DISCUSSION THREAD -- September 2021 -- 75-Word Writing Challenge

[TheEndIsNigh]

@Luiglin: For me.

 

[gracefully.falling]

Great entries this month! I drew a complete blank, but reading the entries is almost as fun as entering.

My vote went to Top three things every adventurer should know by @Mon0Zer0 it gave me a good laugh, and I'm a sucker for humor

 

[Wayne Mack]

I found a lot to choose from. Coming out slightly ahead for my vote:

our Witness… @mosaix

My long short-list:

Keep Off the Grass @Peter V
Late Returns @Phyrebrat
Lore & Order @David Evil Overlord
You can have any (evil empire) colour you like, as long as its black... (or red... or sort-of purplish...) @BT Jones
Dragged Up @Luiglin
Not too Good to be True @Parson
Doubting Thomas, or, Warning: Blasphemy Not Allowed @Guttersnipe
Times Change, Rules Can Be Broken. @nixie

 

[paranoid marvin]

Lots of great entries this month. Starbeast and Ursa get my runners up, but I've opted for a real feel-good entry with JS Wiig.

 

[Ursa major]

Many thanks for a runner-up spot, pm.

 

[Daysman]

Intriguing month — my fave 5 ballooned to a notable 9 (including vote):

@Victoria Silverwolf (vote)
@Betok_Haney
@paranoid marvin
@Margaret Note Spelling
@mosaix
@Astro Pen
@Moonbat
@The Judge
@Abernovo

Thanks to @Artoriarius for your vote, to @Victoria Silverwolf & @Parson for your comments!

Have a great (what remains of) Sunday!

 

[Betok_Haney]

I voted for @Victoria Silverwolf. I spent a lot of time thinking about that last sentence.

So many great stories, here are some that stuck with me:

@Bren G - lovely perspective
@The Judge - truth
@Cat's Cradle - less than 75 words that completely freaked me out

 

[Mon0Zer0]

Great entries this month! I drew a complete blank, but reading the entries is almost as fun as entering.

My vote went to Top three things every adventurer should know by @Mon0Zer0 it gave me a good laugh, and I'm a sucker for humor

Thanks!

 

[Bren G]

Had some quiet time to work through each and what a good crop this month! Found many I really really liked, and three that could've gone either way, but alas you only get one vote.

Short List
@atsouthorn - Render reassignment : shows how fate not only holds us, but sometimes strangles
@Mon0Zer0 - Top three things - clever tale that 'cuts' against the common fantasy tropes
@DanielOwen - Sound it out - Shows us that silence is golden.
@Daysman - Unnatural Heuristics - a nice and unexpected chuckle from such macabre matter
@M. Robert Gibson - illuminates the little understood Barbarian Paradox.
@Parson - What's old is new again in the telling of the golden rule

Runners-Up
@The Judge - Ghost in the Machine - a poignant treatise on our woeful technocracy
@Abernovo - Always go - You can bring the child to space, but the same old problems exist.

My Vote:
@mosaix - Your Witness... - Good to see that even in the future, loyalty remains above all

 

[nixie]

Favourites
@Victoria Silverwolf
@Betok_Haney
@paranoid marvin
@TheEndIsNigh
@M. Robert Gibson

Vote
@mosaix.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Shortlist and vote

Victoria
Betok_Haney
Bren G
Margaret Note Spelling
Mosaix
David Evil Overlord
Peter V
Dan jones
The Judge

 

[Abernovo]

Thank you for the mention, @Daysman, and many thanks for the listing, @Bren G!

My shortlist is two pairs of entries, which were one after the other. A most unusual event. In order of submission:
@Phyrebrat and @nixie, and then, @mosaix and @David Evil Overlord.

All four, talented writers, who've produced great copy in the past. Phyrebrat's library horror was a sublime tale of the dangers of lateness. nixie produced a great, and marketable, twist on a fairy tale trope. mosaix twisted the laws in a way which can leave no argument. And, DEO wrote the Faustian plot for our times.

I'm not usually one for horror, but it was a close run thing between DEO and Phyrebrat. In the end, Phyrebrat won, possibly on setting.

 

[JS Wiig]

@paranoid marvin thank you so much for the vote!

 

[Parson]

Not too Good to be True @Parson

@Parson - What's old is new again in the telling of the golden rule

Thanks for the short listings! Much appreciated.

 

[BT Jones]

Another good round.
Honorable Mentions:

• @Betok_Haney
• @Mon0Zer0
• @mosaix
• @Daysman
• @M. Robert Gibson
• @Parson
• @The Judge

Shortlist:

• @Guttersnipe
• @Hugh
• @Victoria Silverwolf

Vote:

• @Bren G - I found your story poignant and really heartwarming.

 

[Dan Jones]

Voted for @Parson, with @Bren G, @Phyrebrat and @David Evil Overlord hard on his heels.

 

[Hugh]

My vote went to @M. Robert Gibson for such a clear and concise statement of Guild Rules.

Runners up:
@Astro Pen : surprisingly thought provoking
@Luiglin : for his (apparently) insider knowledge of orc etiquette.

There were more stories than usual that caught my eye: I won't list them all, but I thought this month had an unusually good level of entries.
So here are those that somehow made it into my top ten, in random order:
@ckatt
@nixie
@Abernovo
@Ursa major
@Cat's Cradle
@Mon0Zer0
@Phyrebrat

I must also mention @Margaret Note Spelling for her wonderful "Eileen's Theory of Relativity"

And lastly a BIG THANK YOU to @BT Jones for the shortlisting!

 

[Luiglin]

@Luiglin : for his (apparently) insider knowledge of orc etiquette.

You never turn down an invite to a dinner from an orc shaman... unless you want to end up being the main course

 

[johnnyjet]

Excellent variety of tales. Well done!

My Long List, Short List, and *** Favorite ***:

Reformation - Victoria Silverwolf
It Which Dies Will Rise - Cat's Cradle
Culture Shock - Betok_Haney
The problem with Hyperspace – AnRoinnUltra
A Fairy's Tale - Bren G
The New Standard - Margaret Note Spelling
Late Returns – Phyrebrat
Times Change, Rules Can Be Broken – nixie
Your Witness… - mosaix
Rules to Live By - JS Wiig
Keep Off the Grass - Peter V
*** Ghost in the Machine - The Judge ***

 

[JS Wiig]

@johnnyjet thanks for the mention!