Discussion thread -- November 2015 75-word Writing Challenge

[Droflet]

Well done to the artist formerly known as StillLearning.

And many thanks to VB, Glen, IHE, Tim, DG, Saharren, Dusty and Will for the mentions.

 

[TitaniumTi]

Congratulations, StilLearning!

 

[TitaniumTi]

This has to be a record month for great lines. So, here are my favourites:

Walking backwards away from it, dressed as a troll. Luiglin

Talk about a fashion emergency; boom! Victoria

I fear that I've become a pawl in the House of Escher. Alex The G and T

To think I'd live to be meep-meeped by a toad. Juliana

"Question not His competence with temporal manipulations!" Commanded Gabriel, and scarpered. HareBrain

I, the chained hunchback with a fool's hat. StarBeast

No, I have decided I am a creator that changes things last moment. Venusian Broon

 

[Phyrebrat]

Congratulations, StilLearning, on behalf of the Rebel Alliance

pH

 

[Alex The G and T]

Congratulations, StilLearning. Nicely done.


*****

And I am stoked. Thanks, so much for a second actual vote, Judge. (and you don't say which is your the new vocabulary word. I'm curious, though I have a good guess.)

And two new mentions, today. Thank you Ursa, deeply honored; and a teeter totter near miss from Ti. And I'm quite delighted to have my tag line remembered, there, Mr Ti.

As a general Piker; I am quite pleased with the results, this month.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Congratulations to StilLearning! Nicely done!

Err... Alex just said that. Oh, well, it's true.

For those who were befuddled by my story (that would be most everyone, I believe, although Tim, Victoria and CC appear to have seen what I was doing), I shall now enlighten you as to the extent of my ridiculousness ...err, I mean absurdity. I got the idea at the exact point in the Challenge posting which would make it work, so I took that as a sign. What I did was take two words from each story posted, in order, and string them together into something resembling a story. I couldn't tell you what it was about, myself, so I'm not surprised that no one else could, either. It did have some semblance of a path not taken (because I didn't kill you, of course), and a sense of nihilism at the end. I probably could have made a more comprehensible story if I'd studied it carefully for a while and chosen different words, but I wanted to get in before someone posted a 38th story and wrecked my count. Oh, and the title was two words from the Challenge theme/genre post.

 

[Juliana]

Well done StillLearning!

And Ti, thanks for the mention in your 'lines list'. Made my evening!

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Congratulations, Still Learning!

For me, my vote had to go to the absurdity of a literal interpretation of the Road Not Taken, thieves stealing roads, and the police having to chase them on the one road overlooked and thus not taken...

And thanks to all who helped my Brontosaurus take a quantum leap into almost-but-not-quite.

As for not recognising what Tim was doing with the reviews, I have no excuse. Less than no excuse. I even referenced Sir Terry Pratchett's wonderfully disc-shaped world in my story.

 

[Alex The G and T]

Yeah, I completely missed the disc world thing; and I'm a fan,having read almost all of them (albeit over the brain-deadening course of thirty years.)

I still can't place mine, even after reviewing all of the titles: Progressing and Drawing being the highlighted words. Still shtruggling.


In a similar case of my own obtusity.... I looked twice, and askance at the appearance of my "eleven steps" in DZ's piece; but it never occurred to me to search for the meta schema there. clever, DZ. Sorry I missed it.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Ha, I hoped that at least some people would notice their words in there and look further. But not askance.

 

[TitaniumTi]

I did work out what was going on, TDZ. "Enchanting dandelion" clued me in, not the words from my own entry. I didn't consider voting for it because I didn't think it was absurdist.

I've now given it the "like" it deserves; I couldn't do so before voting closed.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I did work out what was going on, TDZ. "Enchanting dandelion" clued me in, not the words from my own entry. I didn't consider voting for it because I didn't think it was absurdist.

It probably wasn't. I wasn't likely to write anything worthwhile that actually qualified as absurdist, so I settled for absurd.

I've now given it the "like" it deserves; I couldn't do so before voting closed.

Thanks, but ...err... better not. It's impossible to tell, in the future, when a "like" happened, and we don't want people saying, "but...but...you let him do it, back then." It's very kind of you, though.

 

[TitaniumTi]

Okay... Fixed.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

 

[LittleStar]

Congrats on the win, StilLearning


Thanks everyone who mentioned my story. Just a quick explanation of it for anyone who might have been stumped. I went straight to wiki to search for 'absurdist' and the picture that came up (apparently the kind of motto for the movement) was Sisyphus' punishment for being a trickster and cunning sneak. In Taratus he rolls his boulder up the hill everyday, only to have it roll down the other side once he got to the top.

For me this is the epitome of meaningless tasks, and the perfect metaphor for an absurd story. So that left me with the 'path not taken' theme, and if there is only one path that Sisyphus can take up his hillI needed to add in a path that he wanted to take, but was never allowed. And so was born the somewhat anachronistic elevator that Hephaestus never got around to repairing. But i think there always has to be the tiniest point of hope, even in something as nihilistic as absurdism, so Sisyphus keeps going back every morning to check if the elevator is still broken, on the very off chance that he might be forgiven his sins 'For a Life Spent in Cunning'.

 

[HareBrain]

Congrats, StilLearning. A worthy winner, and up there on my non-existent shortlist.

Thanks very much to all those who mentioned mine, and to Cul, Hex, jonnyjet and Ihe for the votes.

 

[StilLearning]

Ye gads! I really wasn't expecting that! Thank you everyone who gave me an honourable mention, thanks to Parson, willwallace, Venusian Broon, David Evil Overlord, Mr Orange, and Saharren for voting for my story.
I voted for 'Brontosaurus’ Quantum Thesaurus' by David Evil Overlord, and my short short list (my shortlist being, well, almost everyone in the end) was:

TitaniumTi
Robert Mackay
Alex the G and T
Harebrain
Bob senior
Farntfar
HazelRah
Venusian Broon
DG Jones
Joe Zebedee
Ursa Major

 

[crystal haven]

Congratulations, StilLearning!

 

[Perpetual Man]

Congratulations StilLearning, hope it makes your Sunday morning shine!

If I remember rightly I achieved one mention and one vote - which is astounding because I, of course, did not enter.

More seriously thanks to TitaniumTi for the vote, it really was unexpected and gave me a little boost when I saw it last night.

 

[Perpetual Man]

And here for anyone who might be interested is the complete list of Discworld books and a few others, with the words that appeared in the reviews.

Like TDZ my favourite was the Fifth Elephant, closely followed by Making Money, while the Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents was a nightmare.

And I can't go without mentioning The World of Poo with a bow and bad luck to Mad Alice that it happened to fall for her entry.

The Colour of Magic – multi-hued wonder

The Light Fantastic – Brilliantly Illuminating

Equal Rites – Balancing Routine

Mort - Dead

Sourcery – Start Magical

Wyrd Sisters – Strange Relationship

Pyramids – Geometrical Shape

Guards! Guards! – Protector Defender

Eric - Faust

Moving Pictures – Progressing Drawings

Reaper Man – Harvester Fellow

Witches Abroad – Occultists Away

Small Gods – Little Deity

Lords and Ladies - Noble and Feminine

Men at Arms - Warriors

Soul Music – Spirits Melody

Interesting Times – Curious spell

Maskerade - Deception

Feet of Clay – Fallible

Hogfather – Swine Dads

Jingo – Warlike Tribe

The Last Continent – Final Land

Carpe Jugulum – Seize Throat

The Fifth Elephant – The Pent Pachyderm

The Truth - Reality

Thief of Time – Robbed Chronological

The Last Hero – Final Champion

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents – Astounding Name Belonging to Him Learned Mice

Night Watch – Dark Observing

The Wee Free Men – Small at Liberty People

Monstrous Regiment – Shocking Troop

A Hat Full of Sky –A Cap Complete of Blue

Going Postal – Moving Mail

Thud! - Smash

Where’s My Cow? – Someplace Belongs to Me Bovine?

Wintersmith – Seasonal Maker

Making Money – Creating Cash

Unseen Academicals – Unnoticed Lessons

I Shall Wear Midnight – Individual Will Clad Darkness

Snuff - extinguish

A Blink of the Screen – Flicker of the Window

World of Poo – The Planet of Excrement

Raising Steam – Climbing Mist

The Shepherd’s Crown – Guide Head

The Carpet People – Rug Folk

The Dark Side of the Sun – Shady Flanked of the Star

Strata – layers