Thanks for all the stories. I spent a lot of time going back and forth on the votes. Some minor feedback:
ElectricBlanketFire: Dating Tips For The Nervous Nelly
Nicely put together. I'm guessing a Family Guy fan? I could actually picture some of the cartoons in my head as I was reading. One early problem I had was hitting the word "pre-teen". I wasn't sure why that came into it and it stuck in my head as something that was out of place with the rest of the work. Enjoyed it alot though and it was nice to have something lighter of about the right length.
ronito: Cursor
I also have a guitar in my room gathering dust. Except I was never good at playing it so instead it serves as an indicator of what could be, given the work, not what once was.
So yeah, maybe buy a flute? (but otherwise, the writing was nicely put together for what it was, you have clearly done this before).
kaepernickehs: Performance Anxiety -- Anxious Performance
I thought it started well, with an interesting concept relating to your "performance". But then it seemed to drift in and out of different pacing and motivations for the main character. It seemed to turn from something interesting into a more standard inner reflection which dropped the concepts I liked at the beginning. I'd like to see you stick more with the person being watched theme and see where that goes.
SquiddyCracker: First day
To be honest I kind of wanted to slap the main character to make him tell the story more clearly. It is an interesting device jumping around as if he was telling it in a fractured style, but it also results in your story having the same issue. Probably just needs a bit of refinement to smooth it all out.
Chainsawkitten: My Vulvic Nest
Well I can say it was extremely well written and I found myself getting drawn into the imagery you were creating.
Unfortunately the more ... controversial themes, took my right back out of it. I guess you were going for something there, so fair enough, but I personally wished you didn't as it seemed forced to me and very out of place.
mu cephi: Upside Downside
Interesting sort of world and a lot happens. However perhaps too much happens for a short story? I was a bit lost as to why he had to go downside considering how much he was trying to avoid it (and rightly so given the ending). Seems to me there would need to be another solution or a bit of a fight put up first. Would work great as a longer story I'd expect.
multivac: The Butcher of Stormeer
Nice story, I'll only just say that I'd rather have longer paragraphs with more description of what is going on. Instead you seem to be moving things along at a really fast pace which made it feel a little bit rushed. Of course that is probably due to the word limit but it meant it was all spread too thin.
Aaron: Sodom's Secret
I really liked the dialogue in this story. The consistency and committment to the period is something that I missed in my story I think (not having really decided upon one). The story itself didn't grab me as much and I felt like it could have done with more of a twist or exploration of the motivations.
Tangent: Inevitable Questions
Just found it hard to get into this one. Can probably write it off as getting lost amongst all the other entries. Need to go more commercial
Cyan: By the Book
Solid story, enjoyed it a lot. I will say that the rule against "anthropomorphize your AI construct" kind of seemed odd given they put in effort to appearance and cute actions like preening. Seems to me the marketing departments of the time are intentionally causing trouble.
hey_monkey: Still
A pretty tough thing to write I imagine and you held it together well throughout the length of the story. Didn't really enjoy it of course, but that would be the point. Well done.
Mike M: The Process
As usual it read nicely, but I thought it was an idea spread far too thin and I'm not a fan of all the TV show references. Overall just felt like something I had read before, if not a particularly well written work.
Thanks for the feedback btw, will take that on board with the choice of dialogue given I ever expand on it.
Nezumi: The Fox and the Kettle
A bit different from the other stories in that I didn't like the opening and found it a bit confusing to follow. From there though, things really got going and I found the exchange between the two characters quite interesting.
I was a bit disappointed that there didn't seem to be any pay off at the end. One of those stories I think that I'd like to read chapter two to see where it was going (assuming it isn't towards hot steamy fox sex...well maybe)
Ashes1396: blighted candle
Very powerful and extremely well written opening. From there unfortunately I found it hard to follow. It was probably a combination of the themes I'm not too familiar with and the choice of formatting as the work became a lot more broad.
I'd have preferred it was kept shorter and more linearly focused, especially given the style.
Bootaaay: No Choice in the Matter
I had some feedback in my head when I finished it...but then read your spoilered section and you pretty much trumped it
More space and time would have helped you flesh out the issues. Unfortunately I don't think I can help you on the genre.
Ward: Neon Nights Look Larger As Approached
One of those stories where I was reading along confused until I got to the point where you explained what you were getting at. Once there, I quite enjoyed it and think it was an interesting concept. It was a struggle though (probably due to reading so many diverse pieces) so maybe just need to tighten up the opening somehow to keep readers pushing on.
I will say that I didn't like the ending with the use of real names. I don't think the story needed it and it detracted from what you had built up. I already had those images in my head, so it would have been better to leave it ambiguous.
Picks
1.) ElectricBlanketFire
2.) hey_monkey
3.) Cyan
HM: kaepernickehs for an interesting concept, Ward for being oh so close.