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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

















reeby10: 'don't worry what people think they don't do it very often' in grey with 'think' and 'often' in red (Default)

Re: Hamlet, King Claudius

[personal profile] reeby10 2021-02-16 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Ahh, this is a wonderful fill! Thank you :D
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)

Three Generations

[personal profile] silveradept 2021-02-16 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"Uncle," Zuko said respectfully, addressing the spirit in front of him, "how do I get Izumi to enjoy her tea?"

"The same way that I did with you, nephew," Iroh said, smiling. "By finding the one she likes and telling her the stories she enjoys to go with it."
ernest: (lemony snicket)

Re: Hamlet, King Claudius

[personal profile] ernest 2021-02-16 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm glad you liked it! I love Claudius and I'm sad for him.
reeby10: 'don't worry what people think they don't do it very often' in grey with 'think' and 'often' in red (Default)

[personal profile] reeby10 2021-02-16 10:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! It's a really fun movie and Bethany was absolutely my favorite part.
reeby10: 'don't worry what people think they don't do it very often' in grey with 'think' and 'often' in red (Default)

[personal profile] reeby10 2021-02-16 10:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!
reeby10: 'don't worry what people think they don't do it very often' in grey with 'think' and 'often' in red (Default)

[personal profile] reeby10 2021-02-16 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
So glad you liked it :D
loveandrockmusic: (Default)

Re: Vast and Great (Disco Elysium, Harry, SFW)

[personal profile] loveandrockmusic 2021-02-16 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
omigosh?! lovelyyyyy
loveandrockmusic: (Default)

Re: Always knock

[personal profile] loveandrockmusic 2021-02-16 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
omg!! this was perfect!
loveandrockmusic: (Default)

Re: Waiting

[personal profile] loveandrockmusic 2021-02-16 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
my heart!!! so wonderfully done
ravenlilyrose: (Default)

Re: Waiting

[personal profile] ravenlilyrose 2021-02-16 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!!!
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)

Culture Shock

[personal profile] silveradept 2021-02-16 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
It was overwhelming.

It wasn't that he didn't know these kinds of people existed, just that he didn't know how many there were and the endlessly different combinations they arrived, danced, split off, recombined, flirted, and talked to each other in.

He was beginning to suspect McGonagall had deliberately chosen the most shocking thing she could for the required fieldwork in Muggle Studies.

Re: Culture Shock

(Anonymous) 2021-02-16 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I love this. I more than three it.
vialethe: (Susan)

Re: Two Queens

[personal profile] vialethe 2021-02-17 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
Oof, that last line! You're breaking my heart here. I love that Obi-Wan is intelligent enough to make all the connections between them, but also just dumb enough to be a little condescending about the clothing issue. Also like the Saw Gerrera shout out, and how it's Susan's ability to empathize and understand where his issues are coming from that first reminds Obi-Wan of Padme. Just perfect.
vialethe: (River)

Re: The Expanse, Erich & Naomi, Feels Like Flying

[personal profile] vialethe 2021-02-17 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
Great insight to Erich here, how he feels both less secure in zero G and more so, in a way. The emphasis on effortless as the important thing is wonderful.
sholio: sun on winter trees (Default)

Re: The Expanse, Erich & Naomi, Feels Like Flying

[personal profile] sholio 2021-02-17 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I was thinking my way around the prompt a bit, and then it occurred to me what would be an interesting angle to approach it from, and very plausible for him.
coralines: hold me down a bed of roses (Default)

[personal profile] coralines 2021-02-17 08:16 am (UTC)(link)
Oh yes, a mind goes to some strange places during sex!
Thanks for filling, I enjoyed your take a lot ♥
snacky: (narnia peter the high king)

Re: i know they said the end is near

[personal profile] snacky 2021-02-18 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
I love Peter, but that is JUST ME, lololol. Also I think he gets Susan in a different way from Edmund and Lucy.
snacky: (montmaray)

Re: Narnia/Silmarillion, Susan/Maglor, women with madness / their men and bad habits

[personal profile] snacky 2021-02-18 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
I think they match each other in madness!

~~

Maglor sings for her nightly.

He's been waiting for years for someone to hear his songs again, and now that he's found her, he will never cease singing.

The best night is the night she joins him in song.
snacky: (narnia susan look away)

Re: and I can go anywhere I want / anywhere I want, just not home

[personal profile] snacky 2021-02-18 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
One of my favorite things about Susan is how practical she is, and how brave. Like she may be the most skeptical of the sibs, but she never holds back once she's made up her mind.
snacky: (narnia edmund & susan)

Re: Narnia, Susan/Edmund, back when I was living for the hope of it all

[personal profile] snacky 2021-02-18 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
I think it could be a really fun AU? (file that away for future NFEs) The two of them planning the trip to Tashbaan and working together while they're there.
snacky: (Default)

Re: Narnia, Susan/Edmund, back when I was living for the hope of it all

[personal profile] snacky 2021-02-18 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! As you know, they balance each other out well!
snacky: (narnia susan & edmund)

Re: I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs

[personal profile] snacky 2021-02-18 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
I feel like she couldn't let him go, no matter what she believed! If he was going, she was too!

~~

"We have enough rings, you know," he tells her as they wait for the train, watching her face carefully. "It doesn't have to be just Eustace and Jill that go -- it can be you and me, and really, all of us."

She shrugs and he still sees the doubtful look in her eyes, but her hand squeezes his tightly when she replies, "I'm with you, whatever you decide."
snacky: (narnia susan arrow)

Re: I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs

[personal profile] snacky 2021-02-18 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! Of course she's my favorite to write!
edenfalling: stylized black-and-white line art of a sunset over water (Default)

Hunt and Gather (Chronicles of Narnia)

[personal profile] edenfalling 2021-02-18 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
"It makes perfect sense -- girls hunt dinner and boys cook it," Lucy told Jill; "I'm good with snares and nobody's ever matched Susan with a bow, but managing a kitchen isn't at all the same as actually being able to cook, and Peter and Ed insisted they get to do something useful after setting camp and starting the fire. You should try with Eustace sometime -- he wasn't very good with meats when he started out, but he's excellent at foraging for salads and by the time we reached the Uttermost East he'd got decent with roasts and downright skilled at stews."

"Yes, but that's all English cookery; I need a Jamaican-style meal to impress my mother," Jill said; "Be honest: would he know the first thing to do with plantains?"
Edited 2021-02-18 02:06 (UTC)