DISCUSSION THREAD -- January 2024 -- 75 Word Writing Challenge

@Phyrebrat .... An Island Burial .... A story about that eternal second that comes at the end, and at the beginning.

@Starbeast .... Uncle Albert .... A story about the beginning of a new relationship.

@Elckerlyc .... There Is Nothing New Under the Sun .... A story which sees that everyone and everything stands on the shoulders of who/what came before.

@The Judge .... From Beginning to End .... A story which makes circular logic very logical indeed.

@Ursa major .... Abhorrence .... A story which points out the fact that every end is in the end a new beginning.
 
Quite a few mentions this month:

@BigJ and @Astro Pen . A story about the dangers of AI and another speculating that a large network might develop a consciousness. I like this kind of thing. Although I'm skeptical of the dangers, the idea of story writing is to ask 'what if?'

I also liked @Stable, @Cat's Cradle, @cyprus7, @M. Robert Gibson , @TheDustyZebra, @Starbeast and @The Judge .

@Parson 's story really grabbed my interest, although I'm not sure I fully understood it. But the idea of finding a matching religious text elsewhere in the Universe would surely cause even the most ardent atheist to reconsider. But not the robot in the story, apparently.

In the end my vote went to @Elckerlyc . I love the idea of no beginning...just continuation. In fact it seems patently true. Perhaps there once was a real beginning - just one - but it is difficult even to establish that.
 
T/L, D/R: I voted for Victoria Silverwolf’s story.

First off, many thanks to @M. Robert Gibson for the shortlisting, and to @Lacedaemonian for the vote - but primarily for the two-word review. On the basis of that I showed the story to my husband, something that I wouldn’t otherwise do.

My super-short list - because there was some very fine work this month, and I had to cut down my shortlist some way or another - comprises my preferred examples of the different story types which cropped up (horror, romance, philosophical, historical/mythical/religious, poetic, and literature based), all of which were very well written in my opinion:

@Phyrebrat - An Island Burial - by far the most beautiful entry, which would have got my vote if I could have decided how it was a beginning and not an ending, TS Elliot’s poetry notwithstanding (is the Old Country intended as a metaphor for the waiting place between rebirths?);
@chrispenycate - Origin Lacks Everything - yes, it does!
@Luiglin - Once And Forever - desperately, desperately romantic
@Definitely Not A Ghost - Recollections Of The Elders - shades of the movie “Analyze This”
@Yozh - Memorable Weather - at last, a believable explanation for the existence of that horrible excuse for a story!

and (drumroll) the story which gets my vote is:

@Victoria Silverwolf - The Start of a New Era - not just well-written and thought-provoking, but extremely modern and relevant despite its setting in the past. When you consider the state of international relations today this could be where we are all headed, and for the same reasons.

(edited for spelling!)
 
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Provincial said:
This quote has made me go into philosophical mode.

I haven’t read any TS Elliot, so I don’t know how he generally approaches life - does he encourage people to live it to the full, for instance? I hope so, because otherwise the folks who need that message the most aren’t likely to read his stuff long enough to get it. In my experience, for an awful lot of people, ends remain ends. They choose to look back at what has happened, not forward towards the good stuff which could happen, or even refuse to look forward at all because the unknown is intrinsically terrifying.

Are there any poets who tell you that the future is not more scary than the past, because it looks pretty much the same? That nothing much is different beyond the top notes? That the joy comes out of your own heart, not out of new circumstances, and that the potential for change, not actual change, is what makes new beginnings exciting? If so, please point me at the
Click to expand...

@Provincial

There's so much to mine from this poem. One portion that, for years, resonated with me deeply, but I couldn't quite comprehend. As I got older, I feel like I finally understand what it means. I now look at my parents, siblings, even the neighborhood that I couldn't wait to get out of (for the wider world), much differently. I think it somewhat links back to your question..

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
 
Mention to THX and M.Robert Gibson.

It was a close call between Christine and Mosaix for me, with Mosaix getting my vote in the end, as it was more SciFi - such are the margins at times.

Remember to vote for the best - which is me, and I really shouldn't have to remind people of this accepted fact. Being perfect is such a drag at times....
 
Sorry @Bowler1 but you were in a long long list of second spots ...quick mention for:
Memorable weather by @Yozh ...environmental conditions to start a story if ever there was.
Olde Habits Deyen Hard by @emrosenagel ...that's what ya get for being greedy.
Origin lacks Everything by @chrispenycate ...groovy.
The vote went to:
An Island Burial by @Phyrebrat ...what an opening line, a beginning like the best of them and a serious piece of writing.

Thanks all for all the stories, and to @Parson & @Victoria Silverwolf for the consistently positive and quality reviews (y)
 
Shortlist

Provincial -> First Contact -> Teaches us to trust our instincts
AnRoinnUltra -> A land for no story to take place in -> An empty vessel sates no one
Yozh -> Memorable Weather -> How the unexamined life leads to purple prose
BigJ -> Intellectually Robust Information System -> shows us how a single word is worth a billion souls
cyprus7 -> Untitled -> The Genesis of the greatest story - now unabridged
@Perky -> My Ego -> An evolution of self of Freudian pedigree
@The Judge -> From Beginning to End - an epigenetic journey through time and space

Vote goes to:

Culhwch -> So how does the Sequel Start -> The wolf in sheep's clothing feasts again
 
I'm new in town (and still very much alive) so firstly, thanks to everyone for being so lovely and supportive thus far.

I voted for The Dinner Speaker by @Cat's Cradle, partly because I just enjoyed the premise of the kinda-reformed vampyr (one step at a time, I guess) and also because of the phrase "poignant Quasimeato" which I will now think of every single time I see a meatloaf.

My heavily shortened shortlist included The Start Of A New Era by @Victoria Silverwolf and A land for no story to take place in by @AnRoinnUltra.
 
My Short List and *** Favorite ***:

The Start of a New Era - Victoria Silverwolf
Intellectually Robust Information System – BigJ
In The Beginning - Christine Wheelwright
*** Olde Habits Deyen Hard – emrosenagel ***
The Dinner Speaker - Cat's Cradle
You, Sir, Are Not as Charming as You Think You Are – TheDustyZebra
The House on Vega III – Parson
From Beginning to End - The Judge
 
Honorable Mentions:
Intellectually Robust Information System by BigJ
Olde Habits Deyen Hard by emrosenagel
You, Sir, Are Not as Charming as You Think You Are by TheDustyZebra
From Beginning to End by The Judge

Vote:
I, For One, Welcome Our Robot Overlord by M. Robert Gibson
 
Saturday noon and the rest of the misnamed "weekend" --- Remember Sunday is the first, not the last day of the week! --- looks to be pretty busy so it's off to vote.

Shortlisted because

The Start of a New Era by @Victoria Silverwolf because of its totally unexpected turn of events.
Memorable Weather by @Yozh because it's so groan worthy.
Untitled by @cyprus7 for changing the original sin from disobedience to seduction and murder.
Olde Habits Deyen Hard by @emrosenagel because it is a proper turn on expectations and then a natural rebound.
Origins by @mosaix because it's so sad and yet so predictable.
You, Sir, Are Not as Charming as You Think You Are by @nixie for a wonderfully contemporary twist on an old and familiar tale.

Voted for @cyprus7 because it's the story that sticks in my mind.
 
Liked them all... No one will call the police if I vote for a horror based one… right? RIGHT?
 
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