sometimes other players characters) get killed in some sort of fiery explosion. Often involving a critical fumble of the dice roll or just pure bad luck.

There was the instance of the sci-fi campaign where a laser shot missed a target, hit the engines and blew a hole in the ship sucking all the players characters to their deaths. There was fantasy campaign where he was holding a fireball ready to throw when he got bit by a spider, failed his poison check, died and the spell went off to kill another player's character next to him. There was the the superhero game where they were fighting a swarm of small robots where one in twenty were bombs and he decided to pick them up to smash them on the wall. Guess which one he picked up first? Yes, on a roll of 1 on a d20, a bomb.

And it continued, whether playing Dungeons & Dragons, GURPS, Warhammer, Call of Cthulhu or Runequest.

As a games master and a player he was an endless source of fun because he laughed louder, harder and longer than the rest of us when it occurred. Duncan... a total legend.
 
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