OT Tuesday Free Write - Share stories, post poems! Prompt inspired or personal works are welcome!

Welcome to the weekly Free Write Post! Feel free to post anything and everything writing-related. Prompt responses, short stories, poems, personal work, anything you have written is welcome.

This post is mainly meant for sharing your work, not advertising or promotion. You can link to your published novels, but not the same one repeatedly.

Please use good judgement when sharing. The rules for what content is allowed here still apply. If it's anything that could be considered NSFW, please do not post it here.

If you do post, please make sure to leave a comment on someone else's story. If you want critical feedback, it’s a good idea to say that before or after your story, since most readers won’t assume that you want criticism.
A thing you might want to know about r/WritingPrompts
Excited to discuss your work in greater depth? Join our WritingPrompts Discord server and take part in our broader feedback-oriented events each month:
Open Campfire—read a story of yours aloud and get feedback every first Friday
World Building Campfire—present and be interviewed about your world every second Friday
Character Building Campfire—present and be interviewed about your characters every fourth Friday




This Day In History

On March 17, 461, St. Patrick dies at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland. Today, the late Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland is honored with the holiday of St. Patrick’s Day on the anniversary of his death.

How St. Patrick died is unknown, though he is believed to be in his 70s at the time of his death. Some sources report he was born in 385, but others state it was 387. In death, he was unofficially declared a saint.

Much of what is known about Patrick’s legendary life comes from the Confessio, a book he wrote during his last years. Born in Roman Britain (likely in what is now Wales, western England or southern Scotland) to a well-to-do Christian family of Roman citizenship, Patrick was captured and likely enslaved at age 16 by Irish marauders. For the next six years, he worked as a herder in Ireland, turning to a deepening religious faith for comfort. Following the counsel of a voice he heard in a dream one night, he escaped and found passage on a ship to Britain, where he was eventually reunited with his family.

For centuries, the Irish have observed the anniversary of St. Patrick’s death as a religious holiday by attending church in the morning and celebrating with food and drink in the afternoon. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Ireland but in what is now the United States. Records show that a St. Patrick’s Day parade was held on March 17, 1601, in the Spanish colony of Florida under the direction of the colony’s Irish vicar, Ricardo Artur.

Many legends have grown up around Patrick. The patron saint of Ireland is said to have baptized hundreds of people on a single day and to have used a shamrock to describe the Holy Trinity. In art, he is often portrayed trampling on snakes, in accordance with the belief that he drove those reptiles out of Ireland. In reality, research has found snakes were not in the country to begin with.



https://redd.it/1rw9fv6
@r_WritingPrompts

OT Fun Trope Friday: Mouthful of Pi & Slice of Life!

###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](https://www.deviantart.com/lej-ah/art/PI-344934220)

 


Thank heavens we’re done with this February love business as there are much more interesting concepts and events to celebrate! Like who knew March had so many fun ones? Owing to that, for March we’re exploring four very cool events that happen during the month. Please note this theme is only loosely applied.

 

“Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.” – Isaac Newton

 

Trope: [Mouthful of Pi](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MouthfulOfPi) — Believe it or not, [Pi Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_Day) is kind of a big deal. Well, for nerds. None of those here, right? Pi Day is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14 (the 3rd month) since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant figures of π, and was first celebrated in the United States. It was founded in 1988 by Larry Shaw, an employee of a science museum in San Francisco, the Exploratorium. Celebrations often involve eating pie or holding pi recitation competitions. In 2009, the United States House of Representatives supported the designation of Pi Day. UNESCO's 40th General Conference designated Pi Day as the International Day of Mathematics in November 2019. A quick way to show that a character is a genius is to have him recite pi to an absurd number of places. With its endless parade of decimal digits, π has both mystique and geek cred. Most of us never memorize it past a few places, so anyone who can fire off a hundred surely must be a genius, right? The truth is, only a handful of digits are needed for most applications — only 11 decimal places are needed to calculate the circumference of the Earth to a millimeter, while only 42 are needed to find the circumference of a circle the size of the entire universe to within less than the diameter of a single proton. There's not much point in memorizing a hundred places other than to show off. But still… it’s cool, right?

 

Genre: [Slice of Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slice_of_life) — Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence of events in a character's life is presented, often lacking plot development, conflict, and exposition, as well as often having an open ending.

 

Skill / Constraint - optional: Baking is mentioned.

 

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 10 stories, so we’re back to three winners. Congrats to:

 

- wileycourage

- the_lonely_poster

- oliverjsn8

 



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

The next FTF campfire will be Thursday, March 19h 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 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!
 



https://redd.it/1rt54kn
@r_WritingPrompts

WP The guild has forbidden you from using any of your experimental brews and concoctions without being tested beforehand. But considering that you all are about to die, you'd rather take a punishment later than death right now.



https://redd.it/1ryglq1
@r_WritingPrompts

WP Having found the records of someone having been bricked into the farthest room of a building two hundred years ago, you decided to to tear down the wall and give them a proper burial. On the otherside tou are greeted by a grinning youthful face, "I told them I wouldn't be held here forever..."



https://redd.it/1ry5hy3
@r_WritingPrompts

WP You lost, you tried pulling another scheme, trying to make some quick cash, yet, the hero of the city stopped you again, while taking a walk through a run down area to clear your head, you see the overworked young hero in a rundown house wearing torn clothes while counting a small stack of cash



https://redd.it/1ryiwfp
@r_WritingPrompts

PI You're a tattoo artist. Unbeknownst to your customers, some of your tattoos grant powers depending on the designs. You've just opened a new shop in NYC.

Original: r/WritingPrompts/comments/1runuxf/wp_youre_a_tattoo_artist_unbeknownst_to_your

By: u/SrirachaJulio/

————————————

I am an eighth generation tattoo artist. Well, at least, that is far back as we have records for. Both of my parents are tattooists - even for my family - it is rare for both parents to be tattooists.

I feel like I have ink for blood.

My parents cast a very big shadow in my home town. Felt like it was impossible to be myself while working in their shop. Don’t get me wrong - my parents are great - but they have their distinctive styles that just isn’t mine.

With their help, I setup a small shop above a nail salon in the Bronx. It isn’t big or fancy - but it is mine. I put a neon blue sign above the entrance of the main floor door. Bright and eye catching - a large sun with seven little suns around it with the name of my shop - “Seventh Son Tattoos” - around the suns.

I can’t afford much in the way of advertising, so all I can do is hope for walk in traffic. And hope. And hope. Day after day.

With nothing else to do - I drew ideas for tattoos. Some fully detailed drawings. Some little more than a rough idea. Dozens and dozens of ideas - so much potential - all wasted on paper.

Ten days and still not a single customer. I was starting to panic. Had to reached too far - too fast? Maybe I should have stayed my parent’s shop.

My door squeaked and a lady walked in. Tall and thin with a babushka wrapped around her head. Her lack of eyebrows and hint of frailty made me think of someone under going radiation treatment.

“Hello!” I said joyfully. “Welcome to Seventh Son Tattoos. How can I help you today?”

“I’m looking for something,” she said hesitantly. “Not sure what though. It has been tickling the back of my brain - but I can’t seem to see it clearly.”

“I know that feeling,” I nodded. “The unscratchable itch. Instead of picturing it - tell me - what does it *feel* like?”

She closed her eyes - taking a deep breath. “Powerful. Female. Whole… maybe. Healing or healed?” She opened her eyes - looking at me shyly. “That doesn’t make sense together does it?”

“It could,” I said thinking of the drawings I had been working on. I shuffled through the piles of papers. “What about something like this?” I said as I pulled out two drawings. A warrior woman with a sword and a very detailed depiction of the Rod of Asclepius. “Powerful, female,” I said pointing to the warrior woman. “Then healing and medicine with the Rod of Asclepius,” I said pointing to the second picture. “I am thinking we could swap her sword for the rod - putting the two ideas together.”

“Yes…,” she whispered. Her eyes glued to the pages. Her fingers traced the lines of the warrior woman. “Yes. I want this.”

“Don’t rush in to anything,” I cautioned. “Ink is very permanent. Let me do a couple sketches. Variations on this idea. Give me a day or two and we can go over them. See what you like - what I need to change.”

“Time… time isn’t something I have a tonne of.” I could feel the sorrow and pain radiating off of her. “I am going back for treatment in ten days. Can’t get a tattoo and radiation at the same time. My doctor advised against getting one before my treatment,” she sniffed - swallowing hard. “But fuck it! I always wanted a tattoo,” she gave me a little half smile. “It always seemed too bad ass for little ole me.”

“But not anymore,” I smiled.

“Not anymore,” she agreed. “I know it’s fast - could we start today?”

“If you are sure, then yeah. We can start right away.”

She nodded. “I’m Ellen.”

“Jack,” I said with a nod. “Where are you thinking of putting the tattoo?”

“Left thigh,” Ellen said without hesitation. “Nice and big. I am all in.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Ok, let’s do this.” I showed her to the big chair. Ellen took off her pants and sat down. I pulled up my wheelie stool and stared at her leg - envisioning the design.

“Don’t you need a

stencil or something?” Ellen asked curiously.

“I never use them,” I said with a wink. “That’s my superpower. Once I envision a piece - I can tattoo it exactly as I see it my mind’s eye.” She didn’t looked convinced. “I got this,” I promised.

With the design locked in, I turned on my tattoo gun. It’s hum and gentle vibration a soothing balm to my soul.

It has never been difficult to get the image from my mind onto skin. I feel like a conduit - I just let the image flow through me. The gun and inks give the idea a life all its own - separate from me and even the wearer.

Lost in the flow of my work, I lost track of time. Ellen finally tapped my shoulder.

“I think I need to stop for today,” she said quietly.

“Yes, yes - of course,” I said quickly. “Sorry about that. I should have set a timer. I get lost in the tattoo and time just - disappears for me.”

“I could see that,” she said. “You were smiling the whole time.”

I checked the clock - it had been almost three hours. I rolled back to get a wider view of my work. The Rod of Asclepius was perfect. The detail the shading - all of it - just like I had imagined. The warrior woman was roughed in. It would probably take another two or three sessions to finish her.

I prepped Ellen with post care and told her how long it would take to finish. She paid happily - gushing about how amazing it looked. Ellen booked a follow up in a few days.

Tattooing for the first time since I had opened my shop was unbelievably satisfying. It somehow made my shop feel like it was truly mine for the first time.

I cleaned up and sterilized my equipment. I was about to call it a day when a young man came in.

“Hey, I was hoping to get a few Chinese characters on my right shoulder blade,” he said, handing me a piece of paper.

“Yeah, I can do that,” I said. I hated doing foreign languages - paranoid that I will get it wrong or that they will give me the wrong thing. “Just do you know - I can’t read this. I am just going to think about like a picture. If this doesn’t say what you think it does - ,” I just shrugged, “ - nothing I can do about that.”

He just nodded. “My friend wrote it down for me. I trust him.”

“Ok. How big are you thinking?”

He shrugged. “Like three inches long.”

It was a simple enough piece. Had it all finished up in about an hour. He seemed happy with it. He said the symbols meant “powerful” or “strong”. If I could figure out how to type “热汤”into Google, I would have checked just to make sure. He paid in cash and left happy.

Whatever.

I locked the front door and turned off the sign. I cleaned up just enough so I could go to my apartment for the night.

Big day. Two paying customers in one day. I couldn’t wipe my grin from my face.

The next few days I had a few people come by. A few small pieces. A single word. Name and date of a child on a proud father’s chest.

Ellen missed her appointment. I was sure she would be back. The first part of her tattoo was going so well. *sigh* oh well.

The door suddenly swung open. The guy who wanted the Chinese characters on his shoulder was back.

“Hey, do you remember me?” He asked.

“Of course, Chinese characters on your shoulder.”

“Perfect. Ok. Check this out,” he put his white plastic grocery bag on the counter by the till. He pulled out a plastic take out container. “Touch this,” he said pointing to the container.

What. The. Fuck.

I walked over and tentatively touched the side of the take out container.

“It’s hot, right?” He asked excitedly.

“Yeah,” I said uncertainly.

“It took me twenty minutes to walk here. Why is it still hot?” He demanded.

“I have no idea,” I answered confused.

“Dude! You gave me superpowers!”

“What are you talking about?”

“So my friend, who gave me the Chinese letters for my shoulder - yeah. He totally lied. It doesn’t mean ‘strong’ or ‘powerful’ or some cool shit like that. He gave me ‘hot soup’ - dude did me dirty and gave me fucking ‘hot soup’…. Now… now soup doesn’t get cold while I am around.”

Oh boy. Dude has lost his mind. “Your soup doesn’t get cold since I gave

you a tattoo that says, ‘hot soup’ in Chinese?” I asked.

“Exactly! In fact - no soup in my general area gets cold! It’s a freaking superpower man!” He said excitedly.

I let out a deep sigh. “I am glad you like your tattoo - I really am - but it is just ink. Ink doesn’t give you or anyone superpowers.”

“Man, I **NEED** you to tattoo this on my other shoulder,” he says as he hands me another piece of paper with more Chinese characters on it.

“And what does this one say?”

“Just one word - ‘flight’ - I’m gonna fly like superman!”

“And the guy that gave you ‘hot soup’ gave you this? Are you sure it doesn’t say: ‘runny diarrhoea’ or something like that?” I asked.

I watched a range of emotions play out over his face. He was trusting the hot soup guy again and now he was questioning his life choices.

“I can’t hand out superpowers,” I said with a shrug. “I’m just a guy with a tattoo gun. You should probably leave. I don’t think I can give you another tattoo.”

The dude was crestfallen, but he left.

So strange.

The container of soup by my till was still hot to the touch. My stomach gurgled.

“Nope. We aren’t going to eat the crazy man’s soup,” I muttered to myself as I threw it in the garbage.

Traffic slowly picked up until I was doing at least one small tattoo a day. Had a few that were coming back regularly for larger pieces. Things were starting to come together.

Ellen came in, almost three weeks after her first appointment. She looked good. The skeletal look she had when she had first come by was gone. She had a healthy, vibrate look to her. She smiled brightly at me.

“I was worried you weren’t coming back,” I smiled back at her.

She came in and gave me a huge hug. The kind of hug your mom gives you after you have been away too long. Full of love.

“Doctors say the cancer is gone,” Ellen said wiping away a tear.

“That is amazing! I am so happy for you!”

“It’s all thanks to you,” she gushed.

I tilted my head. “I just gave you a tattoo. And only half a tattoo at that. It’s just ink.”

“I don’t think so,” Ellen said. “Do you have time to work on it?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Ellen when to the chair and removed her pants.

I prepped my tools and rolled over on my wheelie stool.

The staff I had tattooed last time she was here still looked amazing but it was wrapped in daffodils. I ran my fingers over the delicate flowers. They look like my work - but I didn’t put those there.

“Who put these in?” I asked.

“They just…. appeared…. a few days after my first appointment,” Ellen said hesitantly.

“Just - appeared?”

She nodded her head. “No redness. No pain. Just appeared.”

I gave her a disbelieving look.

“When I went in for my treatment, they did a pre-treatment MRI to compare to a post treatment MRI. They said the cancer was gone. That I was cured,” Ellen said. There were tears in her voice. “They sent me to a different clinic to verify the MRI. I have had every test imaginable. There is no trace of the cancer in my system. Nothing.”

My eyes went back to the flowers wrapped around the staff. Daffodils are associated with Cancer. The work is seamless - like they had always been there.

“A cure like that isn’t possible,” Ellen said softly. “You don’t come back from the kind of cancer I had. It is a death sentence. The only thing that changed is that tattoo.”

“A tattoo is just ink, Ellen. I wish I could take credit for something like that - for a miracle. I just draw pictures,” I said with a shrug. “Could you imagine the chaos if my tattoos brought powers with them?” I chuckled. “People might have permanently hot soup,” a little voice said in the back of my mind.

https://redd.it/1ryc9se
@r_WritingPrompts

WP You have been unanimously voted as the #1 Superhero for three years in a row. You...are Pizza Guy!

Basically, you are SCP-458, but human.

https://redd.it/1ryot92
@r_WritingPrompts

WP "Back in my day, being a mad scientist was so much more involved. We had to kidnap people to test our theories, experimenting on helpless saps. Nowdaya people just use computer simulations to test their ideas, but it isn't the same. There's no risks or investment, Just cold, boring data."



https://redd.it/1rysv3g
@r_WritingPrompts

WP "What do you mean the humans put a warp drive on an asteroid?!"



https://redd.it/1ryqgn0
@r_WritingPrompts

WP You don’t understand all the hype. Everyone says the humans are so scary and tough, but any time you’ve dealt with them a simple “reflect physical damage” spell makes them mostly harmless.



https://redd.it/1ryw1pm
@r_WritingPrompts

WP A telepathic alien attempts to read the mind of a human fighter pilot during a dogfight, but is overwhelmed by the blaring sound of Heavy Metal music the pilot uses to concentrate.



https://redd.it/1ryqejv
@r_WritingPrompts

WP Deep in the galactic core, you find a library containing the digital backups of every soul that has ever died in the universe. You find your own name, dated three million years ago.



https://redd.it/1ryt5ck
@r_WritingPrompts

WP The human fleet is outnumbered 100 to 1. The human Admiral orders the fleet to break formation and charge into the melee, relying entirely on the chaos of "friendly fire" to wipe out the enemy.



https://redd.it/1ryqe25
@r_WritingPrompts

WP It took humans colonizing the stars to realize Earth slowly drives us to self-destruction and violence. Now, the galactic council is inquiring why our own home planet is considered the human equivalent of a death sentence.

Inspired by SCP-4266

https://redd.it/1rz2bgy
@r_WritingPrompts

WP "Imperial teleporters deconstruct the body and rebuild it elsewhere." The mad scientist said. "It's cheaper than folding space in on itself… Well, guess who's been keeping all the data for his cloning master plan?!"



https://redd.it/1rz24be
@r_WritingPrompts

WP Einstein was right. Almost. Global War 3 was fought with atomics, Global War 4 with sticks. And swords, spells, Elves, dragons... The simultaneous detonation of so many atomics tore open the barriers between our world and others; bridging and forging together disparate planes and planets.



https://redd.it/1rz7fc1
@r_WritingPrompts

SP "Why are you so fucking muscular?" "Buddy, do you have any idea how much magic weighs?"



https://redd.it/1rz82hv
@r_WritingPrompts

OT Fun Trope Friday: Leprechaun & Speculative Fiction!

###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](https://www.deviantart.com/pixiesp1991arts/art/Leprechaun-little-girls-1310683215)

 


Thank heavens we’re done with this February love business as there are much more interesting concepts and events to celebrate! Like who knew March had so many fun ones? Owing to that, for March we’re exploring four very cool events that happen during the month. Please note this theme is only loosely applied.

 

“Magic Sandra’s seen a leprechaun, Eddie touched a troll, Laurie danced with witches once, Charlie found some goblins gold. Donald heard a mermaid sing, Susy spied an elf, But all the magic I have known I've had to make myself.” – Shel Silverstein

 

Trope: [Leprechaun](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Leprechaun) — Okay, so technically St. Patrick’s Day was on the 17th. But c’mon Pi Day had to happen, right? So let’s dust off our shamrocks and green-sequined gear and take a look at everyone’s favorite mythical Irish beastie the leprechaun. Irish myth agrees on these basic points. Leprechauns are the size of children and favor the colour green (when they don't wear red). They have red hair and green eyes — and if you have red hair and green eyes, you may be a descendant of the Fey folk yourself! Leprechauns can become invisible, but if you happen to see one, catch him quickly and make him tell you where his pot of gold is hidden. After all, gold has been hitting record prices of late and we could all use a bit more money, right?

 

Genre: [Speculative Fiction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculative_fiction) — Speculative fiction is an umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or other highly imaginative realms or beings. This catch-all genre includes, but is not limited to: fantasy, science fiction, science fantasy, superhero, paranormal and supernatural horror, alternate history, magical realism, slipstream, weird fiction, utopia and dystopia, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction. In other words, the genre presents individuals, events, or places beyond the ordinary real world.

 

Skill / Constraint - optional: Alchemy is involved.

 

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 10 stories, so we’re back to three winners. Congrats to:

 

- AmeliaLP

- Weekly_Basis_9335

-