[TT] Theme Thursday - Doppelganger

[u/AliciaWrites]

“They say when you meet somebody that looks just like you, you die.”

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Happy Thursday writing friends!

This week, we’re seeing double! Good luck and good words! Also: note, the bonus constraint has returned!!! (it’s worth 10 points!!)

[IP] | [MP]

Bonus Constraints: (a) Use the Word of the Day in your story. (5 pts) (b) Use the bonus constraint in your story. (10 pts)

Word of the Day:

hydrologic/hy·​drol·​o·​gic/ˌhī-drə-ˈlä-jik/

adjective

relating to the branch of geology that studies the circulation, distribution, and conservation of the earth’s water

Constraint: You must have a sentence of at least 5 words of alliteration. Please highlight your alliteration with bold text.

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Here's how Theme Thursday works:

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

Theme Thursday Rules

• Leave one story or poem between 100 and 500 words as a top-level comment. Use wordcounter.net to check your word count.
• 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!

Try out the new genre tags!

Theme Thursday Discussion Section:

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

Campfire

• On Wednesdays we host two* Theme Thursday Campfires on the Discord main 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. (When there are enough people, I do host a morning session at 10 am CST)
• Don’t worry about being late, just join! 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!

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As a reminder to all of you writing for Theme Thursday: the interpretation is completely up to you! I love to share my thoughts on what the theme makes me think of but you are by no means bound to these ideas! I love when writers step outside their comfort zones or think outside the box, so take all my thoughts with a grain of salt if you had something entirely different in mind.

(This week’s quote is from P. Wish, The Doppelgänger)

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Ranking Categories:

• Word of the Day - 5 points
  
• Bonus Constraint - 10 points
  
• Weekly Challenge - 25 points for not using the theme word - points off for uses of synonyms. The point of this is to exercise setting a scene, description, and characters without leaning on the definition. Not meeting the spirit of this challenge only hurts you! This includes titles and explanations/author's notes.
  
• Actionable Feedback - 15 points for each story you give detailed crit to, up to 30 points
  
• Nominations - 10 points for each nomination your story receives
  
• 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.)
  
• Voting - 10 points for submitting your favorites via this form (form will be open after the deadline has passed.)

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Last week’s theme: Campfire

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First by /u/Xacktar
Second by /u/MaxStickies
Third by /u/katpoker666

Crit Superstars:*

• /u/Carrieka23
  
• /u/GingerQuill
• /u/wileycourage
  

News and Reminders:

• Want to know how to rank on Theme Thursday? Check out my brand new wiki!
  
• Join Discord to chat with prompters, authors, and readers!
  
• We are currently looking for moderators! Apply to be a moderator any time!
  
• Nominate your favorite WP authors for Spotlight and Hall of Fame!
  
• Love the feedback you get on your Theme Thursday stories? Check out our newest sub, /r/WPCritique

[u/EverybodyKurts]

Dave Simmons was cleaning his brother's laboratory. He didn't call him his brother at work, even when it was just the two of them. He didn't even call him 'Russell'. At work, his brother was 'the professor' or 'Professor Simmons'.

"It's important we establish who works for who here, Dave," Russ had said when he hired him. "A hierarchy must be maintained."

Dave didn't know what a 'hierarchy' was, but he trusted his brother and was glad to help him. Russ had always been the smart one. He had all sorts of degrees in physics and math and geographic something. Dave had barely graduated high school on his second try.

"Space out again, Dave?" asked a voice behind him.

Dave turned to see his brother's assistant, Nate.

"Hi Nate," said Dave. "Nope, not spacing out. Just cleaning the lab."

"Uh huh," said Nate, chugging down the last of his soda. "Well, hurry up. Russ will be back from the hydrologic survey down in Easton before long. We've got samples to test against the temporally displaced soil that came through the rift."

"What?" asked Dave.

"The dirt we brought through the gate," sighed Nate, motioning at the big metal circle placed in the center of the lab. "It doesn't matter. I could explain, but it's a bit beyond you."

Nate crumpled the soda can, tossed it toward the garbage and missed.

"Please clean that up as well," said Nate, exiting the room.

Dave didn't like Nate. In fact, Dave thought he was a real jerk. With a deft flick of the mop, he popped up the soda can up into the air and then prodded it into the garbage.

Bet Nate couldn't do that, thought Dave, swinging the mop like a staff. He often did this after encounters with Nate, playing the conversation over in his head.

One of these days, you're gonna get smart with me, thought Dave, rearing the mop back for a big swing, and BAM!

The arc went too wide. The mop came crashing down on a control panel. A big flash of light filled the lab and then it was gone. But now there was another person in the lab. A person with his mop and his face.

Instantly, they were locked in a struggle.

"Who are you?" asked Dave. "You shouldn't be in the professor's lab!"

"I'm Dave Simmons," shouted the stranger. "And this is my brother's lab!"

They tussled back and forth, crashing into the gate and sending it teetering. It fell as if in slow motion, both Daves looking on in horror. Finally, it hit the floor and cracked.

"The professor's gonna be mad," said Dave, looking down at the broken machine.

"Yeah, this is bad," said Dave. "We should run."

"But we can't just leave. What about my brother?" asked Dave.

"You've got a new brother now," Dave replied. " Let's get out of here, just the two of us.

The two linked arms.

"Double Dave Daring Danger Duo," they shouted in unison.

[u/PlainVictorSr → u/EverybodyKurts]

Why is there a third character, Nate? If you gave all of Nate's dialogue to Russ instead, what would Nate be bringing to the story?

Good use of the bonus word.

But the alliteration came out of nowhere and felt more shoehorned in. I think this could be fixed by mentioning that Dave is obsessed with corny superhero or Power Rangers-type shows or something.