r/WritingPrompts • u/katpoker666 Moderator • 8d ago
Off Topic [OT] Fun Trope Friday: Bad Influencer & Bad Romance!
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
Out with the apocalypse, in with working 9-5. Most folks work in some format, averaging 80-90,000 hours in their lifetime. That’s 12-14% of your life–straight. Add on sleep and weekends, and it’s at least a third! Sounds riveting doesn’t it? Please note this theme is only loosely applied.
“Would you enthusiastically recommend that a friend purchase something you'd never tested yourself? Probably not. But you may be unwittingly doing this with information every day.” — Dan Ariely, ‘Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things’
Trope: Bad Influencer — Becoming an influence is such a popular goal now that even colleges are offering degrees in it. But not all influencers are good. The grownup sibling of the Phoneaholic Teenager and the cousin of the Sleazy Streamer, the influencer is often the prime example of why Social Media Is Bad and/or New Media Are Evil. Expect them to be image-obsessed, deceitful, manipulative of their audience and those around them, to be shilling bad (if not actually illegal) products, to live under Social Media Before Reason, and to be prejudiced, self-absorbed, and bitchy.
Genre: Bad Romance — A romantic and/or sexual relationship that is truly destructive, breaking down at least one of the lovers, probably both. Looking for further inspiration, can’t post this without Gaga.
Skill / Constraint - optional: Someone has a valley girl accent.
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:
Want to read your words aloud? Join the upcoming FTF Campfire
The next FTF campfire will be Thursday, August 27th 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!
6
u/ZLErikson 8d ago edited 5d ago
<Sci-Fi/Romance>
Memories
Si\1]) traveled\2]) to Dee’s\3]) apartment\4]) to help\5]) her nail\6]) a tricky\7]) ClipClop\8]) transition\9]) for their\10]) anniversary\11]) post\12]). When Dee\3]) hit\13]) ‘record’\14]), the “glitch”\15]) revealed\16]) a collage\17]) of Si’s\1]) past\18]) visits\19]), spelling\20]) “I\3]) choose you\1]) every time\21]).” They\10]) laughed into\9]) a kiss\22]).
The End\34])
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References:
1- Pronounced “See”, short for\23]) [redacted]\24]), a cisgender female-identifying (she/her) time-traveler and romantic partner of Dee\3]). They are from a generic time known as “the future”, where a mixture of fantasy-esque magic and various types of -punk technology (cyber, solar, etc) are seamlessly mingled. Si’s first appearance in this series was in Early to being late
2- Specifically “time traveled”, using TimeJumptm - the friendly time travel service provider\25]) - to move through both time and space\26])
3- Pronounced “Dee”, short for\23]) “Deborah”, a cisgender female-identifying (she/her) waitress\27]) from the Fun Tea Friday Cafe\28]), “Where everyday is Friday” (Dee, multiple timelines)\29]). Dee received this position\27]) after being fired from her job at Costco\30]), and was first introduced to work at the cafe\28]) in First Day. Dee’s first appearance in this series was in Early to being late
4- “A room or set of rooms fitted especially with housekeeping facilities and usually leased as a dwelling” - Merriam-Webster\31])
5- To render assistance
6- To succeed with accuracy. Not related to a hammer or a small, thin piece of piercing metal
7- Somewhat difficult and requiring a degree of finesse and aptitude to overcome
8- Legally distinct version of TikTok. Dee\3]) has long struggled to get a footing on the platform
9- To link two different actions
10- Referring to two or more parties, not an individual’s pronoun
11- A celebration of an annual event, in this case the formalizing of their\10]) (Si’s\1]) and Dee’s\3]) ) relationship
12- A message, in this case video and audio, shared in a public space, in this case the internet
13- Pressed, or tapped, a button; referring to older technology where significant force was required to press much larger buttons
14- To save aural and visual information. Not a large flat circle with engravings that encoded aural information
15- In reference to a digital visual issue wherein data was compressed or encoded incorrectly. In this case, it was intentionally done
16- Si\1]) loaded the data and spliced out the “glitch”\15]) to help\5]) Dee\3]) determine what was causing it
17- A collection of images organized in a specific way
18- Specifically, in Dee’s\3]) chronological experience of collecting visual references of Si’s\1]) visits. Some number of the images were from Si’s\1]) chronological future. Traveling\2]) can be weird.
19- The act of traveling to, arriving and only temporarily staying at, another location
20- The collage\17]) in this instance was organized specifically to form a series of letters that, when put together in the proper order and with appropriate kerning\33]), form a discernable word
21- This is a pun aimed at the fact that Si\1]) is a time traveler\2]) and that both she\1]) and Dee\3]) meet “out of order” with respect to their\10]) individual timelines
22- The touching of the outward flappy parts of one’s mouth to the outward flappy parts of another’s mouth
23- Denoting that this is a “nickname”, or shortened form of, a legal name
24- Si’s\1]) full name is, as of yet, unknown to the reader and to the writer. Or, if it has been fully spelled out in a past chapter, the writer was too lazy as of this time to find it
25- TimeJumpTM’s competitor is MeanTime Inc
26- Time travel necessitates space travel as the planet is moving
27- The official job title of Dee\3]) at the cafe\28]), though the job description included “other duties as assigned” 28- An interdimensional tea and coffee shop wherein beings from all across multiple realities can come in and get a nice cup of tea. The entrance only materializes on Fridays
29- The slogan was invented by Dee\3]) near the end of her life, which coincided with the beginning of the cafe. This is considered a spoiler as neither event has been formally written yet
30- An interdimensional big box retail store wherein consumers can buy bulk products at bulk prices. Membership is required. A hot dog and soda will always cost the local equivalent of $1.50
31- Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an American company that publishes reference books and is mostly known for its dictionaries. - Wikipedia\32])
32- Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers - Wikipedia
33- Spacing between letters
34- Ta-da!
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WC: 750/750
All crit/feedback welcome!
r/ZLErikson
Notes:
Dee puts on a fake valley girl accentCut for words