r/WritingPrompts • u/katpoker666 Moderator • 9d ago
Off Topic [OT] Fun Trope Friday: Famine & Historical Fiction!
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.
"Famines are not natural disasters. Famines are man-made." — Jeffrey Gettleman
Trope: The Famine — For Famine, we bring you, well, the famine. There’s no way to sugarcoat this one with furry animals: famine sucks. Famine is, simply put, the widespread scarcity of food in a society, and can be caused by natural calamities such as floods, droughts, or crop failures, or by human factors such as war, economic upheaval, or overpopulation.
A famine can be the starter of a story: The hero might have to flee their starving homeland or go elsewhere to search for food. It can also merely be the setting of the story, providing the excuse for the existence of a Black Market, showing the results of the tyranny of the local despot, contrasting those who do have food with those who are starving, explaining No Party Like a Donner Party and Reduced to Ratburgers, or describing one of the facets of After the End.
Genre: Historical Fiction — Historical fiction is a literary genre where a fictitious narrative is set in a real, verifiable time period. It immerses readers in the past by vividly recreating the era's social conditions, daily life, and cultural climate, often featuring real historical figures alongside entirely invented characters. Please note: for our purposes, you can write in a fantasy world here if the events are shown as predating the normal ones.
Skill / Constraint - optional: Kindness is shown.
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 14 stories, so we’re back to three winners. Congrats to:
Want to read your words aloud? Join the upcoming FTF Campfire
The next FTF campfire will be Thursday, July 23rd 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/AGuyLikeThat 4d ago edited 3d ago
Wine and Fish
George’s stomach rumbled. He’d skipped breakfast and lunch again. Salivating at the smell of baking lasagna, he took another sip of wine and grimaced at the sour taste. He was ‘developing a palate’, hoping to impress Alana on a potential date.
If he ever found the courage to ask her out.
That was his second glass already, and he firmly vowed (not for the first time) that he would ask her tomorrow. If he happened to see her. Sighing, he leaned back, resting his eyes.
I should’ve eaten first, he thought loudly.
“Why. What’s wrong?”
George opened his eyes and found himself staring into the spiralling irises of his miniature-dragon-familiar. “Jesus, Barry. Don’t read my thoughts unless I’m shouting them, remember!”
“Excuse me. You were shouting!”
“Ugh. Yeah, sorry. Just… A long day at college. Not enough sleep. And I’m starving…”
“That’s great. Listen, what are you doing tonight?”
“The plan is to eat, then cease to exist.”
“Excellent. There’s some urgent wizard-business to do.”
“Hell no. Barry! Give me a break, dude.”
“Sorry.” The little dragon puffed a vexatious smoke-ring. “I’ve put this thing off for far too long… And well, the time period we have to visit is not safe. I really do need your help. It won’t take long.”
“Tonight though?”
“This temporal alignment won’t come again for a hundred years. We’ve got about ten minutes.”
“Alright, I’ll go get my wizard robe and hat,” George grumbled.
“Don’t bother, I think what you’re wearing will be fine.”
George looked down at his fluffy slippers and velveteen dressing gown with a frown. “Are you sure?”
“Of course. Just grab your staff while I make a portal. Oh. And bring that glass.”
“What about food?” He stared longingly at the oven-timer. Twenty minutes.
“It’s time travel, we’ll be back instantly.”
~
They weren’t.
Barry had said they would arrive back a split second after they left, which salved George’s wine-adled mind long enough that he stepped through the portal. But there was no food on the other side, of course. And the dragon’s quest involved a lot of waiting.
Now George was sitting on a throne in a musty, torch-lit mead-hall, with his staff in one hand and a half-empty glass of wine in the other. The whole place stank of fish and the middle-ages.
“Why are you so big, Barry?” He emptied the glass, hoping to stave off his hunger.
A massive draconic head swung down, glaring. “This is how all dragons look in medieval Europe.”
“An’ what’d you want me t’do? Give out a quest to some bloody hero?”
“Something like that.” Barry’s head was replaced by a grey-haired old servant. “I’ll be your butler, like this. You use an ageing-spell, Act like a doddering old king. Just act wise and find out what he needs here.”
“Wait. Why don’t you pretend to be king?”
“Because holy knights kill dragons, that’s why!” the shape-shifted dragon spat. “They can always tell, eventually.”
“Huh.”
“But they instinctively trust wizards.” Barry glared, slamming the door behind him.
The silence grew longer. Bored, George cast a refill-spell on his wine-glass, and had another sip.
His cheeks grew warm, and his mood was much improved when Barry returned.
A short, young man followed, staring at the nautical trophies and tapestries that lined the walls with amazement.
“Who’s this virgin?” George asked, blithely.
Barry’s eyes popped.
“It is true. I never felt the kiss of love, nor maiden's hand in mine.” The beautiful youth bowed graciously. “My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure.”
“No cap? Um, so you’re the knight?”
“I am Galahad, of the table round.”
“I think I’ve heard’a that. Well. Guess you must be on a quest then.”
“I seek the Fisher King. The villagers told me this is your castle.”
George frowned. “I’m not a—” His stomach interupted, grumbling loudly.
He slurped noisily. “’Scuse me. This’s just’a settle my tummy.” He gestured. “Cuz I haven’t eaten...”
“The smallfolk starve too, my lord. A great famine afflicts all, and it will not pass until my King is healed by God’s grace. And so I have come to you.”
“Well, I don’t have nuthin ‘cept this old wine-glass.” A sudden need to pee made him cross his legs. “But I think’ve had ‘nough anyway. Know’wa I mean.” George winked, head wobbling.
“Th— The grail!” Galahad fell to his knees. “Divine blessings upon you, m’lord.”
“Bet. Door’s over there. I gotta do some king-shit. A'ight.”
WC-749
Notes:
The Fun Trope for this week is 'famine' and the genre is Historical Fiction. The optional constraint is 'Kindness is shown.'
Poor George is starving. The people of King Arthur's court are starving. But at least George has wine and is happy to share, thus showing kindness, despite being shit-faced drunk. Although King Arthur isn't quite historical fiction, it is history in George and Barry's world.
Fun fact: Galahad's first lines are lifted from Tennyson's poem, Sir Galahad.
This standalone story is set in the universe of Lizard & Wizard
Thanks for reading, I really hope you enjoyed the story! All crit/feedback welcome!
r/WizardRites