Welcome to Writer’s Spotlight

Remember, spotlights rely on your nominations! So if there's anyone around the subreddit whose stories you love and you think deserves a shout-out, please do nominate them by sending us a ModMail or by using this Google Form

This month we are celebrating u/Jay_Pederson

Jay_Pederson has been an impressively regular writer here for a couple of years now, as well as contributing in discussions. Their stories are often funny and fantastical, but they can’t be pigeon-holed that easily, trying their hand at all sorts of different genres and styles through regular prompts and our Fun Trope Friday weekly feature. But one thing remains true: that their stories are always enjoyable. And because of how prolific they are, there are plenty of them to be had. You can find more on their archive subreddit r/JayPederson, which I’d recommend you check out.

Want to congratulate this month's Spotlight recipient? Have questions you're dying to ask them? Please do so below in the comments!

Congrats on your spotlight /u/Jay_Pederson

Read u/Jay_Pederson’s most recent story:

[WP] Your son just bonded with a dragon - which is highly illegal since you are not of noble origin. However, there is nothing that could break the bond a 60ft dragon willingly engaged.

Their most upvoted Stories:

[WP] “Babe, I have question,” said your wife. “sure go on, honey,” I said, reading my book. “Would you still love me if I was a Orc?” “Is this a trick question?” “No” “are we pretending I don’t know you’re an orc or……?” “Wait you already knew?”

[WP] Convinced that you intentionally wronged her, the witch cursed you, so that you would be as hideous on the outside as you are on the inside. You are actually a rather nice person, the witch is just an asshole, so all she did was give you a glow up.

[WP] You were a wanderer mage amongst the centuries, wrote diaries long lost in time, lived to see kingdoms come and fall, while becoming a professor you found out that people use... "incantations" and "staffs" to cast their spells.

To view previously spotlit writers visit our Spotlight Archive.

To make a nomination please send us a ModMail telling us which user you are nominating. If you’d like to include a reason for your decision we’d love to hear it!

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• Check out our newest weekly feature Fun Trope Friday!

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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

It’s October. The time of falling leaves, jack o’lanterns, and candy. And blood… so much blood. This month will be focusing on all things horror with maybe a treat or two to sweeten the pot. Please note this theme is only loosely applied.

"Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways." — Sigmund Freud

Trope: Freudian Excuse — The villain is vile, but has depth, as they have a reason for being that way. With the Freudian Excuse, the villain had an abusive and particularly violent backstory making them insane and warping their perception of the universe, and that's why they're sociopathic.

Genre: Giallo — A cycle of stylish, psychosexually loaded Italian crime films which peaked sometime in the late '70s. The name means "yellow," and refers to the yellow covers of the pulp detective novels that were adapted into the first of the films. Gialli are generally plotted as "puzzle" mysteries (with either police or amateurs investigating), but with a heavy admixture of horror and thriller elements. Major directors of gialli include Dario Argento, Mario Bava, and Lucio Fulci. Many American movies have been influenced by gialli. These include Basic Instinct, Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (when it isn't being a Spaghetti Western), Se7en, the Hostel movies, and most of Brian De Palma's filmography. As usual, please remember to follow all sub rules.

Skill / Constraint - optional: Leather comes into play.

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 17 stories, so we’re back to five winners. Congrats to:

• Visible-Ad8263

• Divayth--Fyr

• psilocybediatribe

• frenchfriesandcoke55

• Worldly_Lab_7061

Want to read your words aloud? Join the upcoming FTF Campfire

The next FTF campfire will be Thursday, October 29th 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 by next Friday at 11:59 AM EDT 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!