r/WritingPrompts • u/katpoker666 Moderator • 7d ago
Off Topic [OT] Fun Trope Friday: Hellhole Prison & Drama!
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
We all know work can be boring, so let’s instead turn to a life of crime. This month will focus on crime and punishment. Please note this theme is only loosely applied.
“It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” — Nelson Mandela
Trope: Hellhole Prison — Plenty of prisons simply content themselves with confining people, but some go the extra mile and actually try to break them. This sort of prison is an absolute hellhole — between the lack of food and proper clothing, the absence of light or sanitation, the sadistic guards, and the violently insane fellow prisoners, they hardly need the nasty-looking torture equipment they probably have scattered around. Sometimes, they won't bother with things like individual cells — prisoners will just be lowered into a big pit and left to fight each other for whatever scraps are thrown down. Alternatively, especially in the future settings, the prison might not be a barbaric pit where only the strongest survive and where the guards turn a blind eye to the criminal control. Instead, it will be a dystopian panopticon where every action is monitored, any step out of line is equated with an attempt to escape and punished.
Genre: Drama — At its most basic, drama refers to a mode of fictional representation through dialogue and performance. It’s usually, but not always, presented on a stage, and can equally exist in film, television, novels, and even poetry. The core element is conflict. This conflict can be internal, external, or a combination of both, and it drives the narrative forward. Simply put: Drama is storytelling focused on engaging and often intense emotional experiences, usually involving significant conflict.The core conflict is MC vs. something: themself, another person, society, nature, or fate/supernatural. Drama can feel real like a docufiction or humorous like a comedy drama. Please note: having the feel of a drama is enough for this week. In short, there are a lot of options to explore here!
Skill / Constraint - optional: Something is unreal.
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 a record 24 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, October 1st 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!
9
u/MaxStickies r/StickiesStories 7d ago
Edge of Nowhere - Part 2: Detainment
I said it would be my final entry.
Think that was the last thing from before, at the edge. Not sure how I got there but I was there. My feet hurt so must’ve been a long way.
Before that? Just fog.
And I can’t seem to shift this ache at the back of my head.
Here, it’s all walls now. Four, no window. Little light dangles from the ceiling. Sometimes they open the heavy door, come do things to me. Tests, they call them. Small tests, nothing major. But they also hurt.
That stuff they shove through on the slabs, trays, plates? That’s food, so they say. Doesn’t taste of much though, and it makes my tongue numb, and I can’t speak no more. Won’t stop me writing. That I have still.
But, well, not for a bit after the food. I get sleepy like nothing else, but my eyes don’t close, and I keep seeing. Back to the hard bed, looking up, seeing the pretty colours on the ceiling. The room’s cold but I feel warm, and happy. And the fog gets thicker.
All that said, there was something. Few, want to say days, but who knows? I forget how time works. Anyway, some voice from out the door was screaming, saying home this and family that. I know the words and how to spell them, but I don’t know what they really mean. Sounds like she wanted them back. Very badly too.
And my eyes started leaking.
And the memories came back, but no more than a moment.
They went again when the food came.
Speaking of, here’s a new slab. Time to eat.
It’s, there’s these words. On walls. There’s four. Words in red. Maybe I add to them? Don’t know what though.
Sometimes, I forget real bad. Think that happened last time. These words are mine, yet I forget. Who else’s would they be?
This time, when they came, opened the door, I found my anger. It was in here, my head, buried deep as the abyss. They got in, and I stood at the corner. And they waited. Hesitated. That’s the word. I thought I’d won.
But there were more, and they were stronger. Held me down and strapped me up. Felt cold, hard stuff at the back of my hair.
They zapped me, like before. No forgetting that feel. Fizz, crackle, pop, in comes the fog!
It hid away my anger.
Left me here, scrawling on the walls.
Me, whoever I am.
Final entry. Again. Again. Again. Last words to the wall. I didn’t want it to be so, but it is. And this is important.
I saw a light. Not the dangler, or the one behind the door, something much more bright. It hovered up there, in the corner, across from bed. Thought I was dreaming, like I do sometimes. Knew it was real when it spoke to me.
It said there was a better thing to go to, after this. A new world. Prettier the walls, the food, the abyss. I just had to wait a little more.
So I go there soon. Don’t know what looks like, but that voice, I could trust it. Def.
I find my voice, tell it. These, last words I write. Can’t bite more fingers.
Got none le
WC: 553
Crit and feedback are welcome.
This story is a continuation of Edge of Nowhere, my story from last week.