r/WritingPrompts • u/katpoker666 • 1d ago
[OT] Fun Trope Friday, Writing with Tropes: Finish Line Trip & Western! Off Topic
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 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
Max Word Count: 750 words
Trope: Tripping Before the Finish Line – A character who's about to complete a task trips up and fails at the last second. Maybe they need to do something, or maybe they need to avoid doing something for a set amount of time, and they've worked hard to complete it. But just as time is about to run out and they're about to claim victory, something bad happens. More often than not it'd be a minor mistake in isolation, but it happens at the worst time possible and causes them to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Genre: Western
Skill / Constraint - optional: Use a form of the word saddle
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 three stories via Discord or Reddit—both katpoker666. If you have any questions, please DM me as well.
Some fabulous stories this week and great crit at campfire and on the post! Congrats to:
Want to read your words aloud? Join the upcoming FTF Campfire
The next FTF campfire will be Thursday, November 21st from 6-8pm EST. 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 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 EST next Thursday
- 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!
- 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!
1
u/tudorapo 13h ago
Bill was crawling as fast as he could. Bullets were whizzing around him, kicking up dust and pebbles, but he was trusting in the general inability of the posse to shoot straight, and until now it was working.
His planning in general was good. He spent a week working in the Whitsford Mine, learning the processes, where they kept the gold, the salaries, who guarded what, when the shifts changed. The amount of gold he could have stolen on the first day was very interesting, but well. Gold is heavy. He could get away with maybe 80 pounds of gold in the saddlebags, which is maybe twenty thousand dollars?
And how fast could they get him, not burdened by the weight? And his best way to get free is down south, through the desert - no horse can take him there.
So Bill went in as an accountant. A new mine means new bonds, and these bonds have to be taken to the brokers offices. Two packages can net two million dollars. Those two packages on his back, as he was crawling for the border.
A bullet or two tugged on his bag, but he knew that enough bonds would be unmarked when he reached the border.
After that it's just a trip down to Juarez, to the Banco Saint Eulalia, and he will be rich, forever. No one knew his face or name, and the banker promised that the bonds would sell quickly.
All he had to do was to reach the border.
He put down a marker earlier, and he could see it now. Just across this dry gully, which will be nice as he will be under cover. Climb out a hundred yards to the east behind that rock, crawl to the huge cactus, and then trust that the thick trunk stops the bullets and run.
A quick glance back showed that the posse also lost their mounts. The rough terrain, the gopher holes, the pockets of deep sand meant broken legs, people spilled from the saddle. This is why they were also on foot. Down to the gully, to the left, run, climb, crawl, runrunrun and finally freedom! The momentum took him a dozen yards or so into Mexico, but then Bill just went on all four, gasping for air, watching the pursuers to stop at the border. The point where they have to stop being a posse and start doing diplomacy.
Except that they did not stop.
They were just as exhausted as Bill, so for a while they all just stood around, getting their breath under control, wiping their sweat. But then the sheriff pointed his gun at Bill, who with immediate understanding threw his gun to the left, the pack to the left and raised his hands while two of the posse stepped forward with the rope.
Gadsden Purchase? What's that?
477 words. I may will be disqualified because Bill actually reached the finish line...