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

I like to think it goes like this

[runespoor]

Seizhi whimpers. “Please tell me you didn’t turn into a giant snake,” he begs.

“Oh, of course not ! It never helps,” Chuubo nods sagely, as though he hadn’t just shaved off two years of Seizhi’s life expectancy. Although… how does that work ? Seizhi’s not exactly, well, real. Is his lifespan linked to Chuubo’s ? Is he – Chuubo wished him into being, right, so is he immortal ? The only thing he knows for sure is that he can’t be wished into non-existence. That fight he and Chuubo had last month was at least good for proving that. Boy, that wasn’t a fun time.

And if something happened to Chuubo…

Seizhi’s not sure if it’s selfishness or being Chuubo’s Best Friend that drives a spike of icy dread down his spine at the thought. God, Chuubo needs to be more careful.

Still, it’s fine.

(Seizhi forces a breath through clenched lungs, and physically makes himself look Chuubo up and down. Chuubo looks basically okay, aside from the grass stains on his jeans, and those are a lost cause.)

Chuubo’s fine.

Chuubo doesn’t notice Seizhi hyperventilating himself into near catatonia, or is kind enough to pretend not to, bless him. Which makes sense; most of Seizhi’s existence since he realised he’s a Fake Person has been spent high-key worrying, about stuff like homework and being late and pretending really hard to have a lifetime supply of totally normal real-person life experiences and also pretending really hard he’s not worried about Chuubo learning his best friend is a fake! The former stuff he also does on Chuubo’s behalf, as part of his job as Chuubo’s best friend, and Chuubo takes it in stride. It’s a system. Chuubo provides the fun and Seizhi provides the freak-outs.

“So what happened ?” Seizhi asks, in an attempt to stall his racing heart, and also because Chuubo’s shenanigans are good for a laugh, looking back. Seizhi’s privately betting on Leonardo showing up to drive the point home of how much he can’t stand Chuubo, and solving the problem to show Chuubo up, but he’s keeping his suspicions to himself for now.

“I wished I could talk to snakes,” Chuubo says, candidly.

Oh, Seizhi thinks. Like me. He’s suddenly feeling very small and very alone, more alone than he’s ever felt. The summer breeze still ruffles warmly through his hair, but he only feels cold – like in his nightmares about non-existence, small and unable to scream, frozen in a realm of nightmares in Outer Space.

“Like you!” Chuubo beams. “And turned out they were trying to hypnotize me into reverting, so, you know, I left.”

“Right,” Seizhi acquiesces. These things happen to Chuubo. Then the part of his brain that’s not stuck on worrying about being replaced catches up. “Wait, so the snakes are still in Miramie’s basement ? You didn’t, like, talk them down, or, or wish they didn’t try to hypnotize people ?”

Chuubo does a little shrug-and-shaking-of-his-head when Seizhi says the W-word. “It didn’t feel like it would work right?...”

Seizhi nods.

“I thought I’d better ask you,” Chuubo continues. “You’re better at making friends.”





Chuubo’s is a TTRPG, and I’ve sort of fallen in love with the pregens. Chuubo probably comes across as worse than the goofy ordinary boy whose wishes do occasionally turn interesting, because I think when you don’t know the setting, Seizhi’s kind of an uncomfortable PoV, but they’re earnest kids.