h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Then stop whining and ignore me then

P.S. To figure out your mind is to empathise with a pre-menstrual ape with insecurity issues.

That's not an observation, it's a witticism to convey my wishes

I'm not even interested in whatever it is that passes for a thought process sputtering and farting between your ears.

It's called an imagination

Thanks for pointing that out. Quite a fertile one, too.

Maybe it's purely vanity, but I'm interested to know why you thought my 60 worder was joint worst. I'm not saying it's the best, either, by the way.

Because I don't like you.

Nah, that was only 99.9% of the reason!

The other 0.01% was that it didn't affect me in any way. It was a depiction of a sci-fi scene, as I read it. A space age exodus with some left behind, etc. But yeah, it was just a depiction, and not an interesting one, in my mind. No humour, no romance, no sadness, no horror, no drama, etc. Put simply: I didn't feel it attempted anything interesting, nor did it affect me in any way.

Or the 0.1%, as well.

I kind of expected as much from you, but what has me stumped was the low marks from those who reviewed it and actually claimed to like it.

Yep, that always bugs me too.

"Hey, great story! Great use of the title!"

Then you get a 7 and you wonder what they'd say if you deserved a 9 lol.

Other stories affected me just as much (or little) as yours did, but they scored higher because I appreciated what they were trying to do. I just found yours to be a little flat, just like the other lower score.

It's funny that I gave people SLIGHTLY more generous scores, and everyone else seems to give lower ones this time lol. Much fewer 9s and such flying around.

I think it might be a trend that you started.

Everyone was getting 8-10 to start off with and you (rightly, I might add) introduced a little sobriety into the process.

BTW, it was meant to sound bleak and flat, after all, it's the end.

Still, if it's not your thing, at least you said so.

"Everyone was getting 8-10 to start off with and you (rightly, I might add) introduced a little sobriety into the process."

I'm pleasantly surprised you said that. Yeah, I found it silly that stories were getting perfect 10s and such. Then there is the obvious favourtism involved, which is just part of the process. I'm sure there are some people afraid to give their online chum lower than an 8 just incase they offend them.

"pleasantly surprised you said that"

Surely you don't think I disagree with you just for the sake of it?

Well, I didn't see you as one of the people that appreciated my scoring system, put it that way.

It's not so much a system as a state of mind. I was just as guilty as anyone for keeping the scoring averages high first time round, it's just that I never really figured we'd all end up taking it so seriously, I guess.

Still, a number between 1 and ten can't take the place of a proper crit, but with these ultra short stories, you don't really want the crits running longer than the works.

That's the thing. These stories are tiny and so you have to grab people the best way you can.

I get the feeling a man will never win this challenge lol...

I'm thinking that the lasses outnumber the lads on this site anyhow. Sometimes I get the distinct feeling it's a modern day equivalent to a knitting circle.