[OT] Fun Trope Friday: Weight Loss & Horror!

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 –

 

  • First New Year’s resolutions: Babylon 4,000 BCE

  • First January resolutions and concept of new and old year: Romans 46 BCE

  • Just cool: Knights renewed their vows to chivalry on live or roasted peacocks in the Middle Ages

 

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 — Lose Weight / Get Fit

 

Trope: Weight Loss Horror — Losing weight or getting fit is a popular New Year’s Resolution. Heck, a lot of us may have started 2025 on this kick. But what if it all goes too right or wrong? What then? Will our characters lose so much weight they almost disappear having found the ‘perfect’ diet or exercise routine? Will they make a deal with the devil or swallow a mysterious potion just to lose those five stubborn pounds? Or something entirely different? The choice is yours!

 

For this trope, also remember you can leverage or subvert non-horror fitness tropes like Exercise Excuses and Workout Fanservice to add a little comedy to the mix!

 

Genre: Horror — A fiction genre where the goal is to disturb or frighten the reader. While you can go full-on Steven King’s Thinner scary here, you can also lean into the inherent comedy of poorly done horror.

 

Skill / Constraint - optional: Includes a scale of any kind

 

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 23rd 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!