DISCUSSION THREAD -- NOVEMBER 2022 -- 75 Word Writing Challenge

[AnRoinnUltra]

I voted for my closest rival, @AnRoinnUltra

Ha, class -that's the most sporting writer of the tournament award right there

 

[THX1138]

Thanks for the shortlist @Cat's Cradle !

 

[Ashleyne]

Thanks to all the entrants for contributing to this fun collection of stories. My shortlist is:

How Much Damage? by redzwritez
Ah sure nobody'll ever know the difference by AnRoinnUltra
Quiet Evil by Stable
If only… by Hugh
Faith or Fortune? by Parson

I voted for Why are we paying for this stuff? by JS Wiig.

 

[Stable]

I voted for @Vince W (as all true Englishmen should). Feeling a bit short on time for a shortlist, but there were many great options!

 

[Hugh]

I voted for @Venusian Broon 's "La Danza de la Muerte". While people dancing in flayed skin is not normally my taste, I thought this a well written astute look at a watershed moment in history. It also got me thinking about differing cultural values and how they may get interpreted/misunderstood by the victors.

Runner up: @VRlass "He Will Be Back"

I also liked @chuckroc73 "A Letter Home" and on my initial read considered voting for it, but on reflection my limited mind couldn't see how it fitted this month's criteria.

Others that definitely had something (not that others don't.....) :
@johnnyjet
@Peter V
@Luiglin (is this how you talk at home?)
@Guttersnipe
@LordOfWizards
@mosaix
@Phyrebrat

And many many thanks also @paranoid marvin @Cat's Cradle and @Ashleyne for your listings. Much appreciated.

 

[Luiglin]

@Luiglin (is this how you talk at home?)

When in polite company, yes. Black Country slang, like many, is verbal only. Nothing is written down. It can also vary dramitically in very short distances.

 

[Hugh]

When in polite company, yes. Black Country slang, like many, is verbal only. Nothing is written down. It can also vary dramitically in very short distances.

View attachment 96019

Ahhh! Understood....

 

[Vince W]

Thank you for the vote @Stable! And the stealth vote @Shyrka!

 

[Phyrebrat]

When in polite company, yes. Black Country slang, like many, is verbal only. Nothing is written down. It can also vary dramitically in very short distances.

View attachment 96019

It's funny isn't it, what we take for granted from our own heritage, and when others encounter it, they're nonplussed.

I'm from a very large Geordie family (and Sunderland...) and the pidgin we heard growing up just became normal way of communication. I wonder if my atrophied adult brain would have been able to "larn meself Geordie" at the speed the kid being brought up with it did. I also think its why I like patois and W.African pidgin, although tbh you need to be able to understand that if you go to Ghana/S.L/Nigeria, and Jamaica.

I digress. I just wanted to say I love regional dialects (and accents).

 

[Luiglin]

It's funny isn't it, what we take for granted from our own heritage, and when others encounter it, they're nonplussed.

I'm from a very large Geordie family (and Sunderland...) and the pidgin we heard growing up just became normal way of communication. I wonder if my atrophied adult brain would have been able to "larn meself Geordie" at the speed the kid being brought up with it did. I also think its why I like patois and W.African pidgin, although tbh you need to be able to understand that if you go to Ghana/S.L/Nigeria, and Jamaica.

I digress. I just wanted to say I love regional dialects (and accents).

Ditto, nothing better than regional accents. Except for Brummie, I'm not and do not speak Brummie. I'm born and live on the right side of the motorway, which is the left if you at the map the correct way up.

 

[Ursa major]

I also have a stealth vote from @Venusian Broon.

Speaking of which.... Many, many thanks for the stealth vote, mosaix.

 

[Wayne Mack]

I was quite surprised to see the various snippets of history that submitters chose. It was interesting to see some the differences in what we were all taught and learned. Out of a lot of potential choices, I subjectively selected this one for its concluding twist:

A Question of Faith @Phyrebrat​

I also have a long list of others that stood out to me:

Ah sure nobody'll ever know the difference @AnRoinnUltra​

untitled @Pyan​

Boxing Day, 932 (Based on Duke Wenceslas’s Secret Diaries) @Ursa major​

Meanwhile, over at the Temporal Criminal Police Organization @M. Robert Gibson​

Unexpected ubiquitous inquisition @chrispenycate​

A letter home @chuckroc73​

Dare to Do Right @Guttersnipe​

Herstory @Cat's Cradle​

Long Have Historians Questioned the Disappearance of the Renowned Ninth Legion in Caledonia, AD 108 @Peter V​

 

[JS Wiig]

@Ashleyne many thanks for the vote!

 

[JS Wiig]

** @Cat's Cradle ** - fantastic wordplay in the title and reminded me of The Pyramid Code series

@Pyan - these time changes are a real pain in the a—

@Daysman - …and the band played on

 

[Elckerlyc]

I found voting was a tricky business this month.
What exactly is Historical |Speculation? What's the definition and which story fell within those set boundaries?
Questions, questions... When does a story comply with the topic? When a character asks a simple question or when the title contains a question-mark? Even when I took the topic as broad as simply as the presence of a ?, than there still were stories that did not pass that criteria.
Not many stories survived my scrutiny.
Anyway, here's the end-result: shortlisted and vote.
@Pyan - Hyuuh! and lift...
@Cat's Cradle - Her story
@Hugh - If Only...
@Venusian Broon - La Dance de la Muerta

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Honored to have your vote, JS Wiig, and thanks so much for the listing, Elckerlyc!!

Still very close!

 

[The Judge]

I've been really pernickity this month, as to my mind the theme required more than simply one question in the text, and preferably for the whole story to provoke questions of its own. I also thought some stories failed the genre test, even using a wide definition of historical speculative. Added to which, as ever, there were a few stories I simply didn't understand.

So, a shorter short list this month, but all the more select and special for it!

AnRoinnUltra -- Ah sure nobody'll ever know the difference​

Cat's Cradle -- Herstory​

BigJ -- Empathy; Doubt; Defiance​

Elckerlyc -- Delphi (occupied Greece), 20 June 1941​

Phyrebrat -- A Question of Faith​

Stable -- Quiet Evil​

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And my vote goes to Stable, for his take on the witchfinder's questions, and coming a close second Elckerlyc, with his oracle questioning and ready to be questioned.


Many mirror-voiced thanks for the lovely mentions and shortlistings BTJ, Phyrebrat and CC, and hallucinatory thanks for the wonderful vote ARU! And for the stealth vote, reiver!

 

[Ensign Shah]

Just one vote! Why do you do this to me?!

 

[Pyan]

Thanks for the listing,@Elckerlyc.

 

[Ursa major]

The poll has closed -- well, it closed quarter of an hour ago -- and we have a tie!

The tie-breaker poll is now up. It will be open until 23:59 GMT on November the 30th:

Tiebreaker Poll -- November 2022 Writing Challenge​

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