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

I had so much trouble picking this time, I decided to do a shortlist, which I've never tried before. It's taken me more time to write up than I'd hoped, but that's because there are so many good ones to mention!

@Bren G
Pretty, tragic, deep, well-written. It was lovely. A bit confused about the Easter Bunny... but in a good way. I can only imagine what sheer entertaining insanity is going on in the background of that!

** @Mon0Zer0 **
Clear, simple, and evocative of Terry Pratchett's first satirical fantasies. Also very similar to my family's general sense of humor. I think as a rule, my voting preference is usually going to lean towards the funnier, lighter entries, all else being equal.

@Artoriarius
Excellent illustration of the Prime Directive, taken to its logical, horrifying conclusion.

@mosaix
Cool, I never thought of that loophole before! I've watched I, Robot, but your story is a really good extrapolation of what else might happen with those rules. Not as apocalyptic as what happened in the movie, of course--but now I really wish they'd gone further and started exploring all the littler injustices that could happen using just those Three Rules. Very close runner-up!

@David Evil Overlord
The line between crime and supposed "justice" is always blurrier than is at first obvious, and I love how your story hints at that.

@BT Jones
Excellent cadence and satire to that poem! I just didn't understand the last couplet very well. Otherwise, lovely.

@M. Robert Gibson
Need I even explain why I like this one? :giggle: I'm a sucker for satire.

And there were loads of others that I really liked, but either didn't seem to fit the genre very well, or just didn't quite grab me the way these did. "Rules" was a really good pick for a theme--so many people did a phenomenal job with it this month!
 
Margaret Note Spelling said:
I had so much trouble picking this time, I decided to do a shortlist, which I've never tried before. It's taken me more time to write up than I'd hoped, but that's because there are so many good ones to mention!

@Bren G
Pretty, tragic, deep, well-written. It was lovely. A bit confused about the Easter Bunny... but in a good way. I can only imagine what sheer entertaining insanity is going on in the background of that!

** @Mon0Zer0 **
Clear, simple, and evocative of Terry Pratchett's first satirical fantasies. Also very similar to my family's general sense of humor. I think as a rule, my voting preference is usually going to lean towards the funnier, lighter entries, all else being equal.

@Artoriarius
Excellent illustration of the Prime Directive, taken to its logical, horrifying conclusion.

@mosaix
Cool, I never thought of that loophole before! I've watched I, Robot, but your story is a really good extrapolation of what else might happen with those rules. Not as apocalyptic as what happened in the movie, of course--but now I really wish they'd gone further and started exploring all the littler injustices that could happen using just those Three Rules. Very close runner-up!

@David Evil Overlord
The line between crime and supposed "justice" is always blurrier than is at first obvious, and I love how your story hints at that.

@BT Jones
Excellent cadence and satire to that poem! I just didn't understand the last couplet very well. Otherwise, lovely.

@M. Robert Gibson
Need I even explain why I like this one? :giggle: I'm a sucker for satire.

And there were loads of others that I really liked, but either didn't seem to fit the genre very well, or just didn't quite grab me the way these did. "Rules" was a really good pick for a theme--so many people did a phenomenal job with it this month!
Click to expand...

Thanks Margaret. Yeah, I struggled a bit to find the right ending. The point I was trying to make was that this evil overlord / god-type thing was reviewing Sci-fi movies so they could stage an grand space battle for their pleasure. But the idea was they realised that the bad guys only ever win in the 2nd movie of a trilogy (Empire Strikes Back, Matrix, etc) so that, ultimately, his forces would always lose. But, yeah, I wasn't too happy with the closing couplet. Thanks again all the same.
 
Thanks for the listing, M. Robert Gibson, and chrispenycate!

You know, there's still time for me to come racing from the back to win this. No, I don't think that's ever going to happen, either.
 
Imagine my joy! A vote from @Dan Jones :)


-----

Another contest with so many interesting entries it's hard to know where to start.

Reformation by @Victoria Silverwolf ..... Loved this. You had me from hello.
Culture Shock by @Betok_Haney .... I guess love actually does bite.
The problem with Hyperspace by @AnRoinnUltra .... Love a Chron's characters story.
A Fairy’s Tale by @Bren G ..... It's unusual for me to get sentimental over a fairy tale, but this one choked me up.
Times Change, Rules Can Be Broken by @nixie .... I loved this story. It reminded me that being smart is a strength all its own.
Rules to Live by @JS Wiig .... This story was too true not to get a mention.

Vote: Reformation
 
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Well, mosaix's Theme choice really inspired a group of interesting stories. Well done, all.

There were many stories I enjoyed, but one that grabbed me from first reading. Here are my lists:

Shortlist:
Mon0Zer0, Margaret Note Spelling, Phyrebrat, Daysman, G.T., M. Robert Gibson

Semi-Finalists (stories that in any other month I'd've been happy to vote for):
Betok_Haney (great story, B_T! My 2nd favorite this Challenge), Hugh, The Judge

Vote:
Victoria Silverwolf. This was sooo great. Terrific, almost casual world-building. A wonderful classic SF vibe, but so perfectly relevant to today, and to me, fascinating from first word to last...what a closing line! Sometimes we break these 75 worders into small paragraphs to add to each new line's dramatic effect, but I love here that the momentum of the narrative was allowed to build to the finale without paragraph breaks. This story was perfectly structured, IMO. Exceptional, Victoria Silverwolf, well done!

Finally, big thanks to Betok_Haney, Hugh, and johnnyjet for the listings. I wasn't happy with my entry this month, and I'm grateful you folks found something of worth within it.

Thanks, as always, to Victoria Silverwolf and Parson for the fine reviews, CC
 
Doing this very quickly as there's a nasty storm here at the moment, which means we could lose power at any moment.

So my shortlist:

Bren G -- A Fairy's Tale​
mosaix -- Your Witness...​
M. Robert Gibson -- Membership Rules​
Moonbat -- Untitled​
Perpetual Man -- Absolute Utopia​
Peter V -- Keep off the Grass​
Phyrebrat -- Late Returns​

I was particularly taken with Moonbat's not-genocide poem and with Perp's unbearable utopia, but I went with Bren's poignant tale of rules overcoming compassion.

Many ghostly thanks for the mentions/shortlistings Ian, Daysman, Betok, Bren, Phyrebrat, BTJ, JSW, Chris P, StilLearning and CC and tremendous delicious swiping right thanks for the lovely vote johnnyjet! And for the stealth votes Peter and Mon0Zer0!
 
I voted for @Elckerlyc's Legislation, with @M. Robert Gibson a close second.
Thanks to @G.T and @Astro Pen for the votes, and others for the mention.
I think that is the first time I have left an entry untitled. I wrote the whole thing without a title and then when I came to add one I thought it didn't really need one, I think we all know what I'm talking about - so maybe it fails the science fiction requirement if we're already living it :)
 
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