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In
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# ¿ Feb 1, 2023 02:25 |
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# ¿ Sep 15, 2024 14:26 |
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Ula (archived) Pham Nuwen fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Mar 21, 2023 |
# ¿ Feb 6, 2023 04:55 |
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Strange Cares posted:ENTRIES ARE CLOSED Hey I'll judge if we're still short.
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# ¿ Feb 20, 2023 00:30 |
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Judge crits for week 550: Note: I am reading the stories first, then looking at the prompt image. I hope this gives me a different perspective on the stories as stories... a proper guidebook doesn't always have images for every section, so your prose should stand on its own. * The City (Staggy): I like where this is going, sort of reminds me of the post-apocalyptic gameshow sketch on Mitchell and Webb. But when I hit the end, I was left wanting more, something more substantial, a deeper secret being hinted at. It sorta reads like a sketch of a location for a role-playing game, and I've definitely read my share of RPG sourcebooks, but the best part of those is the part where it mentions the Old God living in the sewer or whatever. After seeing your prompt: I vaguely remember seeing this when it was assigned, and it's not what I expected after reading your entry. I don't know if that's good or bad! Mid * The Fish of A-Declerq Bay (My Shark Waifuu): The most unbelievable thing about getting to A-Declercq Bay is that it only takes 28 hours--hell, Southwest sometimes takes longer than that to go from Denver to LA. Anyway the opening is flavorful but bordering on too much. The descriptions of the fish are pretty good, but almost too realistic in that they're not "too weird" to be actual real-world fish. I like the voice, especially the final paragraph where the tourism writer laments that all the tourists are going to start showing up in the place he's writing about. After seeing your prompt: this feels like a tough one to write a guidebook for, because it's just 3 pictures of fish. I think you did ok with what you had to work with. Mid * The Pillars of Transfiguration (Idle Amalgam) Ok, I assume this was "inspiration" not "guidebook" (edit with judgemode off: wtf it was supposed to be guidebook, you should have got the loss for that alone). First off, lemme nitpick, in South Florida it's a trunk, not a boot, but maybe Johnny is British... "vast queue" later on indicates the same. "Angry or sympathetic faces"... which is it? I am ok with the premise here, but I think it would have been stronger if the discs had been established before the penultimate paragraph, and I think there were so many words spent on Miami Vice at the start that there weren't enough left for a satisfying story... if Johnny had spent 1 paragraph wandering the woods looking for the coke drop and stumbled on this instead, you could have developed the meat of it further. I also think the words "concatenated" and "mess" don't go together, and in general you should aim for plainer language with fewer adjectives/adverbs. After seeing your prompt: yeah ok. Low, if not loser. * Birdbrain (BeefSupreme) I see Telegraph Ave, I'm expecting at least a *little* Berkeley flavor, so let's get started! Right off the bat I'm getting a Lovecraft vibe just from the way things are written: a buyer of old books, a secret manuscript, etc. Once you started to zero in on the illustrations of birds I realized where we were going... but I hoped we would have something more than "teenager literally says Birds Aren't Real, the end". I was also entirely sick of the narrative voice by the third paragraph--if you had cut out all the cute asides, you could have written more story! After seeing your prompt: Like the fish prompt, I get that this would be a tough one to do, but since you weren't writing a guidebook page you had more leeway. I've done the "shaggy dog story in a funny voice" kind of thing myself and to be honest it rarely lands. Also you didn't give me any Berkeley flavor! Low. * The Mill of Policy (Chernobyl Princess) In the first two paragraphs, I'm hooked, I'm tantalized, keep it up. Declaring war on the Sun is ridiculous and funny, and then when we get to "young Seraphinian troops who had been asked to leave mass behind and become a violent waveform", I'm tickled. However I am a little disappointed by the ending; it feels a bit rushed. Also, "that invasion would never come" yet "the Solar War continued"? Anyway, despite the ending, I still really liked this. It feels like a sidebar in a guidebook, a little history lesson, and quite engaging. After seeing the prompt: you got a good prompt, and you turned it into a good story, a combination of luck and skill. High! * The Vomit-Priests of the City-State of Kherst (Slightly Lions) I didn't make any notes while I read this because I was oddly hooked. It's got the feel of academic writing without quite the level of impermeable jargon of the real thing, and the footnotes really make the story--but I'm a sucker for history books from an alternate universe, like the Terran Trade Authority books. I liked it a lot, although really it's encromancy, not haruspicy. I would like to say that for some reason I'm very suspicious of all the names you've used here and if I ever figure out that they're all some sort of meta joke there will be hell to pay. After seeing the prompt: This wasn't the most difficult prompt of the week, but it also wasn't the easiest, and I think you turned it into something really good. High. * Sustainability (Dicere) Ok, it seems like we're looking at a parallel universe that's kinda like ours (Chicago) but not quite (mushroom-based recycling & reanimation). Maybe I'm just being obtuse, or maybe I've read too many stories today, but I just don't Get It. This didn't really work for me, although I appreciate the middle school textbook structure toward the end. Timelines aren't clear, and it's not sufficiently clear what the Collective is (some sort of mycelium-mediated collective consciousness?), or what exactly Recombination is all about. I don't need exhaustive answers, and I appreciate that this is structured as a textbook for children steeped in that culture, but it's only barely more informative than the imaginary text of the Codex! After seeing the prompt: I get the junk theme now, but it's still not working for me. Low-mid. * A Candleman's Funeral (Thranguy) Your first paragraph explains what a Candleman is pretty drat well in just a few words, and I commend you. Now, the problem with "guidebook" stories is that guidebooks aren't usually particularly compelling reading, and unfortunately by the time we get to the actual process of the ritual, there's not really anything new about the world to be revealed. Some stories (I'm thinking of Vomit-Priests) turned descriptions of rituals into something really fun, and I think it's as much about the style as it is the substance, but in this case the style didn't quite click for me. After seeing the prompt: I guess I'd have liked to know why candlemen are on gondolas. Mid-high.
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# ¿ Feb 21, 2023 00:39 |
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In
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# ¿ Feb 24, 2023 16:55 |
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Chinook Run (archived) Pham Nuwen fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Mar 21, 2023 |
# ¿ Feb 27, 2023 04:25 |
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In, flash and picture please
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# ¿ Mar 8, 2023 20:14 |
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In the Oak-Lot (archived) Pham Nuwen fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Mar 21, 2023 |
# ¿ Mar 13, 2023 04:02 |
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WEEK 554: Sci-Fi Metadome I've been reading science fiction since I was a little kid. It's my favorite genre, so obviously I want to watch you incompetents render it into slop and garbage. This week, I want you to write a science fiction story. When you sign up, I'll assign you a randomly-selected title from a previous Thunderdome week, which should in some way inform your story, for example "Week #14 You shouldn't be here". You're only taking inspiration from the title, not the actual prompt itself--there's no need to go into the archives to look up that week, just write me a story about how somebody shouldn't be someplace. I will exclude uninspiring titles like "THUNDERDOME 10TH BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA" (although actually, that could be kinda good...) If you've already been assigned a flash, but it's JUST NOT FAIR, MOM, I DIDN'T WANT THAT ONE, you can post again requesting a REROLL and I'll pick you a new one. Each re-roll costs 400 words, so I would strongly recommend against rolling more than 3 times. Word count: 1800 words (minus 400 words per re-roll) Signups close: Friday 3/17 at midnight US Pacific Entries close: Sunday 3/19 at midnight US Pacific Usual rules apply. Judges: Pham Nuwen Thranguy Dicere Entrants: Violet_Sky - Ships Passing in the Night (week 315) My Shark Waifuu - MYSTERY SOLVING TEENS (week 203) Obliterati - Strange Logs (week 179) rohan - Gambit from the X-Men - Pirates! (week 372) WindwardAway - Face Your Destiny (week 20) Giggs - What a Horrible Week to Have a Curse (week 343) Strange Cares - Beef Supreme - These Sainted Days of Spring (week 293) Slightly Lions - Gambling Degenerates (week 148) Albatrossy_Rodent - Attack of the Clones (week 109) Antivehicular - Taboo! (week 416) Bad Seafood - He's Not Quite Dead (week 75) sebmojo - SINNERS ORGY (week 159) Yoruichi - A secret is something you tell one other person (week 455) Dicere - The Frontier Was Everywhere (week 457) GarbiTheGlitchress - Dead or Alive (week 64) Pham Nuwen fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Mar 21, 2023 |
# ¿ Mar 13, 2023 23:28 |
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Ships Passing in the Night (week 315)
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# ¿ Mar 13, 2023 23:36 |
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MYSTERY SOLVING TEENS (week 203)
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# ¿ Mar 13, 2023 23:39 |
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Strange Logs (week 179)
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# ¿ Mar 13, 2023 23:47 |
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Communication Breakdown (week 301)
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# ¿ Mar 13, 2023 23:56 |
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Gambit from the X-Men posted:i want to try this Pirates! (week 372)
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# ¿ Mar 14, 2023 00:16 |
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Face Your Destiny (week 20)
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# ¿ Mar 14, 2023 01:02 |
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What a Horrible Week to Have a Curse (week 343)
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# ¿ Mar 14, 2023 01:14 |
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The best of the worst and the worst of the best (week 162) These Sainted Days of Spring (week 293)
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# ¿ Mar 14, 2023 03:08 |
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Gambling Degenerates (week 148)
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# ¿ Mar 14, 2023 04:34 |
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Attack of the Clones (week 109) uh I guess this is the part where i reiterate the rule against fanfiction
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# ¿ Mar 14, 2023 05:57 |
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Taboo! (week 416) He's Not Quite Dead (week 75) sebmojo posted:gently caress yeah in gimme a weird one SINNERS ORGY (week 159) this is the part where i reiterate the rule about erotica i guess? A secret is something you tell one other person (week 455)
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# ¿ Mar 14, 2023 17:29 |
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I understand that sometimes a flash rule just doesn't tickle your pickle, so I'm throwing in a new option: If you've already been assigned a flash, but it's JUST NOT FAIR, MOM, I DIDN'T WANT THAT ONE, you can post again requesting a REROLL and I'll pick you a new one. Each re-roll costs 400 words, so I would strongly recommend against rolling more than 3 times.
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# ¿ Mar 14, 2023 17:32 |
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Strange Cares posted:I will take a Reroll please EVERYBODY KNOWS poo poo'S hosed (week 199) you have 1400 words
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# ¿ Mar 14, 2023 18:13 |
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The Frontier Was Everywhere (week 457)
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# ¿ Mar 14, 2023 22:52 |
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Dead or Alive (week 64)
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# ¿ Mar 16, 2023 16:30 |
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We still need one more judge!
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# ¿ Mar 16, 2023 16:32 |
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sebmojo posted:Step up and judge if you haven't before, you don't need permission.
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# ¿ Mar 16, 2023 23:24 |
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rohan posted:requesting a re-roll Magic of Bronze and Stone (week 304)
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# ¿ Mar 18, 2023 08:19 |
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ENTRIES CLOSED
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# ¿ Mar 18, 2023 08:20 |
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Entries are CLOSED
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# ¿ Mar 20, 2023 16:30 |
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We still need one more judge. Post in here that you're going to judge, start reading, and either hit me up in Discord or send me a PM. If you've never judged before, that's fine, as long as you've entered a few times to get some feel for how it works!
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# ¿ Mar 20, 2023 18:37 |
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Week 554 Judgment I'm really happy with the turnout this week! You gave me stories in a variety of styles and sub-genres, some good, some not so good. Though I'd like to remain on the throne, chanting "more! more! more!" as you cavort for my amusement, the Blood Crown weighs heavy (and bloody) on my brow and I must choose a successor. First, the sacrifices: The loser is Gambit from the X-Men (Pirates!), for making us wade through a mountain of prose almost as tall and as thick as the piles of cyberpunk garbage littering their fictional city, only to find that there was no story underneath it all. Violet Sky (The Virtual Partner Experience) and WindwardAway (The Bone Sword) take Dishonorable Mentions for a tale about a self-loathing goon and a second-person retelling of a Predator movie. Now, the accolades: For Honorable Mentions we have Slightly Lions (The Even Chance), who gave us a lushly-described and pulpy setting but didn't quite stick the landing, and Strange Cares (Tomorrow's News), who gave us a lushly-described and pulpy setting but didn't quite stick the landing. No, that was not a copy-paste blunder. This week's loser would do well to read these stories and take some style notes. Finally, the win goes to rohan, whose they in the burnt ship told a complete story with a satisfying ending while managing to evoke a bit of one of my favorite authors. Ascend the Blood Throne once again, rohan!
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# ¿ Mar 21, 2023 16:43 |
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Week 554 Crits My Shark Waifuu - Loose Wires Ok, generation ships are cool. Unfortunately there's nothing less cool than a teenager, but I checked the prompt and yeah it's my fault. Anyway, it's competent, it just didn't grab me. I guess I would have preferred Nancy Drew… IN SPAAAAACE! I had to go back and check, but you *did* lay the groundwork for the speaker right from the beginning, and I appreciate that. Mid. Albatrossy_Rodent - I Don't Know Which One To Shoot: An Abdiwahab Warsame Mystery I liked this pretty well. Half way through I thought for sure it was actually going to be twins, not clones, but I was wrong. I would have liked to see more exploration of the effects of the memory integrator, because the idea of having two different memories of yesterday is funny. Also I'm laughing about the bearded, bespectacled, tweed-wearing… middle school gym teacher, whose fondest dream as a Marxist is to spend his days off eating junk food and playing video games (what's his SA username?). Mid. Obliterati - #lunaIRC.moonlighters I'm immediately torn because on the one hand, I like IRC, but on the other, I hate hate hate chat transcript stories. I think you captured the feel of an IRC channel quite well, but I don't know that there's enough story in it – it's only 288 words, and we don't really get much more than a sketch of "lunar terraformers keep stepping on each other's toes". Mid. Slightly Lions - The Even Chance I really loved the general feel of this, because I'm nuts about pulpy overstuffed settings, and I like the kind of gonzo feel you went for – if it wasn't set in the far future in the space between dimensions, I'd say it should be Hong Kong in the 20s or something along those lines. The card game sounds sort of like a cross between hold 'em and that card game in the old Mac game "The Fool's Errand". I had two problems with the story: it is incredibly obvious that he's going to lose and get turned into a slot machine as soon as the idea is floated in the 6th paragraph, and the card game goes a little too long / gets too detailed when it's all just Calvinball. High. Giggs - Only A Week Away This didn't do much for me. It felt a little clunky but not unmanageably so, but a bigger issue is that our "protagonists" don't actually *do* anything at all. I can't tell if Arthur C Clarke would be happy or annoyed that you stirred up 2001 with the Rapture, but I'm falling on the annoyed side – not for religious reasons, but because it just comes out kind of boring. Low. Yoruichi - Riven I don't know if I like this or not. I think I tend a little more toward liking it, but it's also kind of hard to grok. I'm not sure if there's meant to be much of a connection between the three vignettes, aside from "traumatized people on a doomed ship are doing stuff". I guess I'm old-fashioned because I would have liked a little bit more plot? Shades of Event Horizon in here. Mid. rohan - they in the burnt ship I like the idea of a wrecked pilot in a forever war, landing on a primitive planet & integrating with the natives only to find that one of them is another survivor from the other side. Kind of an inverse "Enemy Mine", and of course shades of Haldeman. The soup thing didn't really land, I just couldn't envision the impact of it. The native culture is a bit hard to nail down – when you talk about fetching water and hunting, I imagine nomadic hunter-gatherers, but then they're "villagers" and cooking with iron pots. Nitpicks aside, it worked for me. High. Antivehicular - Making Friends at Rekonnekt For a one-word prompt, I'd say you nailed it. I sorta love the character of the auditor, who has developed a personal moral code which allows her to do more or less the same thing she's nailing others for, and does it in such a way that we can't confidently call her a hypocrite! High. Gambit from the X-Men - Pirates! Even William Gibson took a breath once in a while. This is so thick in prose and worldbuilding (but vague, gesturing worldbuilding) that it obscures the fact that not much happens. It's almost hard to figure out what even *does* happen, but as near as I can tell the POV character pointed their phone at a drone, and somebody shot it, so the main character goes to where the drone fell. The people who did the shooting show up, and then the drone's cargo explodes and the main character runs away. There's a lot of description of the characters, but then they all get blowed up right away (sorry, chummer, time to re-roll the party). Low, because it annoyed me. Violet_Sky - The Virtual Partner Experience This one didn't work for me. Self-loathing characters can be interesting, but this one doesn't really meet the bar. I think you can either say "Zuck's metaverse will be a boring gig economy dystopia" or you can speculate about a virtual world so compelling that nobody ever leaves, but it's tough to fit the one inside the other. I guess the other thing is if you're going to do just a vignette, it needs something more than a straightforward Disney Princess pastiche? You had another 1000 words, almost–I don't necessarily dislike virtual world stories, so use the words to tell me a virtual world story! Low. sebmojo - Going out with a bang I was afraid you were going to rip off "They're Made Out of Meat" at first, so good job at not doing that. I want to ding you for the unpronounceable names but whatever, it makes sense in the context of their species. It's not a complex story or anything but it made me smile. Mid. WindwardAway - The Bone Sword This story is bombastic, and I'm normally a fan of bombast, but it didn't land for me. For starters, there's a reason second person perspective is rarely used–it's hard to pull off. Another thing: although the main character has apparently conquered many planets, its Earthly empire seems so small–I get no sense that it actually has an army or anything, it feels more like a solitary ship crashed & is ruling the local humans than the center of a galactic empire. Mid-low. Bad Seafood - Canopic Jars Funny how we got two stories this week about people generating tidied-up recreations of a dead person's life. I'm afraid this one is the weaker, although it is a pleasant-enough musing on the nature of memory – and the way we feel the need to edit out even the mildest of "bad" things when we tell stories about our lives. Mid. Strange Cares - Tomorrow's News This started off really strong, then fell apart in the back half. I'm all about zombie reporters in a weird mix of Ankh-Morpork and Virginia City NV – did you intentionally evoke Mark Twain's reporting career, or was that lucky coincidence? Unfortunately it sorta feels like you figured out a compelling and funny concept, but couldn't figure out how to land it, and the Chief didn't even say anything about cocks when he showed up again at the end! Also, Cheerwine and Lampo keep changing pronouns, sometimes in the middle of sentences, and while I guess things are probably more flexible among creatures that can survive getting disemboweled & defenestrated, it just makes the reading confusing. Nice use of the prompt though. High.
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# ¿ Mar 21, 2023 17:41 |
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triple-posting to say prompt, imo
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# ¿ Mar 21, 2023 18:19 |
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Belated Crits which I am writing because I looked at my archives page and I'm a completionist. Week #340 onsetOutsider - Lunch All I can say is it was better than your CYOA, "Sex Camp". See ya in hell. crabrock - Water In, Water Out, Water In and Shaken All About This was really something. I like the integration of the prompt, and I appreciate that you left crime stuff entirely out of it (except for all the pirates, I guess). Pirates rule. Four years after it was written, I'm kinda glad I came across this weird dumb story. Week #550 Albatrossy_Rodent - The Black Crown, Queen Chamorak's Edition with study notes by Tarqa Nwill, Master of Tohbist Sorceries at the University of Talamaran: Book of Eggs This goes for the exact same style as the Vomit-Priests story, which I loved, but it doesn't work here. You got a tough prompt image, for sure. Unfortunately the result is just not... anything. I think this
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# ¿ Mar 21, 2023 21:37 |
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Good prompt. In, with a flash, please!
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# ¿ Mar 28, 2023 17:07 |
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Quietly, Quietly 1454 words Flash rule: Warren Zevon - The Indifference of Heaven As usual, I woke with the sun, dressed, and slung my rifle over my shoulder. There were a lot of wolves around Seattle in those days. That's not a metaphor about muggers or anything, I mean literal wolves that wandered down from Canada. Nothing gets the heart pumping like rounding a corner and coming face to face with a pack of those big rangy bastards. There were no wolves in sight that morning, though. It was a sunny day, fresh from an overnight rain, and I enjoyed the quiet on the walk to my garden. Near the corner of Prospect and 4th, I found an ex-human who needed some help. It was pooled up on top of a discarded trash bag which had covered the storm drain, a big glob of bright blue goo that kept sloshing gently from side to side and making little whimpering noises. Careful not to touch the goo, I grabbed the edge of the trash bag and pulled it to the side. The ex-human slipped between the bars of the storm grate, making a grateful "hmmmmm". I carried the bag to a trash can nearby and threw it away, feeling one of those big whole-body shudders. The ex-humans creeped me out, so I was glad I rarely saw them anymore–the worst part is hearing them in your head when you get close. When the pills first showed up (nobody knew from where) and people started changing, you'd see those goo puddles everywhere, just waiting for the rain to wash them down into the sea. I used to go from house to house with a broom and a bucket just in case somebody took the pill in a room with a sloped floor and got stuck in the corner. I know it's a weird thing to do if I find them creepy, but I just didn't want anybody getting trapped. After I checked my beehives and my garden, I walked over to Dave's house. He was one of the only other people still sticking around in human form. He saw me coming through the window and was out on his porch before I even turned from the sidewalk. "Hey Maya, how's that .308 working out for you? I've been thinking about it and for wolves you'd probably be good with .223, better even, and of course I've got lots of that around." Dave had been a prepper before the pills started showing up. His basement was full of guns and canned food. "Thanks, Dave, but this is fine. I haven't even had to use it yet," I replied. "Here, have a tomato. They're just starting to get ripe." "Oh, man, perfect! I haven't had breakfast yet." He bit into the tomato right there, leaning forward so the juice didn't drip on his shirt. "Good stuff. Hey, I thought I might drive downtown today, see if anybody's still around there. Want to come along? I found a sweet old Studebaker station wagon a couple blocks away. Keys were in it with a note that said 'she's all yours', so I thought I'd take that." I thought back a few months to when I first met Dave. The neighborhood was pretty well emptied out by that point. He chased me off his lawn with a gun, thought I was a desperate looter. Now he was just desperate for company. "No, I'm just going to wander over to the library again, pick up some more books. I never got to read fiction as an adult, you know? I spent 10 hours a day reading legal documents and the last thing I wanted was to read more after work." We chatted a while longer before I finally extricated myself with a promise that I'd meet him down in the park that evening. I never would have talked to Dave before; I'd have thought he was a weirdo gun nut, and he surely had no use for a Democrat-voting lawyer. Turns out we had one thing in common: a weird streak of misanthropic stubbornness. There was no one else on the streets, and no one at the library. The library doors were still unlocked, with the sign in the window that read "please be gentle with the books, goodbye." I took some Mark Twain and Dickens; their writing felt comfortingly conversational. On the walk back, I saw a herd of elk grazing on the playground at an elementary school. In the distance, a dirt bike roared briefly. I met Dave down in the park that evening. He brought a spread of beer and wine lifted from the liquor store. We poured drinks and he told me about his trip downtown. "Pretty much dead down there," he said. "I drove around and honked the horn, but I only saw one guy, and he ran into Pike's Place and I couldn't find him. Something big was on fire down at the Port, but I didn't want to go too far in case the car broke down." "Did you go down by the water?" I asked. "No closer than the front of the market building. I could just barely hear them from there." "Gives me the creeps," I said, slugging back my wine. "I used to like going to the beach to think. It was quiet, peaceful. Now it's just all these voices in your mind." "Yeah, it's kind of creepy. I did listen for a little bit, though. Just for some company, you know?" At that point we heard a motor, and turned to see a nice silver BMW pull up. Katie was the only other person we knew who was still in the area, but we didn't see her often. She liked to hop around from house to house, apartment to apartment, picking the nicest places and just lounging around until they got too messy. Katie told us about her latest spot, a luxury apartment over by Lake Union. "It's nice, and the view is great, but you know the power's out and I'm getting pretty sick of climbing all those stairs. Maybe another couple days." As the sun set, Dave pulled a bag from under the picnic table. He dumped out a big pile of gold coins and jewelry, spread it around. "You guys want any of this stuff?" he asked. "The coins I was saving from before, and the jewelry I mostly picked up wandering around. I was thinking the other day and I'm just not sure why I'm keeping it." "Some of this stuff is niiiice," Katie said, poking through the pile. She pulled out a necklace with a large sapphire pendant. "Hell yeah, I'll take this. Thanks, Dave!" I picked up a coin and hefted it. I'd never actually handled gold coins before, and I felt kind of like a pirate. It was heavy. "You're just going to give it away?" I asked. "There's tens of thousands of dollars here." He looked up at the moon rising up above Mount Rainier. "At this point, I don't see what I'll ever spend it on. Who's selling anything? I was planning for revolution, war, famine, that sort of thing. If everybody just gets up and leaves, well, everything you could need is just sitting around." He sighed. "The stupidest thing is that when I have it in the house, I still worry about protecting it – but from who? Stupid. Just take it." I slipped the coin into my jacket pocket. Katie took a few more things. We drank a little, talked a litte, and watched the Milky Way come up. When we went our separate ways for the night, we left the pile on the table. When I got home, I put the coin on the table in the entryway, next to the unopened pill bottle that had arrived at my house (and everyone else's house) a few months ago. The label just showed a peaceful ocean, with the words "Reject Modernity" printed above it. "Not yet," I whispered to it, and I went to bed. The next day, I got up with the sun, grabbed my rifle, checked the garden and the beehives. The deer had nibbled my corn. For once, Dave didn't come running when I walked past his house. "You still hung over?" I called, knocking at his door. When he didn't answer, I let myself in. I found his note on the kitchen table: Basement's unlocked, help yourself to anything you like and tell Katie the same. I got tired of being alone. Hope you understand. You've been a good friend. PS: I'm going to take the pill down at Pier 91, can you make sure I make it into the water? I know you don't like the voices. Sorry.
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# ¿ Apr 3, 2023 04:10 |
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WEEK 557: You thinking what I'm thinking? Much of the interesting conflict and suspense in fiction comes when one character can't tell what another character thinks... so let's throw that all out the window and write stories about telepathy. Other than that, go hog wild. Write about mind-readers. Write about identical twins who can mind-talk with each other. What would caveman telepathy look like before language was invented -- or what's the Cyberlink like in the year 2525? You get 1200 words to work with. If you ask for a flash, I will give you ~something~ to work into your story, plus an extra 400 words. Word count: 1200 words, plus 400 more if you take a flash Signups close: Friday April 7 at 23:59, US Pacific Entries close: Sunday April 9 at 23:59, US Pacific All the usual rules about Google docs, editing, erotica, and so on remain in place. Judges Pham Nuwen Albatrossy_Rodent Entrants ItohRespectArmy (flash: detectives) crimea rohan (flash: https://i.imgur.com/J4Vs964.jpg) Slightly Lions (flash: drugs) Admiralty Flag Idle Amalgam Thranguy (flash: https://i.imgur.com/peZmgm4.png) Copernic Mucking About WindwardAway (flash: piety) Beefeater1980 Pham Nuwen fucked around with this message at 17:19 on Apr 5, 2023 |
# ¿ Apr 3, 2023 17:08 |
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ItohRespectArmy posted:In and flash please. Flash: detectives
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# ¿ Apr 3, 2023 17:18 |
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rohan posted:in, flash please
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# ¿ Apr 3, 2023 22:18 |
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# ¿ Sep 15, 2024 14:26 |
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Slightly Lions posted:In, flash me Flash: drugs
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# ¿ Apr 3, 2023 22:22 |