Submitted by Cody_Fox23 t3_106x4ek in WritingPrompts
#Welcome back to Smash ‘Em Up Sunday!
##SEUSfire
On Sunday morning at 9:30 AM Eastern in our Discord server’s voice chat, come hang out and listen to the stories that have been submitted be read. I’d love to have you there! You can be a reader and/or a listener. Plus if you wrote we can offer crit in-chat if you like!
##Last Week
####Community Choice
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/u/rainbow--penguin - “A Contract Sealed with Cocoa” - I can’t describe it better than the title does.
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/u/Zetakh - “Wedding Crasher” - An ex tries to interrupt a wedding in stylish fashion.
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/u/GrunkleStanwhich - “Bingo with the Devil” - Bingo is serious business and ruining a night out for many fantastical creatures is not advised.
####Cody’s Choice
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/u/gdbessemer - "Low Tide in Fel-Worth" - A detective settles an owed favor by helping a satyr find their sister.
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/u/katpoker666 - “Beyond Marilyn” - The story behind the iconic “Marilyn” work by Warhol.
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/u/throwthisoneintrash - “Mary’s Siblings” - A clever mouse helps her large family.
##This Week’s Challenge
Welcome to the new year one and all. I figured I would get the year started off right with one of the most popular theme months we have here at SEUS: Genre Month. Each week I’ll be throwing a new genre at you. Writing in that genre will only be worth three of the points for that week of course. The rest of the constraints are inspired by that genre and might help make a story in it a bit easier as the building blocks are geared toward it though. So let’s see you flex your potential. Use tropes, motifs, and stock characters to your advantage and let’s explore some genres that may or may not be familiar to you!
Great work on the urban fantasies everyone! The next genre up is not a genre as recognized by most definitions, but more of a story premise. However I want stories like this so you know, my feature, my rules. So what are we looking at? Well I’m calling it Temporal fiction: stories that are based in time being or acting weird. But Cody, I hear you say, that’s just science fiction! Well not exactly. It could also be fantasy with some sort of enchantment. It might even be a very grounded story with just a bit of time weirdness. I mean sure I love time loops, but you can do so much more with it. You could do traveling into the past, the future, encountering a time traveler, or time flowing abnormally. Just as long as time being weird is a central part of the story.
###How to Contribute
Write a story or poem, no more than 800 words in the comments using at least two things from the three categories below. The more you use, the more points you get. Because yes! There are points! You have until 11:59 PM EDT 14 Jan 2023 to submit a response.
After you are done writing please be sure to take some time to read through the stories before the next SEUS is posted and tell me which stories you liked the best. You can give me just a number one, or a top 5 and I’ll enter them in with appropriate weighting. Feel free to DM me on Reddit or Discord!
Category | Points |
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Word List | 1 Point |
Sentence Block | 2 Points |
Defining Features | 3 Points |
####Word List
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Loop
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Tunnel
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Anachronism
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String
####Sentence Block
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It was one of many outcomes
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There was time enough at last.
####Defining Features
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Genre: Temporal
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A character has knowledge they shouldn't.
##What’s happening at /r/WritingPrompts?
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Nominate your favourite WP authors or commenters for Spotlight and Hall of Fame! We count on your nominations to make our selections.
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Come hang out at The Writing Prompts Discord! I apologize in advance if I kinda fanboy when you join. I love my SEUS participants <3 Heck you might influence a future month’s choices!
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Want to help the community run smoothly? Try applying for a mod position. Everytime you ban someone, the number tattoo on your arm increases by one!
katpoker666 t1_j4b7ycs wrote
‘Time Stopper 3000’
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The holopixel echoed in the vast apartment. Sasha, the Shar Pei, with her crinkly face covered in slobber, lounged on her dog bed, awaiting her mistress’ return.
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8:34 PM:
<<Happy birthday, Alissa! Tired of crow’s feet, elevens, and marionette lines? Check out our patented TimeStopper 3000 Wrinkles Be Gone service! For the low, low price of 14 credits per wrinkle per month, we will literally freeze time on the parts of your face that bother you most! Yes, that’s right—targeted temporal stoppage is finally at your fingertips! Contact us now by touching anywhere on this ad!>>
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8:48 PM:
<<Alissa, you’re turning thirty-eight today. You really should have begun TimeStopper 3000 ten years ago to get the best results. Luckily for you, we can preserve what’s left of your rapidly dwindling youth. Contact us now by touching anywhere on this ad!>>
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9:13 PM:
<<Alissa, don’t miss this one-time opportunity—do a free wrinkle assessment now! Simply touch anywhere on your screen.>>
Sasha stretched before walking up to the holopixel and booping the screen with her nose.
<<Alissa, excellent choice.>>
Beams scan Sasha’s face.
<<Oh. Oh my. I’ve never seen anything this damaged… Haven’t you heard of sunscreen? I’m afraid we can’t help yo—>>
screen goes mute
<<Alissa—good news! My manager said we can help. For only…let’s see…14 credits per wrinkle…carry the one…that comes to 64,342 credits per month with tax. Save an extra 10% with a year-long subscription. Do you accept?>>
Sasha touches the screen with her moist black nose.
<<Fantastic. We will bill you directly to your account. And you’re personalized time freeze starts now.>>
Sasha stands frozen, doll-like. Her brown eyes and nostrils are the only parts that move.
“C’mere girl! Mama’s home! … Sasha?!?!!>>
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WC: 292
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Thanks for reading! Feedback is always very much appreciated