Discussion Thread -- JULY 2020 -- 300-Worder Writing Challenge (#38)

[Starbeast]

@Cat's Cradle Thanks bro. I wanted to squeeze some humor into my creation this time around. I may do a creepy tale next time.

I hope more stories pour in. Eight days left.

 

[Guttersnipe]

@Trollheart None taken--he was a brilliant man. However, I accredit my inspiration to the film Strange Days. I swapped memories for dreams. I didn't notice till yesterday that Asimov has a similar story.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

chrispenycate: A gift for fresh and compelling metaphor fills this tribute to the outdoors in the form of a prose poem. The intensity of its sensory images draws the reader into a world formerly unnoticed.

Starbeast: By presenting figures from modern mythology in all their human fallibility, the author allows us to bring them down to our own level, and accept them as our fellows. The humor displayed here is always warm, never mean-spirited.

Iwroteathing: This lighthearted fantasy reflects certain aspects of modern society in a fun house mirror. We are reminded, as we often must be, that our finest plans often go wrong.

 

[Iwroteathing]

There is some great talent here! Well done folks! Each story unique and wonderfully interpreting the brief.

I'm a sucker for an opening that I repeat in my head even after reading, so chrispenycate's "fizzed like Prosecco on a roller-coaster" really made for a great way to hook me in to the rest of the story (and also for a metaphor I'll be surely using in the future!).

As for Ashleyne's Shookoo and the soulfeasters, I can't stop thinking the imagery you used. Beautifully written... but I keep imagining the struggle of a wonderful but disgusting parasite as it clings to it's host for dear life. It's a micro-epic!

And many cheers Victoria Silverwolf! Really appreciate sharing your thoughts. Would a vegetarian werewolf mind the existence of an (unstable) vegetarian goblin?

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Ian Fortytwo: The combination of science fiction elements and a surreal mood creates a compelling sense of mystery in this imaginative tale. The sense that a subtle allegory lies beneath its intriguing surface adds intensity to its effect on the reader.

Astro Pen: The author manages to convey a far future world with the feeling of an ancient myth, a difficult task done with deceptive ease. The use of familiar details of ordinary life provides a powerful contrast with the far-reaching implications of the resolution.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

@Victoria Silverwolf Your review is much better than my short story. Thank you.

 

[Joshua Jones]

Me right now after three ideas have been consigned to the black hole in defense of human flourishing and prosperity...

 

[Starbeast]

@Joshua Jones Perhaps the Muse will visit you tonight. Like a creeping Triffid, sneaking up behind you.

 

[elvet]

The clock is ticking for me too. I work most of this week, so I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to sit down and think about that glorious photo. I have a 'spark' of an idea, but it needs a lot of work, not the least of which is the actual writing. For some reason, making these challenge deadlines is getting harder and harder for me.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

johnnyjet: The clever way in which the author pays tribute to a great artist through the lens of more recent popular culture as piquancy to this artfully constructed pastiche. More than mere intellect is displayed, however, as the story reminds us that great works are not always appreciated by those who arrive at a later time.

Tywin: A great sense of tension and suspense is created in this grim fantasy adventure. Adding to the reader's intrigue is the fact that not all of the story's conflict takes place merely on a physical level.

 

[Tywin]

Thanks, as always, for the review @Victoria Silverwolf !

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

CarBear: In this historical fantasy, written with the wit and elegance of a true denizen of a more refined century, we witness the transformation of a character from an inappropriate role to a more proper one. With a wink, the author reminds us to find the place where we belong.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Bah, I've had the last line of this for a week, and time is just against me. This is a first draft, apologies all, I'd have loved time to work at it, but I still wanted to jot it down. Lovely image.

 

[Danny McG]

a member of the Staff comes across the post in which it occurs. And there are rather a lot of us, so such a post is likely to be noticed rather quickly and not last long in any case

It has been discussed many times in private group chats, the consensus among us is there's only 4 of them really.

The rest are just fakes to keep control and make us think there's always a moderator hanging around

 

[chrispenycate]

It has been discussed many times in private group chats, the consensus among us is there's only 4 of them really.

The rest are just fakes to keep control and make us think there's always a moderator hanging around

Umm. And those of us who are fakes - which probably includes me, as I'm rarely very visible about my manipulations - are we purely imaginary, alter egos of the genuine moderators, or perfectly real members who just happen not to possess super powers? In the last case, what difference does it make? We have merely to inform one of the genuine superpowers, and the job is done exactly as if we'd been real. In the first situation, who is writing my challenge entries, my Zecret Zantas, and occasionally succeeding in identifying books in 'book search'? And in the second, who am I the avatar of? It would be nice to know.

Before joining here I was on a Pratchett website that had no mods, and no means of moderation. It went down in petty bickering between trolls, and massive disorganisation. I much prefer this site, even if I am imaginary.

 

[Danny McG]

There you are peeps, Chris is self identifying as a fake!
The first of them

 

[Joshua Jones]

Umm. And those of us who are fakes - which probably includes me, as I'm rarely very visible about my manipulations - are we purely imaginary, alter egos of the genuine moderators, or perfectly real members who just happen not to possess super powers? In the last case, what difference does it make? We have merely to inform one of the genuine superpowers, and the job is done exactly as if we'd been real. In the first situation, who is writing my challenge entries, my Zecret Zantas, and occasionally succeeding in identifying books in 'book search'? And in the second, who am I the avatar of? It would be nice to know.

Before joining here I was on a Pratchett website that had no mods, and no means of moderation. It went down in petty bickering between trolls, and massive disorganisation. I much prefer this site, even if I am imaginary.

My running theory is you are an avatar of a highly advanced artificial intelligence which manifests itself in the form of a cat, and is capable of producing works of literary excellence on a regular basis. Of course, this theory is only tentative...

 

[Joshua Jones]

There you are peeps, Chris is self identifying as a fake!
The first of them

The REAL question, though, is which 4 are real?

Actually, the real question is if I can get my story down to 300 words before the deadline...

 

[-K2-]

If I had to guess, @chrispenycate is just a bad trip I'm experiencing--a hallucination, a fig-newton of my imagination--from hanging out with that herb smoking, purple-ringer mushroom sitting caterpillar too much. Why else would he fade in and out, showing up here only to vanish a moment later floating around all trippy like...and who grins like that?

Bad blotter, gotta' be...

K2

 

[AMB]

I think my brain melted from the intensity of the effort, but I wrote something.

Now to hope it makes sense.