Hulver's site || Comments || WFC5: Voting o'clock!

First Post: Um. The prose is an bit too purple for my tastes, and I'm not really sure I understand the characters or why there was a steering wheel embedded in the crotch of one. The anthropomorphic condiments were a bit disturbing as well.
Nine Panels: I think this would make an excellent comic, though I'm not sure how it fits into the theme of the WFC.
Desired: I want to like this more than I actually do. "The food was terrific, the grammar just terrifying" is an inspired line, and the scene is evocatively written. In the end, I think I wanted it to do more.
The Review: This is a highly amusing story, and I like the tone throughout. It's an interesting take on the "food" theme, though I must admit that the disgusting dishes turned me off just a bit.
Fusion: Interesting concept, but I didn't feel any connection to the characters. I wasn't sure why I should care that Jeb wouldn't eat, except that, like the food, he was a bit insufferable.
What Do You Want?: I liked the way the food argument was interspersed with the trajectory of their relationship. The first couple of paragraphs were brilliant.
Almond Torte: I really like the voice in this one. I felt that it didn't really go anywhere, though, and Mr. Stark seems a solitary character. Why, exactly, would he need to scale the torte up by a third? This story feels like an excerpt from a larger piece.
Dream Logic: I cringed at the Gaiman quote at the beginning (what is this, a research paper?), but I liked this story more than I expected to.
Knock, Knock: Good dialogue, and this story has my favorite lightbulb joke in it. I liked the ambiguity of the relationship and of Jude's character. I felt like it was a cut-down version of something longer and more complex, though.
Taste Test: I liked this story, and I'm surprised it doesn't have more votes (as I type this). It's kind of an ideal vignette for a story this length. The ending could have been stronger, but the dialogue was excellent.
Con Queso: I'm with a lot of the other reviewers on this one. The details picked were perfect, and I could almost smell the sweat and the chickens. Amazingly well-done story.
The Snow Cake: This story started out with a strong premise, and the writing has a sort of fairy-tale quality that is both charming and terrifying - reinforcing my dislike of snow. The ending kind of trailed off, though. I'd rather have seen life return to normal - or not - without the entrance of the replacements so soon before the end.
Sushi Time: This story had a lot of potential, but I found it hard to care about the main character. This sort of missed-connections story is hard to tell well, since missed connections are the rule rather than the exception.
The Leaving Agent: I liked how this story wound around itself. The writing was engaging, and the narrator really drew me into her view of the world.

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inspiritation: the effect of irritating someone so much it inspires them to do something about it. --BuggEye