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

Lady Cousland/Alistair, the Calling

[hawkeyesquared]

It was wrong. The lady Cousland knew that as surely as she knew her own name, or that of the man laying at her side, quiet, but not asleep.

He heard it too, she knew that. But it was too soon. The Call was always going take them eventually--that was, perhaps, the only thing about which Duncan had been open from the start. (Well, after the Joining, at least. No sense in telling recruits they were doomed to an eventful, short, and painful life until they were hopelessly committed, after all. And it wasn't as if she'd had much choice to begin with.) But it wasn't supposed to be happening now.

It sounded like... a song. Except that wasn't quite the right word, because it wasn't music she could hear so much as feel. And it was a haunting melody which she could almost understand, but true comprehension danced ever out of reach.

Was that what eventually drove Wardens to the Deep Roads, and to their deaths, in the absence of a Blight? This desperate need to know just what was being sung, why it resonated with their tainted souls?

"You're still awake," Alistair said--a statement, not a question. He knew as well as she the futility of sleep with that whisper at the edge of the mind.

She heard him sit up in there tent, and she turned to meet his gaze--the one thing, she thought, keeping her from following that Calling straight to the depths of the world. But they wouldn't be able to keep resisting--not for long. The rest of the Wardens had already begun to disappear. Vigil's Keep stood empty, and Andraste herself couldn't say what the Orlesian Wardens were up to. Something had to be done.

"...You're going to leave again, aren't you."

Cousland gave a deep sigh. "I have to," she said at length, looking back at him. "I need to find out why this is happening--and how to stop it."

"You know I'd follow you anywhere."

"I know. But I can't take you with me." The look on his face said he'd suspected as much. "I need someone here I know I can still trust--if all else fails, that fledgling Inquisition might even be of use. But I... it has to stop. There has to be a way. We didn't defeat the Blight just to let it claim us before our time."

Her conviction did not waver, even as the song swelled within her.

She'd beaten the forces of evil before. She could damn well do it again.