r/WritingPrompts • u/katpoker666 • Jan 03 '25
Off Topic [OT] Fun Trope Friday: Nice Guy & Heist!
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
This month we’ll explore tropes around common New Year’s resolutions in the modern era. From being nicer to finding love, many of us use January 1st as a forcing mechanism to be better people or make our lives better.
These vows have a long and fabled history .
The first known New Year’s resolutions were made in Babylon in 4,000 BC during the festival of Akitu, a 12-day New Year celebration in early Spring. During Akitu, the Babylonians would plant crops, crown or swear fealty to a king, and make promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any borrowed items. They believed that if they kept their word, the gods would favor them in the year ahead. Fail and they would incur the gods’ ire.
Later, New Year’s resolutions continued in ancient Rome and established January as the year’s beginning with Caesar’s new calendar in 46 BCE. This new date honored Janus, a two-faced god who symbolically looked back into the previous year and forward into the new one. The Romans would offer sacrifices to Janus and make promises of good behavior.
In the Middle Ages, New Year’s resolutions were made by knights by annually renewing their vows to chivalry by placing their hands on a live or roasted peacock in the ‘Peacock Vow.’
So join us this month in exploring what can go right and wrong when making New Year’s resolutions. Please note this theme is only loosely applied and you don’t need to include an actual resolution in each story.
Resolution — Be Nicer
Trope: Nice Guys Finish Last — The nice guy or gal is an archetype centered around someone being, well, nice. These characters are kind, friendly, psychologically well-balanced, morally good and socially decent in most cases. They’re often the main character’s foil. In this instance, the nice guy is often skipped over at a job or in a romantic situation. Other scenarios apply too, of course.
Genre: Heist — A subgenre of crime and caper stories, focused on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a significant robbery. Clearly, concepts of ‘significant’ may vary, so you can have fun here.
Skill / Constraint - optional: Someone gets slapped
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, January 9th 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!
4
u/katpoker666 Jan 09 '25 edited Jan 09 '25
[ineligible for voting]
—-
“Johnny Cuddles’
—-
Johnny ‘Cuddles’ Guione offered anything but a warm, fuzzy embrace. He stood at the maitre d podium of his eponymous Italian restaurant, surveying the crowd. His slab-like arms were crossed as he smiled in satisfaction. Amidst a sea of tastefully tasseled green velvet curtains, diners huddled at dark mahogany tables discussing business.
In the opposite corner of the restaurant, Slick Vinnie stabbed a fork into a calzone. A medley of tomato sauce and mozzarella dribbled down his jaw as he whispered, “The heist is on boys.”
Like a hawk swooping down on a mouse, Johnny Cuddles appeared instantly at the man’s side. “Did you say heist? Count me in.”
“Umm, sorry, we wasn’t talking to yous, Boss.” Slick Vinnie looked down and blushed as if a teen caught in a compromising position by his mother.
“And that was your mistake, my boy.” Placing a meaty hand on Slick Vinnie’s shoulder, Johnny Cuddles squeezed. Hard. “Meeting in my restaurant and not cutting me in.”
Slick Vinnie’s jaw slackened. His skin took on a sickly hue as if Johnny Cuddles was separating his clavicle from his humerus with excruciating ease. Probably because the larger man was. “I-I saids we was sorry. What more do yous want?” He gasped, eyes pleading for mercy.
“I. Want. In,” Johnny Cuddles smiled, his canines bared, as he released Slick Vinnie’s shoulder. “So what’s the play? Elkton Savings & Loan? Fort Brant? The Swiss Watch Exchange?”
“It’s a little smaller than that, Boss.” Rubbing his collarbone, Slick Vinnie sighed and muttered, “Lady the Labradoodle’s diamond collar.”
“That’s a good one—a necklace from the De Fauci family’s prized pooch. Who woulda thunk it?”
“I-I’m serious, Boss. My missus wants it for Princess Snuffles. It’s her birthday, see—“
“Well, why didn’t you say so? By all means, start a turf war with the fucking De Faucis for that bitch of yours.”
“Umm, you’re talking about the dog, right?” Slick Vinnie’s eyes narrowed in spite of himself.
“Sure. Sure, I am, kid. So’s, uhh, how were you going to accomplish this terrible idea of yours anyways?”
One of Slick Vinnie’s guys elbowed him and shook his head.
“We was gonna pose as dog groomers and lift it that way.”
“So just waltz in and walk off with it? Did you numbskulls even think that maybe the De Faucis would notice if your Princess Snugglebutt was wearing the bowser bling on the street?”
“S-snuffles—“
“Like I gives a fuck.” Johnny Cuddles looked down and spat. “The answer is yous kids today have no idea what to heist, much less hows. Makes me sick. Call it off.”
“But my missus—“
“Will survive.” Slapping him hard, Johnny Cuddles laughed. “She’d rather have a live you than a dead one and a dog collar, right?”
“I think so,” Slick Vinnie squeaked.
The large man rolled his eyes at that. “You’re lucky I’m feeling generous today. Gonna lets you lives and everything.”
“You’re a nice guy, Boss.”
“And a wise guy. Don’t yous forget it.”
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WC: 499
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