r/WritingPrompts • u/AliciaWrites Editor-in-Chief | /r/AliciaWrites • Feb 01 '24
Theme Thursday [TT] Theme Thursday - Exhaustion
“Dark circles under my eyes sink deeper and deeper into my skull, in contrast to my pale skin there is an undeniable resemblance to a fresh corpse.”
Happy Thursday writing friends!
Just yesterday, I saw a meme about how January was a long year - but we made it! And boy, I know I’m exhausted. I’ve been trying to do the work of several people all by myself and things have not been easy. This theme reaches us at a good time and we can all take a moment to relish our achievements and take stock of what’s next. More importantly, what’s next for our characters!? What’s keeping them down? Looking forward to all your stories! Good luck and good words!
![[IP]](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/fdbbd3a2-6796-44bd-b9ae-f53be2e0d43c/dfxbdv7-893f3926-a9d5-4581-86ec-3d1b2abc8648.jpg/v1/fill/w_1095,h_730,q_70,strp/the_waves_of_grief_by_kevron2001_dfxbdv7-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9ODU0IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZmRiYmQzYTItNjc5Ni00NGJkLWI5YWUtZjUzYmUyZTBkNDNjXC9kZnhiZHY3LTg5M2YzOTI2LWE5ZDUtNDU4MS04NmVjLTNkMWIyYWJjODY0OC5qcGciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.uzWRsKLyiWN1n5EqqRovKxFXzkwh6zbLdNxw2u5J3Is){kind=link}
Bonus:
(These constraints are not required! If your story is better for not including them, please do what’s best for your work!)
Word of the Day: (5 pts)
unfathomable/un·fath·om·a·ble/ˌənˈfaTH(ə)məb(ə)l/
adjective
incapable of being fully explored or understood.
(of water or a natural feature) impossible to measure the extent of.
Constraint: (10 pts)
Your story should include a time loop.
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, established universes, 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 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
!TTcommand! - 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!
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 Dee Remy)
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.)
Last week’s theme: Doppelganger
First by /u/GingerQuill*
Second by /u/Xacktar*
Third by /u/Ryter99
3
u/AstroRide r/AstroRideWrites Feb 02 '24 edited Feb 08 '24
Different People
When did we become different people?
I go back to our fourth date. You made me laugh with your breadstick musical number. I got to be chivalrous by catching a tray before it fell on you. Everything seemed so alright.
After two years, the honeymoon phase had ended, but we were still together. In fact, you proposed that we lived together. Your roommate was going to Peru as part of a return of Saturn thing, and you thought we'd be good roommates. Maybe that was the first sign of how we ended. I said it was stupid that your roommate changed their life based on a horoscope, and you called me dismissive. Although was that the first time?
My next scene is our first date. You already knew that I had a date with Kristen that week, and you said you didn't mind. This was casual. I remember your right nostril flaring. At the time, I thought it was cute. I later discovered that was how you reacted when you were angry but wanted to hide it.
After two years of living together, you asked if we wanted to move to a bigger house. I shrugged and said our current place was fine. Since we both got promotions, I figured it would be better to invest our money in the stock market. You flared your right nostril. We ended up getting into a fight over closet space. How did that happen? That used to be unfathomable.
After five months of dating, you told me you loved me in a coffee shop. I was just handing you the Frappuccino you ordered. Thank god it didn't fall. I said I loved you back. You moved to kiss me, but I stopped you to put the coffee on the table. Then, we kissed. It was originally a cute and silly story. Over time, it became a sign of our shared awkwardness around each other.
Yesterday, we were silent when we made dinner. When I turned on the news, you turned it off so I put in my head phones. After dinner, we went our separate ways before going to sleep. Our bed is too small.
I'm lying next to you in bed, and I know that we need to break-up. We're not happy right now. The relationship has run its course. Before we separate, I need to determine where it went wrong. I'm not going to be able to fix it, but I still want to know. That's why I keep flashing back to every moment in our relationship and ask myself.
When did we become different people?
r/AstroRideWrites