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rthstewart ([personal profile] rthstewart) wrote2021-01-30 02:31 pm

Three Sentence Ficathon 2021

We have now opened a new post, for new prompts! Please leave all new prompts there. You may continue to fill existing prompts here. If you didn't get a prompt filled here, feel free to post it on the new post!





Welcome to the Three Sentence Ficathon!
2 Feb. 2021 See important edit below regarding where to find unfilled prompts.


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

What do I do first?
You can start 3SF by posting 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."

Open ended and anthropomorphic fills are popular too, such as:

Any, Any, "I don't like sand."

or

Earth geography, sand, "I don't like humans very much, either."

What happens after that?
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

I'm really overwhelmed by all the prompts and how much there is and how fast it goes. I can't read 1,000 prompts and fills. It's too much. 
I hear this a lot and it keeps a lot of people from participating.  The 3SF is big and it moves fast, especially at first. 
I get overwhelmed, too, and I'm hosting the thing. With 2020 and 2021 sucking so badly you don't want something that's supposed to be fun cause you anxiety.  I have a couple of suggestions for managing the 3SF volume. 
  • First, really, you don't have to read every prompt and fill on every page.  You can start at the last page of this and just go forward, or back a page or two.  It's fine.
  • You can come and go as time and energy allow, you don't have to participate the whole time, and it drops off quite a bit by mid-February.
  • Even after the 3SF and new prompting end, people fill prompts all year long.
  • You can fill an already filled prompt and you can can leave a prompt that's already been prompted before.  People do it all the time. 
Always make sure you're looking at top-level comments only, not threaded. That helps a lot. Your screen should look like this.




But shouldn't I read everything to see if someone already prompted the same prompt I want to leave if someone already filled it? 

No.  Prompt as many times as you want, as much as you want.  It doesn't matter if someone prompted the exact same prompt.  Go ahead and prompt again!

I left a prompt and no one filled it.  Can I prompt it again?
Absolutely!

Can I spread the word?
Yes, please. I generally fail at creating banners and embed codes but if you create one and make it really idiot-proof, I might be able to post and share it.  Feel free to cross-post this entry. If you create your own banners or icons, let me know and I'll share!
Please share the 3SF with your followers, friends, and any channels and comms you are active on.  I'll post on fandom calendar, Tumblr, and Twitter, but I don't have many connections in other spaces such as Discord.


How long will it go?

The 3SF closes to new prompts on February 28, 2021. The entry stays open permanently and people post fills all year long.

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 and archive warnings, triggers, pairings, ratings, tags, and squick?
I thought a lot about this. It boils down to reader beware.  In my experience, this typically gets too big, moves too fast, and the stories are too short for content warnings and ratings to even apply. It is too big for me to moderate in this way. You should assume spoilers are fair game and that the initial poster and the responder have opted to use no content warnings or tags. This means AO3 content warnings for dubcon, violence, canon character death, underage, etc. COULD be present. I've found personally that I can skim and scroll 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. In this format, the obligation is on you, the reader, to protect yourself from triggering content.
Some posters do include warnings and spoiler tags in subject lines or include spoiler space, but they don't have to do so.

Why is 3SF split among several posts?  That seems confusing.
It is confusing and we always lose momentum once we have to move to a second post. The reason is because at 5,000 comments to a single post, DW installs a human test CAPTCHA, which is a pain for users.  So, once this entry gets to the upper 4,000 comments, I open a new post.  If you've been waiting until things slow down to participate, when we open a second post is often a good place to join.

If I have questions, what do I do?

I'm rthstewart everywhere, here, Twitter, Tumblr, gmail and AO3.

A special thank you to [personal profile] conuly  .
Last year, Conuly started logging all unfilled prompts.
This year's (2021) unfilled prompts are here.
Last year's (2020) unfilled prompts are here.
Conuly asks that you not reply, as they want to be able to edit and add more prompts to the list.
Conuly does this just because they are an awesome person but should you want to write them fic in thanks, you can find a birthday wish list here.

Here is the 3SF 2021 Friending Meme to show of your new DW account.

Here, have some icons and banners and let me know if you've created your own!

 






text box you can try to cut and paste

















harmony_lover: (Default)

[personal profile] harmony_lover 2021-02-08 05:12 pm (UTC)(link)
This is amazing and I adore it. YES TO JILL BEING A WITCH MENTOR.
wingedflight: (Default)

Re: ahem, rthstewart and wingedflight

[personal profile] wingedflight 2021-02-08 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
ahahahahhahahahaha

Lucy feels like a kid dressed in Caspian's spare shirt, so large it falls to her knees, such a far cry from the tall skirts and elegant ballgowns she remembers. She fears, sometimes, that he's forgotten how old she really is on the inside, how much wiser and more experienced she is in all the ways that really matter.

But then he looks at her with those wide, worshipful eyes and for a moment, the world flip-flops; for a moment, Lucy stands before him as the queen-that-was, with Caspian as the boy petitioner kneeling at her feet.

Re: fire in their bones

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooh I love this so much!

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:14 pm (UTC)(link)
thanks :)
wingedflight: (Default)

Re: Not exactly shippy, but please tell me you get the references (and I'm not that old...)

[personal profile] wingedflight 2021-02-08 05:15 pm (UTC)(link)
LOOOOOOL
wingedflight: (Default)

Re: paging rthstewart and snacky!

[personal profile] wingedflight 2021-02-08 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Awwwww poor Priddy!

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:19 pm (UTC)(link)
thank you!
ravenlilyrose: (Default)

The Cheap Seats

[personal profile] ravenlilyrose 2021-02-08 05:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Nominally, Crowley always sat in the cheap seats despite being able to sit wherever he felt like because there was more chaos to be caused among the poor, with all of the people struggling through life.

In reality, he found that the cheap seats were more real and you got different perspectives from being there. The people in the cheap seats were there because they wanted to be, not because it was a status symbol, and the actors had grown up in the cheap seats and had a soft spot for the people sitting there, so they got some very interesting perspectives and looks.

Re: Game of Thrones, Sam

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Love this!

Re: Tracking Telmarines

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! I realise LoTR + Narnia is hardly groundbreaking stuff, but I did always think it was interesting that nobody knows what's to the East in Middle Earth nor the West in Narnia, and that the two worlds could very easily link up canonically speaking. I always dreamed of writing a longer fit about it but back in the day I was terrified of the Tolkien fans who would surely point out a thousand inconsistencies because I haven't read the Silmarillion.

You bring up some very interesting pairings there! I wouldn't even need to see romantic pairings, just those conversations would be interesting! Although now you've got me particularly curious about both Edmund/Faramir and Peridan/Faramir--largely because I love all three of those characters! Eowyn would certainly give Peter a challenge and challenge his ideas about women, and thus earn his respect as much as his love (though I always think those two things go very much hand in hand for Peter--he likes to admire the people he holds dear, and perhaps struggles to acknowledge their flaws). Also Lucy and Eowyn would totally be besties--as would Eowyn and Aravis.
harmony_lover: (Default)

[personal profile] harmony_lover 2021-02-08 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, wow. So much unspoken pain in this! Really beautifully done in such a short, short space. :)

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:28 pm (UTC)(link)
this is amazing! What a cool idea!

Re: Freeze

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
wow, this is amazing! I love how she carries this authority that makes everyone respect her, and that they all do no matter how long they've been gone
harmony_lover: (Default)

[personal profile] harmony_lover 2021-02-08 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
BWAHAHAHA, this is perfect. Eustace absolutely spot-on! :D
wingedflight: (Default)

The Expanse

[personal profile] wingedflight 2021-02-08 05:33 pm (UTC)(link)
(such a cool prompt!!)

"Would someone please tell me," said Queen Avasarala dryly, "why Captain James Holden is reportedly sailing straight towards plague-infested waters yet again?"

Her advisors all exchanged uneasy looks; none wished to remind the queen that Captain James Holden was an independent privateer who did not and never had accepted orders from Avasarala except by way of personal favour--and therefore, was under no obligation to stop sailing when she forbid his investigation into yet another plague outbreak.

It was Ambassador Draper who finally answered, "Ma'am, he claims he's following a, uh, spirit guide--the ghost of that private investigator?"

Re: What’s a King to a God

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:33 pm (UTC)(link)
aahh, this is is so cool! I love it so much!
harmony_lover: (Default)

Re: So many ideas, so little time!

[personal profile] harmony_lover 2021-02-08 05:35 pm (UTC)(link)
BUT PHYSICS. Such a Eustace response, and I love it. I, on the other hand, would be the person (Lucy?) who doesn't understand physics and doesn't care, and is infinitely more excited about meeting a star. :D

Re: Marching Back Through Time

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
wow, this is brilliant! I love everything about it, Jadis thoughts about Charn, and how she obtained the Words, and then her speaking of it. It is so beautifully written!
sheenianni: (Default)

Harry Potter, Snape&Lily meet again

[personal profile] sheenianni 2021-02-08 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, this went a bit beyond three sentences...
------------------------------------------

The afterlife was miserable.

His mother greeted him joyously, and Dumbledore had tried to be his guide but Severus didn't care for either of them. There was only one person he wanted to see in this empty, gloomy place, and it sure wasn't either of them.

He's searched for her far much longer than it should have taken (wasn't she waiting for him? Everything he had sacrificed because he loved her), but finally she's here, finally they're back together, and -

She doesn't leap into his arms. If anything, she looks like she might not even want to be here.

"I know I made mistakes," he says. "I shouldn't have called you-"

"I don't care, Sev," Lily says, and for a moment he feels hope- "You joined Voldemort. You murdered from him, my friends, my husband, nearly my son."

"I didn't kill Potter," Severus snaps back. "He shouldn't have trusted his little friends."

"We trusted Peter. I'm a Potter too, you know," she says, and it cuts into him.

She's right - he got her killed. "Lily, I'm so, so sorry. You must know I asked for your life-"

"And my son's life? James's life?"

They didn't matter, he thinks spitefully, but he holds the words back. "Voldemort wanted them dead. I couldn't have saved them even if I wanted to."

"And what about after," says Lily after a pause.

"After?" Severus frowns.

"You bullied kids at school."

"Me? What about Sirius Black, the Marauders-"

"You were a teacher," exclaims Lily. "Those were children in your care and you humiliated and hurt them. And don't tell me it was for your cover. You were cruel, Sev."

"So that's how it is, then," he says coldly.

"No - damn it, Severus." Lily bites her lip. "I know you tried. Albus shouldn't have asked you to spy on him."

"He had to," says Severus. I could've been in Azkaban, he doesn't say, because he doesn't like to admit that. "I wanted to. It was the right thing to do," he says, and he doesn't mention the other things that drove him. Vengeance. The thirst for power. The secret desire he'd get recognition and glory one day.

"You turned against him. I'm glad for you," says Lily, and for the first time in the conversation, her look softens. "You know, you can start over here. There's no Death Eathers here, no Voldemort; you can build a better life. Or afterlife, as it is."

He glances at his dim, shady surroundings, which make Knockturn alley look like a sunlit heaven. "I doubt there's anything good about this place."

Lily smiles at him. "You'd be surprised."

For a moment, she takes his hand, and he sees an echo of something else around her - a peaceful, soft glow, whispers of voices and laughter (he hears Potter? Lupin? the Longbottons?) and for a few seconds the whole world turns beautiful and warm, somehow.

Then she lets go and pulls away. "You can be happy here, Sev, you just have to try."

He grabs at her again. "Don't leave me," he begs. "Lily-"

"I do care about you. But Sev, you need to build a life that's not about me. It's not fair to either of us."

Of course she'd toss him away. It is the same as always, always the second best, never good enough for her. "Right. I won't bother you, then. Have fun with Potter, Lily," says Severus and turns away from her.

He doesn't need her or anybody else, he can manage on his own. Just like always.

*

Lily watches Severus with sad eyes as he walks into the shadows. Suddenly, Remus and Tonks appear next to her, and their presence is like a balm.

"So, how did it go? Are you all right?" asks Tonks.

Lily shakes her head. "I don't know. I don't know if he heard me... Or maybe I said all the wrong things."

"We all make mistakes," says Remus. "He'll figure it out eventually."

"Of course he will. We have eternity!" says Tonks cheerfully. "So, Lily, care to join us for a bit of flying? Fred and Sirius are organizing another game..."

Lily chuckles. "I think I'll just watch."

"Well, I'm playing," says Tonks. "I just need to track down Cedric to be the other Seeker..."

"Are you coming then, Lily?" says Remus after a moment when she's still looking into the distance.

Lily takes a deep breath and turns to face him. "Yes. I'm coming."

She sends a last look into the empty space. Then she goes to join her friends and family.

Re: Tracking Telmarines

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Amazing! I loved all the similarities and the differences between the parties that you pointed out

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Aaah this is great! I assume this is Charn? Really curious about that man1
ravenlilyrose: (Default)

Re: Re: Freeze

[personal profile] ravenlilyrose 2021-02-08 05:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! I'm glad you like it!

And Minerva McGonagall holds so much power over everyone. They are all equal parts scared of her and in awe of her and that will never change!

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:41 pm (UTC)(link)
This is sad, but lovely

(Anonymous) 2021-02-08 05:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Amazing! Love that Sabe does this for Padme
vialethe: (River)

Re: Doo doo doo

[personal profile] vialethe 2021-02-08 05:43 pm (UTC)(link)
They are so sad! And so competent but clearly so broken. ie, perfect for them to hit all the buttons that make me like something!