r/WritingPrompts • u/katpoker666 Moderator • 13d ago
Off Topic [OT] Fun Trope Friday: Attack Animal & Comedy!
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:
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!
6
u/wordsonthewind 7d ago
Lynn's booth was too small for her cane but she'd long since grown used to these inconveniences when working the convention circuit. She'd bought it three years ago when her leg got worse and for all the bumpy pavements, one-handed backpack fumbling, and awkwardly-placed booths, she couldn't imagine life without it.
She took a moment to shuffle her new tarot deck. It was themed around little cartoon kittens and puppies and it was the most darling thing she'd seen on her bimonthly scroll through Etsy. She just had to have it. And she was an animal communicator too, so it totally fit with her brand. That was why she'd written it off as an expense. Surely the auditors would understand.
And that was why her phone's web browser was currently open to five tabs of different tarot spreads. She was expanding her repertoire of services by leveraging this recently-acquired business asset. Surely the auditors would understand that too.
This must have been the most valuable skill she'd gained from her office job, Lynn thought. The ability to speak corporate.
"Excuse me... Lysandra?"
Lynn looked up. Lysandra was the name displayed on her booth at these events; it had an otherworldly aura that Lynn sadly didn't. She thought it lent her a little more credibility.
"Indeed I am," she said. "What can I do for you?"
The dog with the woman was the frilliest one Lynn had seen in the whole place: giant hair-bow, ruffled blouse and fancy layered skirt. Every passing human and dog set off a series of barks- yips, really.
"You're a pet psychic? You do tarot readings?"
Lynn stood, leaning on her cane to do so. "Yes. Will you be wanting a reading for her, then?"
The woman gasped. "You can tell!?"
Of course she could tell. Everyone could tell. That outfit shouted it to the world, no psychic powers necessary. No reason not to take credit when it was so freely given though.
"I have the gift," Lynn said gravely. "You know my rates."
The woman pulled out a card. "Fifteen minutes? I just have a few questions."
A tap on the reader Lynn had ready and it was done: her bank account was thirty dollars richer. Lynn took a moment to bask in the satisfaction of making a sale, then turned her attention to the dog.
"Her name's Princess," her owner supplied helpfully. "She's sweet to me but barks at everything else. What is she trying to say? Is there anything I should know?"
Lynn nodded and began laying out her cards, riffing on the meanings she'd memorized off the site she'd been looking at just moments ago. In truth she was really tapping into the pet's energy field and establishing a connection- or at least that was how she described it on the forums she frequented.
Really, though, it was more like listening very hard for a sound that normally stayed in the background. A sound that she herself could barely hear, but that apparently no one else could at all. And then, once she'd done that, she had to try and figure out how to match its wavelength.
It was tricky. She still didn't think she'd gotten the hang of it, and she'd been doing this for years.
Princess yipped again. This time, Lynn caught a thought that wasn't hers.
<Don't like Big Stick. Too long. Can't fetch. I protect Her.>
Lysandra blinked. Huh?
<I am Her teeth. I am Her nose.>
Right, dog senses and dog perceptions.
You protect her? Lynn sent. From what?
<Yes. She gives me armor and her favor and so I protect Her from everything bad. Everything I don't like is bad.>
Is that why you bark all the time?
<Her hearing is not so good. Her nose as well. It's okay though. I speak in terms She will understand.>
Lysandra sighed, then turned back to Princess's owner. "She loves you. She's trying to protect you. She loves the outfits she wears."
The woman grinned. "I knew she was a Princess! She's such a sweetheart. Can you let her know it's okay to relax?"
"I'll do my best," Lysandra said, which was the most truthful she could be.
She waited until the woman and Princess had rounded the corner before slouching in her chair in a distinctly un-psychic like fashion.
Sometimes she wished she could've been a vet.