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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

















loveandrockmusic: (Default)

[personal profile] loveandrockmusic 2021-01-31 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
Narnia, Aflac Duck. He's a Narnian expat living large in Calormen getting rich off his gimmick of being a talking duck

I mean... There was a version that came out in 2020, right?

[personal profile] word_devourer 2021-01-31 05:15 am (UTC)(link)
They say there are no demons here, and every scan he's been able to perform agrees, but the Doom Slayer knows hell when he sees it.

Well, even if his enemy is something entirely new, the armor still keeps it out, and he'll still take it on the fight the only way he knows how; unceasingly, and without mercy.

He holsters his shotgun and makes his way to the nearest vaccine clinic; it's time to get to work.
acequeenking: (Padmé picnic time)

[Star Wars] Unexpected Headlines

[personal profile] acequeenking 2021-01-31 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
Camie Loneozner flicked open the morning edition of the flimsy, and even if news came to Tatooine slow, she knew it was Luke's face slowly filling in, byte by byte, off the Imperial Educational Network -- the only free data connection they could get out in the Jundland Wastes.

She stared at those eyes -- eyes she knew better than any other -- a long time before her eyes glanced down at the headline: LOCAL TERRORIST SUSPECTED IN LOCAL MURDERS, DEATH STAR ATTACK -- BE ALERT FOR SEDITIOUS MATERIAL!

It took her several read-throughs before she comprehended the headline, and even then, she could not quite reconcile the kind eyes with the cruel news print.

(Anonymous) 2021-01-31 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
Any, any, someone has to be the first to trust

(Note: I posted this last year and got some great fic, so I thought I'd try again!)

(Anonymous) 2021-01-31 05:24 am (UTC)(link)
Any, any, if we knew the consequences of our actions we might never act at all
scytale: (Default)

Re: I mean... There was a version that came out in 2020, right?

[personal profile] scytale 2021-01-31 05:24 am (UTC)(link)
Lovely!

(Anonymous) 2021-01-31 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
any, any, it's the inevitable 2020 pandemic request

(That is, the prompt is "2020 pandemic", but you know, if you go ahead and use "it's the inevitable..." as the prompt instead, whatever.)
scytale: (Default)

Re: [3SF RPF, because I said so, that's why] get thee behind me

[personal profile] scytale 2021-01-31 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I love this!
acequeenking: (Kimberly)

[personal profile] acequeenking 2021-01-31 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
Any/any, awkward dinner party
Edited 2021-01-31 05:26 (UTC)
scytale: (Default)

Re: [Hadestown] O, how my blood, it rushed

[personal profile] scytale 2021-01-31 05:26 am (UTC)(link)
I love the note that there's no apology from her. :D And oh, those precious hours.

[personal profile] word_devourer 2021-01-31 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
After about the third one, he starts keeping them up on the fridge, and Din, though impassive as ever, seems to find them amusing, too.

His favorites are tied between "...he was seen eating a bullfrog whole, and judging by the fact that nobody owned up to it, it sounds like it wasn't even a dare," and "...despite the fact that the boy was twice his size, he didn't even stand a chance, which really gives you a new perspective on the dangers of bullying; the teachers, who didn't see it, still refuse to believe that he was even capable of it."

Luke, who only got a few months of formal schooling, can't help being proud of his son; his son, who, young though he may be, is still stronger than the world could ever hope to contain.
--
(Side-note: I realized midway through that for maximum prompt satisfaction, I'd have filled this a different way, but I already had the concept, so I wanted to finish this)
acequeenking: Persephone - Dante Gabriel Rosetti (Default)

[personal profile] acequeenking 2021-01-31 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
Any / Any, For every mystery, there is somewhere, somewhere, who knows the truth. Perhaps that someone is watching. Perhaps… it’s you
conuly: (Default)

[personal profile] conuly 2021-01-31 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
I actually feel a little guilty that despite never leaving my home, I still didn't manage to get to previous years' like I'd intended. I'm going to go ahead and blame COVID, even if it doesn't make much sense.
loveandrockmusic: (Default)

[personal profile] loveandrockmusic 2021-01-31 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
OMG i forgot about the squirrels!!! lmao this really has the potential to be hilarious?? A BAD NUT
conuly: (Default)

[personal profile] conuly 2021-01-31 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
And then there was... all that other stuff over the past 50+ months.

[personal profile] embraidery 2021-01-31 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
Russian Doll, Nadia Vulvokov, sincerity

[personal profile] embraidery 2021-01-31 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Bart, someone wraps Bart in a blanket burrito

[personal profile] embraidery 2021-01-31 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Litzibitz Trost, horses