DISCUSSION THREAD - AUGUST 2021 75 Word Writing Challenge

[The Judge]

Congrats, mosaix!

More Robynated thanks for the mentions CC and Aber, and Great Hood thanks for the lovely vote, Daysman!


If anyone was baffled by my title, it comes from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance in which James Stewart's senator has built a career on having killed a thug and murderer, when in fact it was John Wayne's character who did it, but although a newspaper reporter is given the truth he comes out with the cynical aphorism "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." (Which always seems cockeyed to me, as surely it should be "When a lie becomes the legend, print the legend.)

 

[mosaix]

Thanks to @BT Jones, @paranoid marvin, @atsouthorn, @johnnyjet, @therapist, @Mon0Zer0, @TheEndIsNigh, @Bren G, @Cat's Cradle, @Daysman, and @Abernovo for the mentions / shortlists.

And a special thanks to @nixie, @chrispenycate, @Ursa major, @Marvin, @Starbeast, @Luiglin, @Victoria Silverwolf, @farntfar, @Betok_Haney, @Wayne Mack and @JS Wiig for the votes.

Thanks to @Parson and @Victoria Silverwolf for the reviews.

I think that @The Judge has mentioned before something that we've all experienced - submitting a 75 that, in our own estimation, is a stunning bit of prose only for it to attract not a single vote. Well, it was the other way around for me this time. I thought my piece was a little simplistic and over-sentimental. But, anyway, thanks again.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Well done mosaix, a well earned victory. You do yourself a disservice with your description, your entry was precisely what it needed to be.

 

[Ursa major]

I thought my piece was a little simplistic and over-sentimental. But, anyway, thanks again.

The first time I read it, I sort of thought the same... but that was because I was skimming through the entries to make sure the entry I was about to post wasn't too close to one already posted and so was allowing no time for reflection (although there was something about your story that stuck in my mind).

But the second time I read it, it became very clear that it was that self-same simplicity** -- there was nothing simplistic about it -- that helped this reader fully grasp the profound tragedy at the heart of the story.



** - I'm very into classical music from the Romantic Period, where composers can, and often do, throw everything, including the proverbial kitchen sink, into their works, including into their depictions of more or less tragic events. One can really wallow in this sort of thing (and, oddly, it can often cheer me up). One example is Richard Strauss' Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration), during which the full forces of a large orchestra portray a man dying in his bed (and which includes a phrase that is used, in an extended form, in 1978's Superman: The Movie).

But for the tragedy itself to hit hard, it's difficult to beat the slow movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No.23, which uses its modest forces very sparingly. (As far as I know, there's neither a story attached to the piece nor anything specifically tragic happening in Mozart's life at the time he composed it.)

 

[Luiglin]

Congrats @mosaix

Thanks to @Moonbat for the vote and for the mentions folks.

Having set the theme, like many before me I became bereft of ideas. Then inspiration hit, twice, in the same hour. The first, a not so nice tale and the second, one that we all probably attained at some point during school life for something. The status of Leg'd which would last all of a day or weekend

I couldn't choose and asked my wife to take a look. Now, she's a big horror fan but choose the nice one out of the two. She just said it sounded better. Anyways, here's the other one...

Hide 'n' Seek​

Pulling the hatch shut, he slipped down the greasy tube and hit bottom. Tom flicked on his torch… good, there were no other entrances. It stank, but he’d live with it.

They’d be talking about this hiding spot for years to come, no way would they find him. He’d be a legend.

~

The search teams found his body weeks later. True to his wish, parents warned their kids with his tale for years to come.

 

[Ursa major]

it's difficult to beat the slow movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No.23

And for those that don't know the piece, I've provided a performance of the slow movement in the Classical music clips thread, a movement that I think I've described (elsewhere on this site) as depicting someone who has the weight of the world on their shoulders.

 

[Peter V]

Congratulations on an extremely convincing win @mosaix

Thanks to everyone who mentioned my effort and a big thank you to @Parson, @TheEndIsNigh, @atsouthorn and @The Judge for kindly voting for it.

 

[JS Wiig]

@mosaix congratulations!

 

[sule]

Congrats mosaix!

 

[Starbeast]

Congratulations Mosaix
@mosaix​

@Luiglin Congratulations on last months win to make the August Challenge possible.

A gigantic WELL DONE to all who entered.


My Story: I was inspired by The Three Stooges, The Great Race (1965), The Princess Bride (1987), and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Once again, thank you to those who mentioned my entry. Plus the wonderful comments. It warms my heart to read them.

 

[gracefully.falling]

Congratulations mosaix! It was a subtle, touching story that definitely deserved the win.

(Anyone else think congratulate is a weird word? It doesn't seem to fit it's meaning... I think I'll use "Well done" or "Congrats" from now on.)

 

[Hugh]

Congratulations mosaix! It was a subtle, touching story that definitely deserved the win.

(Anyone else think congratulate is a weird word? It doesn't seem to fit it's meaning... I think I'll use "Well done" or "Congrats" from now on.)

It's the Latin according to the online etymology dictionary....
congratulari "wish joy,"
from com "together, with" + gratulari "give thanks, show joy,"
from gratus "agreeable"

and

congratulatiofeminine noun
congratulations; wishing of joy, congratulating

sigh

 

[Elckerlyc]

Apologies for asking stupid questions, but... what's the 'con' part doing in this word then? It seems the important part is 'gratulari.´ (like the German equivalent: gratulieren.

Also apologies for going totally off-topic.

 

[Hugh]

Apologies for asking stupid questions, but... what's the 'con' part doing in this word then? It seems the important part is 'gratulari.´ (like the German equivalent: gratulieren.

Also apologies for going totally off-topic.

Who knows....

 

[Artoriarius]

Congratulations, @mosaix!

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

A bit late, but well done @mosaix

Big thanks to @Hugh for the totally unexpected vote

And thanks for the mentions, again, unexpected

And well done to all the entrants