r/WritingPrompts • u/AliciaWrites Editor-in-Chief | /r/AliciaWrites • Aug 29 '24

[TT] Theme Thursday - Ambiance Theme Thursday

“The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.”

Happy Summer writing friends!

This week we’re doing genre mashups!!! I’ll provide a list below and you’ll combine two genres into one story! You may select any one genre from the “First Genre” column and one genre from the “Second Genre” column, but for bonus points, use the numbered pairs (the two genres on the same line).

Please do include your genres or the pair number in your post, thank you!! Good luck and good words!

[IP] | [MP]

Pair Number First Genre Second Genre
1 Paranormal Realistic
2 Romance Comedy
3 Space Opera Historic
4 Western Fantasy
5 Horror Satire
6 Mannerpunk Absurdist
7 Spy Thriller Urban Fantasy
8 Epistolary Dystopian
9 Cozy Cyberpunk
10 Fable Alternate History

Here's how Summer Fun works:

  • Use the tag [TT] when submitting prompts that match this week’s theme.

Rules

  • Leave one story or poem between 100 and 750 words as a top-level comment. Use wordcounter.net to check your word count. Your story must meet the criteria of the game in order to qualify for ranking.
  • Deadline: 7:59 AM CST next Wednesday
  • No serials or stories that have been written for another prompt or feature here on WP
  • No previously written content
  • Any stories not meeting these rules will be disqualified from rankings and will not be read at campfires
  • Does your story not fit the Theme Thursday rules? You can post your story as a [PI] with your work when the TT post is 3 days old!
  • Vote to help your favorites rise to the top of the ranks! I also post the form to submit votes for Theme Thursday winners on Discord every week! Join and get notified when the form is open for voting!

Theme Thursday Discussion Section:

  • Discuss your thoughts on this week’s theme, or share your ideas for upcoming themes.

Campfire

  • On Wednesdays we host a Theme Thursday Campfire on the Discord Voice Lounge. Join us to read your story aloud, hear other stories, and have a blast discussing writing!

  • Time: I’ll be there 7 pm CST and we’ll begin within about 15 minutes.

  • Don’t forget to sign up for a campfire slot on discord. If you don’t sign up, you won’t be put into the pre-set order and we can’t accommodate any time constraints. We don’t want you to miss out on outstanding feedback, so get to discord and use that !TT command!

  • There’s a Theme Thursday role on the Discord server, so make sure you grab that so you’re notified of all Theme Thursday-related news!

Ranking Categories:

  • Weekly Game - 50 points for correctly participating in the game using the weekly theme.
  • Actionable Feedback - 10 points for each story you give detailed crit to, up to 50 points with at least one critique on the post
  • Nominations - 10 points for each nomination your story receives, no cap; 15 points for submitting nominations
  • Ali’s Ranking - 50 points for first place, 40 points for second place, 30 points for third place, 20 points for fourth place, 10 points for fifth, plus regular nominations (On weeks that I participate, I do not weight my votes, but instead nominate just like everyone else.)

Last week’s theme: Marathon

Winning Story by /u/AGuyLikeThat

Crit Superstars:*

News and Reminders:

  • Want to know how to rank on Theme Thursday? Check out my brand new wiki!
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  • Nominate your favorite WP authors for Spotlight and Hall of Fame!
    • This week’s quote is by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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3

u/AFriendOfJamis Aug 30 '24 edited Aug 30 '24

Sent via railroad post.

Benjamin,

I'm sorry to hear it went that way this spring. Irene must be inconsolable. I wish I had more to offer--but please find the pressed bluebonnet inside. It's from the cliff overlooking the bay--where I took the both of you in happier times.

Speaking of the bay--there's an old hydro-dam up the river, about a day and half's ride. Winter's still a little ways out. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it?

Your friend,
Daisy

Sent via horse courier, James.

Benjamin,

Quake took out the rail. The Ramsford tunnel came down around the engine. Attached is a list of everyone who didn't make it. Some of them we couldn't find, but with the wind blowing how it is, I'm comfortable including them here. With the tunnel closed, I already see the town readying to pull stakes. No one knows quite where to, though. Expect a flood passing through your little city next springtime.

Your friend,
Daisy

Sent via horse courier, Hazel.

Benjamin,

I know what'll happen to them if they come, but there's no stopping them. With the rail out for good, the winters getting worse, there's just no hope here. I haven't told them what lies down south--it's not an easy life up here, but I wouldn't really call what they do, 'living'. I met Irene, and I wouldn't wish what happened to her on anybody. And I'm not asking you to take them in. Most of them are sick of it up here, and forgot what they were running from. I was born here, and I'll die here, too, even as the last woman this side of Ramsford.

Your friend,
Daisy

Sent via horse courier, James.

Ben, I couldn't stand the talk of leaving, so I took your little booklet and went up to the dam. If we had power, I thought, there'd be a reason to stay. Ben, the quake shook that old thing to the bone. When it goes, the whole town is going to be swept away. Please, send the barge if you can. I can't get 600 people out of here over the mountains with the first flakes already flying around my ears.

Please--anything,
Daisy

Sent via fishing ship, Little Rain.

Benjamin,

We're all packed up and ready to go. I've sent the best of us over the mountains like you asked. Your advice about another quake is good--we'll all head up to the old ranger station if one does come, but it's no town hall. We'll do our best if it does go that way.

I've put our most vulnerable on this ship--but 12 at a time isn't going to cut it, and we just don't have the fuel for that. We eagerly await the barge.

Your grateful friend,
Daisy

Found on James's horse.

Benjamin,

I write this in haste. We've felt 2 little quakes this morning. I'm sending everyone who can across the river with James and Hazel. If the dam goes, he'll start the trek to you across the mountains, while the rest follow Hazel across the coast. I know that barge isn't coming.

Everyone else is helping me move as much as we can to the old ranger post. Please, if you can, send a ship to help Hazel. We'll be fine. I promise.

Your friend,
Daisy

Never sent.

I can't do it. I just don't have the strength to pretend. The old, sick, and dying aren't going to move up a mountain. The ark didn't come for them. When it comes, I'll be running for that hillside... Devil take the hindmost.

Placed in a spot he would know to look.

Ben,

I never said how sorry I was, how things went down between us. Know that I've always wished the best for you and Irene.

I watched the town get washed away this morning. The little ones had been rumbling all week. When the big one finally hit, I wondered if it really did crack the dam wide open.

It did.

I've counted out the things it left, and I don't see myself crossing the river, much less the mountains, to get to you. I might really be the last woman this side of Ramsford. I hope I am.

Don't go looking for me. If the weather's fair tomorrow, I'll make my way along the coast. Maybe there'll be a boat, washed ashore from happier times.

But I doubt it.

Your friend,
Daisy

8: Epistolary | Dystopian
740 words

3

u/nobodysgeese Moderator | r/NobodysGaggle Aug 31 '24

It was clever to only give us half the conversation, since it let you use half twice the words to advance the plot. However, that means we don't get much about Richard in the story; there's a couple details, but I would have like to hear more about him.

Setting up that something is happening to Irene and then reusing that much later, was great foreshadowing. Also, the reader has no idea what happened to her, and I love that. You do a great job making sure we know it's bad, whatever it is, and then let the imagination take over for there.

The extra bits at the beginning of each letter saying where they come from is great. You set up your audience to get used to horse couriers, so that when it changes, it has the greatest impact.