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

[vialethe]

Narnia, Susan, it doesn't matter, does it/if i know any exit/if i believe in god and if god does exist

[tehsharkie]

Thank you! :D

[vialethe]

Greek Mythology, Aeneas/Cassandra, i thought i was flying/but maybe i'm dying tonight

[nurseshark]

Star Wars, Kylo/Rey, far away

[desertscribe]

He'd had the perfect story prepared before allowing himself to be captured, but then they had left him to wait, and wait, and wait, until he was bored and feeling spiteful. By the time Kujan arrived to interrogate him, he'd long ago decided to discard most of that perfect story and extemporize all but the few key points which could have brought it all crashing down too soon. What better way to add an extra "Fuck you" to this man than to still manage to fool him while using the flimsiest possible web of lies instead of an impenetrable one?

[vialethe]

Narnia, Susan&/Edmund, i tell you that i'll always want you near/you say that things change, my dear

Red vs. Blue

[reccyls]

"They'll die if you let them sign up," the colonel says. "They're not- they're just- Charles Palomo, the kid's just turned 18 a week ago-"

General Kimball says, very deliberately, so as to hide the way it rips her heart out to do so, "We're at war, Colonel."

[(Anonymous)]

Eyeshield 21/Ouran High School Host Club, Yoichi Hiruma/Kyoya Ootori, "Why d'you think I let you get away with all the things you say to me? Could it be I like you?"

[vialethe]

Still the only proper response, really. (Also omg hi!!!! So happy to see you here.)

[heliopausa]

Lizzie took her books with her,
Jane took good linen,
Kitty took a paisley shawl, to muffle her chagrin in;
Lydia took her silken gown, her lightest petticoats
Her lockets and her hatboxes,
- And Mary took notes.

Jane took the Netherfield road,
Kitty the Meryton track -
Lydia took the primrose path, and never once looked back;
Lizzie took to Pemberley,
Hosting the rich and fair,
- And Mary went to Grub Street, and talked with people there.

Jane took a mother’s blessing,
Lizzie a father’s thought,
Kitty took not much at all – just not the lucky sort;
Lydia took what she could get, a pin, a brooch, a guinea
- And Mary took to publishing, and made a pretty penny.

[candlesinthewell]

This is brilliant.

Fill: Fallen London, The Jovial Contrarian

[candlesinthewell]

Arbor is a beautiful city, with its white roads and green bowers and red, red roses; it’s a dream as tempting as a cool glass of water in a parched land, and that’s not why the Contrarian doesn’t trust it – he doesn’t trust anything until it’s been tried, tested, twisted, turned inside out, and tested again, and even then there’s always more proving to do – but it doesn’t help.

He’s been thinking a lot about cities lately: real and unreal, toppled and fallen and rising; he’s got an ugly one that he intends to look after, and if that means making himself ambassador to a place that doesn’t exist, well, he has no doubt the experience will be educational. But as long as there’s a choice, and he means to see that there will be, he won’t lead a retreat into dreaming, or sign London over to another set of masters – no matter how smooth their paths, or how lovely their gifts and gardens.

[heliopausa]

:D Thanks! I had fun writing it.

[desertscribe]

[Someday I really need to get around to watching the last couple of seasons of Banshee, so have something set at some hand-wavy vague point in the timeline.]



Sugar and that guy who refused to admit he was friends with Hood were going at it again, arguing like an old married couple over god alone knew what, until Siobhan gave Hood a not so gentle kick under the table and asked, "Can't you go do something about that?" with a jerk of her chin toward the bar, because it had been a hard day and she knew she would enjoy her hard-earned after work drink a lot more once it was no longer accompanied by the soundtrack of those two constantly bickering in veiled threats and what she hoped were only metaphors.

Hood startled then asked, "About what, Sugar and Job?" once he had dragged his mind back into the present from wherever it had been wandering before she'd kicked him. At her nod of confirmation, he glanced over his shoulder at his friends, assessed the situation, then shook his head, took a swallow of his drink, and with a wry laugh said, "Nah, I know how to read the signs of when Job's in it for the long haul, Sugar too these days, and I'm staying as far away from getting in between those two as possible."

Re: FILL: Poirot, Hastings

[heliopausa]

:D Poor Poirot!

Re: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Giles&Buffy

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Thank you!! <3

Re: Fill: Fallen London, The Jovial Contrarian

[reccyls]

Ohh, this is so lovely. Your prose is incredible and so vivid, and the Contrarian's sense of hope and conviction shines through clearly. This is really, really good!

Re: Arrowverse, Coldflash

[sandrine]

There are a lot of things Barry should know better when it comes to Leonard, and yet... :D :D :D

Gossip Girl, Dan/Blair/Chuck

[sandrine]

The alert pings on all their phones at the same time, an electronic symphony of rumors reminiscent of days long gone: SPOTTED: Lonely Boy out on what looks like a clandestine rendezvous with Mrs. Blair Bass – uh-oh! careful, you two! – Chuck Bass won't be too happy seeing his wife rekindle old flames...

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to get a rise out of me, Humphrey," Chuck says, low and dangerous, pinning Dan down with unrelenting hands.

"I have no idea what you —" Dan doesn't get to finish the thought, words turning into a moan as Chuck's mouth fastens on his neck with the single-minded intent of turning him incoherent, tongue slowly trailing up the red lines Blair's fingernails left, and the silvery sound of Blair's laughter fills the room.

[sandrine]

Eye Candy, Tommy/Bubonic, who watches the watcher

[sandrine]

Revolution, Charlie/Monroe, he always comes back for her

[sandrine]

Arrowverse, Coldflash, mistletoe

Eye Candy, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes

[glitterburn]

Not even the muffins—pumpkin spice, with a cream cheese frosting; his favourite—could make up for this shitty assignment. Keeping his night-vision binoculars trained on the windows of the old warehouse, with his free hand Tommy felt across the passenger seat in search of any sweet treats he might have missed. Waxed paper slid beneath his fingertips. No more muffins. Not even a crumb. Damn it.

His coffee had gone cold long ago. Yeager had sworn that these eco-cups were insulated, but what did he know. Although, to be fair—Tommy risked a glance at his watch—the coffee had been sitting there for nigh on five hours, and it was so damn cold this close to the river, with fog creeping in and his toes turning into ice blocks.

He wiggled his shoulders, conscious of cramp from sitting too long in one position. Man, stake-outs were the absolute worst. Especially as the Cyber Crime Unit hadn’t seen fit to give him the heat signature binoculars. Using the power of sitting on his ass in a freezing cold vehicle, he was expected to deliver a comprehensive report tomorrow on the activities of the Unit’s favourite psycho hacker.

Still, it could be worse. Tommy’s lips twitched into a grin as he thought of Yeager’s hideout: A dumpster stashed on the opposite side of the warehouse. His amusement faded as a shadow moved across one of the lit windows on the second floor. Drawing in a breath, Tommy fumbled for his notebook, ready to record the sighting.

The passenger door opened, letting in a blast of cold that whisked away the waxed paper. Bubonic climbed in, all long legs, long black coat, and wavy chestnut hair above the moulded leather plague doctor’s mask.

“Hello, Detective. Not got the heating on? Bad idea. You might catch a chill.”

Tommy dropped the binoculars into his lap. He turned, awkward with cold, knowing there was no way he’d be able to reach for his gun in time to stop Bubonic from leaving. Maybe he could grab Bubonic’s wrists instead. Yeah, maybe he could manacle him with ice, since his hands had gone so damn cold. Maybe he could—

“What’s that?” He stared at the paper bag Bubonic proffered. A paper bag blooming with warmth and tantalizing in its scent.

“Pumpkin spice muffins,” Bubonic said. “I believe they’re your favourite.”

Tommy’s mind blanked. His stomach growled. His body yearned towards the promise of warm, tasty food. “How did you know?” was all he could think to ask.

Bubonic’s chuckle filled the car, rich and dark. “I watch you, Detective Calligan. I know you.”

“I’m watching you, too!” Tommy shouted as Bubonic opened the door again and got out, leaving the bag of muffins on the passenger seat.

The door clicked shut. Bubonic strode away into the fog, turning to sketch a mocking salute before he was swallowed by the shadows.

“I’m watching you,” Tommy said again, quiet now. “But I don’t know you at all.”

[beer_good_foamy]

Glad you liked it, and thanks for the prompt!

[beer_good_foamy]

She totally would. Thanks!