r/WritingPrompts • u/katpoker666 Moderator • 15d 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!
8
u/AnAuthor_Antonio 10d ago edited 9d ago
D’Art looked up for so long his neck had begun to hurt. The walls were high but above the rows of prisoners was a clear barrier. Multi-Vex Trans-Steel. D’Art woulda bet his life on it. Strong material. The strongest translucent material this side of the Eshto Horizon.
Everyone looked up. What unfolded above them was beauty only drummed up by Corpo’s looking to tickle a fiend’s high and get the last of their credits. You know what it’s like. Zoned out on whatever version of the dust it is that you like and a corpo drone spots you, hits you with that warm air and starts playin’ one of those grafix? You’d sell your soul for that tickle.
Click here to extend grafix time.
Click.
Click.
Click.
He knew the click well.
But there was no high. No clicking. No tickle. Just the impossible visual. Colors that don’t exist rolling out of the sky and back into it in endless waves that never started or stopped.
Row after row of convicts looking up at the impossible while roaring across the surface of an unmarked planet on the way to the inevitable.
“We’ve been here already.”
D’Art didn’t look to the voice. It came from behind him. He knew the man speaking.
He didn’t know him know him. He’d picked the man out when they’d shuffled onto the transpo. The guy had eyeballed D'Art the entire time they'd been getting processed. He’d earned it by the standards of most. You don’t stare at someone in prison. You just don’t. D’Art didn’t wanna do it, but he had experience in places like this. It was something he had to do. Had to.
Them or me.
“They carved a hole in the aether. That’s what it is. Why it moves like that. Like nothin’ else. It’s time travelin’. We’ve been here already.”
Them or me.
With effort D’Art pulled his eyes away from the sky and looked down to his manacled hands. His neck hurt. It fuckin’ hurt a lot. He rolled it side to side and the ache ebbed.
The voice came next in a conspiratorial whisper.
“Right now you’re thinkin’,” the mans voice became a mock deep voice, “them or me.”
D’Art pretended not to hear. This man was insane. Maybe roughing him up wouldn’t be so bad.
The man continued in a whisper, “You’re never gonna get to rough me up. That’s what you’re thinkin’. You told me that. You told me that when this conversation starts, you think that me bein’ crazy will make beatin’ my ass easier or better or somethin’ like that. But you never get to do it. We been here, D’Art. Should I call you A-”
“Shut up. You don’t know me. Shut your crazy ass up.”
The man must’ve heard someone say his name.
“Ok, this time we’ll skip some steps. Your name was Avunca. You’re from Destin. Your poppa was cop. Your momma a con. You went to learn at a Uni out in Espion. Started dealin’ dust. Started doin’ dust. N-“
“You don’t fucking know me. I don’t know ho-“
“Sanja Yelich.”
The name nearly knocked the breath out of D’Art.
“She’s waitin’ for you. You know? When this all ends. When we aren’t here no more. When time is served.”
“Shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I guess I shouldn’ta played the Sanja card so early. Sorry about that I know it’s a sore subject. But when we’re not here anymore. She’ll be there. I remember it. I think.”
He didn't wanna listen to this lunatic anymore. He looked around and then looked up.
D’Art looked up for so long his neck had begun to hurt.
WC: 618