I see alot of prompts on here that say "You need to find the only other person in the world and procreate with her" or something like that. Did you mean me? The author? Because I needn't be male.

It opens up a world of opportunities if you phrase things with more gender and sex diversity options. Think of how "You need to find the only other living human, and hope you can procreate with them" would be. That other person could be male, female, intersex?! Who knows?!?

Moreover, I also see people presuming sexual orientations. "You must seduce the First Lady in order to kill the President; Don't get her pregnant!" Why does the character need to be a straight male? Why can't a gay woman or pan genderqueer person do it?

I'm not saying not to write about men or straight people. We totally should. But in a section of reddit designed to promote creativity and diversity, it is worth noting that many prompts offer constraints that do not serve to encourage out-of-the-box thinking.

Your thoughts?

Welcome back to another terrific Thursday, WritingPrompts! If you are unfamiliar with Theme Thursdays PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK for information! This week, our theme will explore the LGBT community. Of course, it is not limited to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender writing. Prompts and responses can include topics about being genderfluid, asexual, intersex, etc.

Often times, writers don't explore the differences, difficulties, and novelties in the LGBT community. This is a chance to educate those that have trouble understanding the community as well as explore their psyches. It will be an interesting pool of creativity for writers to wet their toes with.

1. If you do not support the LGBT community, please do not make hateful prompts about it. These will be removed.

2. If you do not support the LGBT community, you don't need to participate in this week's theme! Or, if you like, you can express your different views in the form of a story that is respectful. Hateful and thinly veiled insults will result in a ban from the sub. Our top priority is being a friendly community.

3. If your response for a non-NSFW prompt is NSFW, you must make these stories separate PI posts.

(Btw this is in the ROTTMNT universe not 2012 I love how chaotic the Rise fam is and would love to see how this could play out. when I mean Mikey can't choose one I mean he can't choose just one to be attracted to)

Welcome back to Smash ‘Em Up Sunday!

SEUSfire

On Sunday morning at 9:30 AM Eastern in our Discord server’s voice chat, come hang out and listen to the stories that have been submitted be read. I’d love to have you there! You can be a reader and/or a listener. Plus if you wrote we can offer crit in-chat if you like!

Last Week

Community Choice

1. /u/gdbessemer - “Dandelion, Blown by the Wind”

2. /u/Dependent-Engine6882 - “May 13th”

3. /u/atcroft - “On a Quiet Stormy Diner”

Cody’s Choice

• /u/dystopicpresent - “Weeds in Her Mind”

• /u/ruraljurorlibrarian - “Take It”

• /u/wordsonthewind - “When the World Opens Up”

This Week’s Challenge

This month we’re looking at driving forces for people and of course our characters. Specifically desires. What do we want? What forces us to take action? What makes us go? Each week I’ll ask you to look at a different type of desire.

Week two will be the desire that shapes the world. Powerlust, although not really a term I think encapsulates the need to gain more power and control in both one’s life and the world around them. Ambition left to run wild. It could be politicking higher and higher in the government. It could be amassing military power. It could be climbing the corporate ladder. It could be overthrowing the bourgeoisie and seizing the means of production to force better conditions. It is a hunger to not be weak or preyed upon. Although I paint it rather roughly and negatively here that is more for dramatic effect and to inspire stories. It could equally be as low stakes as having control over yourself and enough power to defend yourself and the ones you care about. There’s a lot of ways to go with this and I’m interested in seeing what gets submitted!

How to Contribute

Write a story or poem, no more than 800 words in the comments using at least two things from the three categories below. The more you use, the more points you get. Because yes! There are points! You have until 11:59 PM EDT 17 June 2023 to submit a response.

After you are done writing please be sure to take some time to read through the stories before the next SEUS is posted and tell me which stories you liked the best. You can give me just a number one, or a top 5 and I’ll enter them in with appropriate weighting. Feel free to DM me on Reddit or Discord!

Word List

• Ambition

• Thirst

• Megalomania

• Dictate

Sentence Block

• I believe in one thing only, the power of human will.

• if you're doing it - don't be afraid!

Defining Features

• There is a betrayal.

• FREE POINTS (I couldn’t come up with something interesting this week >.>)

What’s happening at /r/WritingPrompts?

• Nominate your favourite WP authors or commenters for Spotlight and Hall of Fame! We count on your nominations to make our selections.

• Come hang out at The Writing Prompts Discord! I apologize in advance if I kinda fanboy when you join. I love my SEUS participants <3 Heck you might influence a future month’s choices!

• Want to help the community run smoothly? Try applying for a mod position. Everytime you ban someone, the number tattoo on your arm increases by one!

I hope to see you all again next week!