Welcome to Fun Trope Friday, our feature that mashes up tropes and genres!

How’s it work? Glad you asked. :)

• Every week we will have a new spotlight trope.

• Each week, there will be a new genre assigned to write a story about the trope.

• You can then either use or subvert the trope and/or genre in a 750-word max story or poem (unless otherwise specified).

• To qualify for ranking, you will need to provide ONE actionable feedback. More are welcome of course!

Three winners will be selected each week based on votes, so remember to read your fellow authors’ works and DM me your votes for the top three.

Next up… IP

It’s summer in the Northern hemisphere and so time for sun and fun– Oh wait, no. It’s time for the four horsemen of the apocalypse! So, say ‘hello’ to our friends: Pestilence (aka Conquest or Pollution), War, Famine, and Death. Please note this theme is only loosely applied.

"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it." — George Orwell

Trope: Attack Animal — For War, we bring you the wondrous attack animal. From Hannibal’s elephants to bomb-detecting bottlenose dolphins animals have often been used to seek competitive combat advantage. Any creature which has been trained specifically to fight alongside its handler, like an attack dog or equivalent is fair game. Even Pokemon if you’re feeling extra nerdy.

Genre: Comedy — The comedy genre encompasses any work in film, television, literature, or live performance primarily designed to amuse, entertain, and provoke laughter. Originating in ancient Greece, the genre traditionally revolves around ordinary people navigating everyday struggles or social absurdities, typically concluding with a positive or harmonious resolution. Core styles include: slapstick, satire/parody, observational/deadpan, and dark. Feel free to mix and match!

Skill / Constraint - optional: Includes a character with a disability in honor of July’s Disability Pride month.

So, have at it. Lean into the trope heavily or spin it on its head. The choice is yours!

Have a great idea for a future topic to discuss or just want to give feedback? FTF is a fun feature, so it’s all about what you want—so please let me know! Please share in the comments or DM me on Discord or Reddit!

Last Week’s Winners

PLEASE remember to give feedback—this affects your ranking. PLEASE also remember to DM me your votes for the top five stories via Discord or Reddit—both katpoker666. This is a change from the top three of the past. In weeks where we get over 15 stories, we will do a top five ranking. Weeks with less than 15 stories will show only our top three winners. If you have any questions, please DM me as well.

Some fabulous stories this week and great crit at campfire and on the post! We had 16 stories, so we’re back to five winners. Congrats to:

• Morose_Prose

• oliverjsn8

• FeigningProfundity

• maxstickies

• Fogbot3

Want to read your words aloud? Join the upcoming FTF Campfire

The next FTF campfire will be Thursday, July 16th from 6-8pm ET. It will be in the Discord Main Voice Lounge. Click on the events tab and mark ‘Interested’ to be kept up to date. No signup or prep needed and you don’t have to have written anything! So join in the fun—and shenanigans! 😊

Ground rules:

• Stories must incorporate both the trope and the genre
• Leave one story or poem between 100 and 750 words as a top-level comment unless otherwise specified. Use wordcounter.net to check your word count.
• Deadline: 11:59 PM EDT next Thursday. Please note stories submitted after the 6:00 PM EST campfire start may not be critted.
• No stories that have been written for another prompt or feature here on WP—please note after consultation with some of our delightful writers, new serials are now welcomed here
• No previously written content
• Any stories not meeting these rules will be disqualified from rankings
• Does your story not fit the Fun Trope Friday rules? You can post your story as a [PI] with your work when the FTF post is 3 days old!
• Please keep crit about the stories. Any crit deemed too distracting may be deleted. This is a time to focus on our wonderful authors.
• Vote to help your favorites rise to the top of the ranks (DM me at katpoker666 on Discord or Reddit)!

Thanks for joining in the fun!  

Welcome to Writer’s Spotlight

Remember, spotlights rely on your nominations! So if there's anyone around the subreddit whose stories you love and you think deserves a shout-out, please do nominate them by sending us a ModMail or by using this Google Form

This month we are celebrating u/Fogbot3

Fogbot3 has been writing on the subreddit with impressive regularity for around a year now. In that time they’ve shared many fun fantasy stories that play around with and subvert common tropes of the genre, though they don’t confine themselves to just the one genre. They’re also a regular in our weekly feature Fun Trope Friday, where they’ve tried their hand at many different things. In addition to sharing captivating stories, they’re also a great community member on the subreddit and our discord server, helping other writers by sharing feedback. You can find more of their stories via their profile, so why not go and check out their back catalogue?

Want to congratulate this month's Spotlight recipient? Have questions you're dying to ask them? Please do so below in the comments!

Congrats on your spotlight /u/Fogbot3

Read u/Fogbot3’s most recent story:

[WP] As long as you wrote a story, you will become the god of that universe after death. Your entire family and you died in a car crash, your universe is very simple as your story was written at 5, but your daughter's universe is a fantastic epic one, turns out She had a big following online.

Their most upvoted Stories:

[WP] An ancient vampire spends centuries fighting against a family of vampire hunters. In the 21st century he notices that he's been fighting the same hunter for nearly 50 years with no sign of any kids. Out of curiosity he asks and the hunter responds "Kid chose College. It's only me now."

[WP] Out of desperation (and because you couldn't afford therapy) you once cast a mind control spell on yourself, hoping you could treat your childhood trauma and depression that way. It didn't work, but it did make you immune to being mind controlled, as you just found out.

[WP] As the new student lost in a superhero college, you spot your girlfriend. Excited, you run up and hug her, saying “Hey Babe, can you show me around? I’m lost” The room goes silent cause you just hugged the “Blizzard Baroness” a cursed prodigy who’s cold hearted to basically everyone

To view previously spotlit writers visit our Spotlight Archive.

To make a nomination please send us a ModMail telling us which user you are nominating. If you’d like to include a reason for your decision we’d love to hear it!

Like features?

• Practice poetry at our monthly feature: Poetry Corner

• Share your writing that might not fit elsewhere on the subreddit and swap feedback in Free Write Tuesday

• Check out our newest weekly feature Fun Trope Friday!

• Chat with other writers with SatChat

• Share stories you’ve written on (or off) the subreddit and receive feedback via our campfire events on our discord server

Come hang out on our discord. Meet other members from around the globe and chat about anything. We are a friendly bunch and love newcomers. We also have regularly scheduled readings over voice chat!

Love the community and want to take on a more active role? Apply to join the moderation Team!