Three Sentence Ficathon

[rthstewart]

UPDATE! EDIT!
 We're running into the Dreamwidth comment limits so all new prompts should be posted here Keep responding to and filling already posted prompts here, but all new ones should go to the new thread!

Someone did this banner for me a couple of years ago.  It's great, isn't it?  If it was you, please step up and take a bow!
It was st_aurafina!   Thank you again!


caramelsilver ran one last year on Livejournal and I did two over here a few years ago. We'll keep it open until January 31, 2019 which should give everyone time to play a little. This is a delightful part of the online fandom community.


What is the 3 Sentence Ficathon?
This is a challenge where you answer a prompt with a fic consisting of only three sentences. It's open to all fandoms and you can post and answer as many prompts as you like, as many times as you want.

What do I do first?
You post prompts! When posting a prompt please format it this way:

fandom, character(s), prompt word/sentence.

Only one prompt per comment please.  So, for example,

Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi, I don't like sand."

What else?
You answer other posters' prompts in three sentences (or more if you can't stop yourself) and fill as many prompts as you want, as many times as you wish. If you see that a prompt you loved has already been filled, go ahead and fill it again! Multiple fills of the same prompt are allowed and even encouraged!  (We get really fun stories going this way).

Can I still post if I need more than 3 sentences?  Or should I just abuse grammar in ways the English language never contemplated?
Yes.  Yes.


But I'm not a member of Dreamwidth
No problem. You can comment anonymously or through open ID

Can anyone play?
Yes! Please signal boost this to your flist, followers, and any other places you frequent. Come one, come all!
The more people who come and play, the better!

Can I spread the word? 
Yes, please.  I'd love to create a nifty banner with an embed code but I fail at it.  So if you create one, I'll post it and everyone can use it.

How long will it go?
Tentatively, we'll close it on January 31, 2019. 

Are there any rules about cross-posting?
Nope, you can post wherever you want, whenever you want. A lot of folks collected their responses together and posted them on AO3 under the 3 sentence fiction tag. 3SFs are a terrific prompt for remixes and could be helpful for Yuletide bears, too.

What about spoilers, content warnings, triggers, pairings, ratings, tags, and squick?
I thought about this.  It wasn't an issue the last 2 times I ran this but times change.  In my experience, this typically gets too big, moves too fast, and the stories are too short for content warnings and ratings. You should assume spoilers are fair game and that the initial poster and responder have opted to use no content warnings or tags. I've found personally that I can skim by stuff that, from the prompt, I can tell isn't my favorite flavor of delicious cake. Use your best judgment and be prepared to skip over things that aren't your thing.


And here, have some icons!










I'll start things off...

Edit to add on 12/18/2018 Please check out this update here. And this friending meme if you're so inclined here.

Comments

[betony]

Howl's Moving Castle, Howl/Sophie, you're holding in your hands the two halves of my heart

[lisatelramor]

Howl didn't know when he realized it was love. Maybe it was listening to Sophie and Calcifer bicker back and forth and the fond way he always let her win, or maybe it was when she didn't fall for his boyish smile like so many other women had in the past, or the stubborn glint in her eyes that meant trouble and worrisome things for him and his spells and spiders. It wasn't a logical thing, but he supposed hearts weren't logical things at all--she'd somehow managed to charm his heart when he didn't even have it in his chest and it pulsed its phantom echo in his veins all the same, as inescapable as the Witch of the Waste's abominable curse... and he wouldn't change a thing.

I think I prompted this once long before, but I still think it's funny...

[betony]

Any book-to-movie fandom, Any, book characters react to their depiction in the movie (or vice versa)

That Still Only Counts as One [LotR: TT, Gimli, Legolas & Haldir]

[vialethe]

“Dwarf-tossing?” Gimli shouts, his brow furrowed so low his eyebrows nearly meet with his mustache.

At his side, Legolas winces, elegant fingers pressed to his temples, and says, “At least you did not suffer the indignity of sliding down a staircase on a shield.”

At the back of the room, Haldir paces, and mutters, “But why am I even here?”

[betony]

Howl's Moving Castle, Sophie Hatter & Jane Farrier, a long overdue explanation

Have a long reply....

[lisatelramor]

"Oh! Miss Hatter!" Across the way was Jane Farrier. Sophie paused in her shopping, not quite sure what to do with being recognized here in Kingsbury of all places--she hadn't run into Jane since she ran off. "Miss Hatter," Jane said with a smile, "it's a surprise to see you here, unless your luck has changed too?"

She looked happier than Sophie remembered her, the drab colors she'd worn before gone in exchange for bright color that suited her much better, complimenting her riot of curls in a way the mushroom pleated bonnet hadn't. Sophie smiled, stiffly. She'd never been close to Jane Farrier, barely knew her beyond town gossip. "I suppose my luck has changed," she said.

"I don't suppose you've opened a hat shop in Kingsbury?" Jane asked, looking around like one might materialize. "This might sound silly, but I've yet to find a hat shop I whose wares I find as agreeable as back home."

"No, actually." Sophie paused. "I'm no longer in the hat making business. The shop was sold. It's a flower shop now."

Jane drooped. "Oh. Well." She shook herself. "I meant to thank you. Maybe it is superstitious, but my life changed for the better after I bought your hat. I thought I'd spend my whole life in that little town and now here I am. Like magic." Jane laughed lightly.

Sophie felt a prickle of guilt. She hadn't meant to enchant Jane's bonnet. Granted she did a lot of enchantments she didn't mean to do. "About that. Actually, it seems I sold you a magic bonnet."

"Oh?" Jane leaned forward. "What did it do?"

The guilt became less of a prickle and more of a line of sweat. It wasn't as if she could blurt out that she'd felt sorry for a bonnet. Pity was something no one liked. Sophie cleared her throat. "It, er, it let someone special see the best in the wearer," she offered weakly. "I should have realized it was magic."

At that, Jane's smile went fond, the private sort of smile Sophie saw on lovers. "Well it worked and as I said, my life changed for the better. I'm engaged to be married you see."

Sophie wondered if it was the same poor Count she'd run off with in the first place. He hadn't seemed to be the reliable sort. If anything, Sophie had felt responsible for a horrible misunderstanding and a poor match. And yet seeing Jane's smile... Perhaps it wasn't a poor match after all. "You seem happier," she said.

"I am. My fiance is a bit of a mess," Jane said with a laugh, "but he's a good man and means the world to me."

"That's good," Sophie said, wondering if she ever had the same look on her face when she thought of Howl. She hoped not. He would be insufferable about it if she did; he wasn't a modest man.

"You seem like you're happier too," Jane said.

"I suppose I am," Sophie said. "Making hats didn't suit me after all."

Jane laughed. "Well, if you ever decide to go back into the business, I wouldn't say no to another of your hats. You have a magic touch with the needle."

Oh if Jane only knew.

A man's voice called out, the Count of Catterack, as short as ever. Jane lit up at the sight of him. He tripped trying to cross the street and she made a worried sound. "Oh dear. See what I mean? I'd best go help him before he gets hit with a cart. But thank you again, Miss Hatter," Jane said, giving Sophie one last smile. She waved and hurried toward her fiance.

Sophie stared after her, unsure what to feel about the encounter.

"Sophie!" Howl called from where he was supposed to be negotiating for spell ingredients. Sophie saw more items at his side than he was supposed to be getting. "Have you finished your shopping yet?"

"Almost done," she called back. "You'd better not be buying anything off budget."

"It's only a little thing!"

"Put it back, Howl." Well, Sophie couldn't fault Jane for falling for a man with flaws. She'd done the same after all.

[betony]

Lion in Winter/Medieval History, Henry/Eleanor, a mind like Aristotle and a form like mortal sin.

What We Are and What We Need

[vialethe]

The way that man moves ought to be a crime is her first thought on seeing him, the way he prowls about with endless energy, the restrained strength of him coiled just beneath the skin, so close to leaping out she feels scorched by his touch each time his eyes so much as glance upon her.

But it is at the banquet when she truly falls in love, when she listens to him argue theology with the bishop at his side before turning to her and asking, “Well, Your Highness, let us hear your opinion on the matter, for I know you possess one,” and her mind catches up to what her body already knows. This is a man who will demand everything, and appreciate it in turn.

[betony]

Howl's Moving Castle, Howl & Abdullah, "I feel I got to know you rather well."

[betony]

Greek mythology, Eros/Psyche, the effects of a love-dart are only temporary

[last_haven]

He knows his craft, his tools well enough to know that he can wait this out and this silly business will soon pass. That is not what he worries about; he knows his mother's fury and penchant for revenge and he quickly learns to pity a mortal princess who falls from grace with parents whose hands and voices are crueler than he could have guessed.

The effects won't last long, so he has to work fast; as long as the dart holds sway, he can always tell his mother that he couldn't resist.

[betony]

Greek mythology, Penelope & Clytemnestra & Helen, their first meeting after Troy

[betony]

Any, any, no hero to his/her valet

[betony]

Greek Mythology, Hedone, with parents like these...

[betony]

The Mummy/Amelia Peabody, The Carnahan-O'Connells meet the Emersons. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

Mummies!

[kalira]

"What," Amelia demanded, sweeping a lock of hair out of her face and tucking it back, "was that?"

"A mummy, lady, just stay- Ow!" the American yelped as he stepped with quite satisfactory swiftness out of the way of Amelia - and her trusty parasol - letting her get a good look at the . . . something walking up the steps of the tomb.

"Mummies do not just get up and go for walks!" Amelia said firmly, frowning and tapping her parasol thoughtfully against her boot even as the young woman stepped up and brushed her arm, offering an explanation in a sheepishly quiet voice.

Emerson was going to be disastrously upset, Amelia thought, letting herself be drawn away from the window and preparing to listen, whatever they had to say.

[betony]

Persuasion, Frederick/Anne, in the dark I called your name

[shallowness]

He wakes too soon from his dream to the darkness of his cabin and the familiar creaking of the Asp. Anne is gone, he is at sea, and she is, no doubt, snug in her harbour at Kellynch Hall. Frederick feels a surge of anger but blames the interruption to his sleep, not her for ensuring that it is only in dreams that they will walk together side by side.

[betony]

Trojan War Cycle, any member/ship of the Royal Family of Troy, we were caught up and lost in all of our vices

Let Life Stretch Out Before Me and Break Me [Hektor, Paris, Cassandra & Aeneas]

[vialethe]

In the city, with Andromache, Hektor is calm, and responsible - a good father, noble son, caring husband - but here in the dust and grit of the battlefield, he is a beast, a creature born of blood rage and wrath, striking down those in his path and exulting in it, though he knows it is wrong; for it is not a thing he shares, not with anyone.

Sometimes Paris believes he is frightened of everything in the world - the battle raging endlessly below, the disappointment in Priam’s eyes, the bellowing rage of the Greeks, come for his blood - but mostly, as he lies in the darkness beside his great prize, he fears losing Helen most of all, and clutches her all the harder, until she shifts in his grasp, his fingers leaving marks in their wake.

“You will save a city in peril, and guide it to the greatest glory the world has known,” Cassandra tells Aeneas, but he merely laughs, and says, “I’m no great hero such as that, my friend,” and leaves before she can tell him no, you are the only one among us who is.

[betony]

Trojan War Cycle, Hektor/Andromache, But if you close your eyes/ does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?

You Have All Your Life

[vialethe]

With her eyes closed, the distant campfires on the beach are blotted out in the blackness; the scents of smoke and blood and burning might be mistaken for the night following a great sacrifice, the constant unease draped over the city like a smothering blanket be merely the foreboding of a storm blowing in from the sea.

“Close your eyes,” she murmurs to Hektor, and shifts her body to straddle his, hands meeting the familiar planes of his chest.

“It is just you and I, my love,” she says, and feels his mouth curve against hers, for as long as the darkness lasts.

[betony]

Beauty and the Beast, Beauty(/Beast), roses fall but the thorn remains

[litlover12]

(I have no idea if this is what you had in mind, and I've never written BatB before, but I've been wanting to try, so here goes nothing!)

They don't tell you these things in the fairy tales, she reflects, soothing her prince back to sleep after another nightmare. "Happily ever after" has been happy indeed, it's true, but though in the daylight he can calmly recall and even joke about the old cursed days, two o'clock in the morning is a different story. The enchanted rose is gone, but somewhere deep inside him, a thorn still makes itself felt.

[betony]

The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Eldest Princess, if I had a heart I would love you

Who Am I to Judge You

[vialethe]

“Will you chain me to the bed, sir?” she sneers at him on the first night of their marriage, when her heart is still filled with rage and fear, with the spinning sense of her world gone out of her control.

But he merely gives her a long, level look, and says, “No - we have played a game with honor, you and I, and I trust that your honor will continue to hold firm.”

Honor is a cold blanket to cling to, she thinks, lying there dry-eyed in the darkness, when one is used to enchantments and the companionship of one’s choice; but for now, let it suffice.

[betony]

Disney's Mulan, Shang(/Mulan), he never thought to take a wife (like her)

Love Well-Matched

[kalira]

Shang laughed as he rolled out of bed, hurrying after his wife; to think once he had looked ahead to his marriage and only ever pictured a cool, distant but caringly respectful arrangement, like his father's. He moved a bit faster, catching Mulan around the waist just as they reached the courtyard and lifting her off her- he landed on his back in the grass, his wife kneeling astride his waist and grinning smugly at him.

"I love you." he said warmly, reaching up to cup her face as she pinked.

[betony]

Arabian Nights, Scheherazade, tailspin/tale-spinner

[ernest]

The story is winding down now, and she doesn’t know how many nights she has left in her. She will create another world tomorrow or she will die, but she is not the first woman to continually undo her work to buy herself more time. Penelope used linen instead of language, but the principle is the same: she knows her own art and can easily reuse threads and notions in arrangements that seem entirely new to her audience.

[betony]

Sorcery and Cecelia, Kate & Cecy & Georgy, Squire Bryant's goat.

[betony]

The Perilous Gard, Kate Sutton/Christopher Heron, the ditching and the drainage

[betony]

Darkwing Duck, any AU version of Drake and Gosalyn, an universal constant

[betony]

Chronicles of Narnia, Cor/Aravis, married come hell or high water

Leave This World With Me

[vialethe]

“Why did I agree to get married on a ship?” Cor asks, plaintive in the starlight reflected from the gentle swells around them. “This would be what happens to me.”

“Hush,” Aravis says, fitting the oars into place in their tiny rowboat, searching the waves for the running lights of their ship, “this time you have your wife along, and so it will end much the better,” and she is willing to ignore his suppressed snort, at least until they make it to shore.

[betony]

Chronicles of Narnia, Aravis & Zardeenah, neither forgotten nor forsaken

[ghostwings]

Aravis does not forget the gods of her homeland; she does not forget Zardeenah's cool, quiet presence which laid upon her like a mantle during the prayers of her youth; she does not forget the goddess's blessing which was surely what caused Aravis and Hwin to meet and, together, forge a fate far from the captivity of the bridle or the bridal bed.

There is no one else to perform the proper prayers and rituals with her here in Archenland, and there are many in her new homeland who distrust anything Calormenian, so she worships her gods alone, quietly--a single candle in her chamber and murmured prayers in solitude rather than a proper shrine and song.

The home of her youth is distant, now, and she dwells in a land that still seems strange to her, in many ways; yet when she looks up at the stars--the gemstones sewn into Zardeenah's cloak--she sees the same constellations; surely her goddess is no farther from Aravis now than she was before; as long as Aravis does not forget Zardeenah, surely Zardeenah will not forget Aravis.

[jjhunter]

Star Wars, Ahsoka Tano, hobbies over the years

[jjhunter]

Persuasion, Frederick Wentworth, two letters he never sent and one he did

[betony]

In the year '06 he does not write to the woman who'd broken his heart, to humbly renew his addresses; but instead to his friends to crow about his successes with all the appearance of real satisfaction.

In the year '13 he does not lower himself to write to Edward, seeking any crumbs from his brother's correspondents who might reassure him of Miss Eliott's well-being; but instead endures the nightmares that plague him whenever he closes his eyes, where Death claims faithless Anne instead of Fanny Harville and takes her even further from his reach.

In the year '14, though, he can make excuses no longer and picks up pen to paper to inform Sophie that he will be joining her and the Admiral where they should choose to make their residence; fair country, he hopes, with fairer faces to turn his stubborn heart.

[jjhunter]

Lord Peter Wimsey, Mervyn Bunter, the care and feeding of bloody little fools