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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

















fallen_stage: Kuja standing in the wind, facing down Bahamut (Default)

Brooding (Final Fantasy IX, Mr. 33 + Mr. 111)

[personal profile] fallen_stage 2021-02-05 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
The egg had been left by a chocobo, its 'mother', as Mr. 288 said. Mr. 288 knew a whole lot, and told the rest of them that if the egg was kept warm, it would 'hatch' and become another chocobo.

"So the 'egg' is a box for chocobos?" Mr. 111 asked.

"Not exactly... But that's not exactly wrong, either." Mr. 288 replied, "It'll open under the right conditions, so we'll have to make a nest for it and keep it warm with lots of hay."

Mr. 111 and Mr. 33 immediately volunteered to look after the egg. As the pair who found the chocobo before she stopped, they were interested in seeing the egg open. Under Mr. 288's guidance, they used one of the huts to make a wooden box and filled it with hay to keep the egg in. The egg was warm and smooth to the touch, but a little bumpy too.

"Don't owls have eggs, too? We should look at their nests and see how theirs are made." Mr. 33 suggested. Mr. 111 thought it a good idea, so the pair went hunting for owl nests in trees.

They managed to find a few, and it was much like the nest Mr. 288 helped them build. There was wood, but mostly little sticks instead of the solid beams back in the village, and there was even bits of down like the straw. Mostly, however, they observed owls sitting atop the eggs very carefully. Mr. 288 explained that the birds kept the egg warm with their own body heat.

"Should we sit on the egg too?" Mr. 33 asked.

"Won't we break it if we do that?" Mr. 111 asked immediately after, voice full of worry.

Mr. 288 shook his head. "Our houses keep us much warmer than wild nests. As long as we keep the wind out and the house warm, it should be fine. Keep checking the egg every day."

Mr. 111 and Mr. 33 nodded. Neither of them were experts, but the two knew what nests looked like, and were determined to help the egg open. Soon, the chocobo inside would get out of the weird box, and join its life to theirs.
shinon: Shinon and Gatrie from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. (Default)

Re: Brooding (Final Fantasy IX, Mr. 33 + Mr. 111)

[personal profile] shinon 2021-02-05 01:49 pm (UTC)(link)
This is adorable. Pitch-perfect Black Mages. They're so earnest! They don't have the full picture, but they're thinking it through so carefully! 33 and 111's faith in 288 is really sweet, and I love the thought of the egg as a "weird box."
fallen_stage: Kuja standing in the wind, facing down Bahamut (Default)

[personal profile] fallen_stage 2021-02-05 07:11 pm (UTC)(link)
I saw ff9 and knew i had to try, then i saw it was for the black mages and bobby corwen and i was like shit i cant Not write it!

I'm happy you enjoyed it! I adore the black mages and i wanted to capture their perspectives and feelings. mr 288 really is a great leader, but i wanted mr 33 and mr 111 to take initiative too. im glad i got the tone right!

im particularly proud of the "weird box" part, haha. i figured, well, since they dont know a lot, and its a container for a bird, well... my first thought was like a treasure chest, and then "box" came very easily. after that i was put in mind of the hobbit and its riddle about "a box without hinges, key, or lid".

of course the title is a pun, both about brooding an egg and ruminating in deep thought, since they're concerned about the egg. :>
raisedbymoogles: (Default)

Re: Brooding (Final Fantasy IX, Mr. 33 + Mr. 111)

[personal profile] raisedbymoogles 2021-02-06 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
awwwww they are BEST chocobo dads
fallen_stage: Kuja standing in the wind, facing down Bahamut (Default)

[personal profile] fallen_stage 2021-02-07 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
Bobby Corwen will be raised with love <3
queenlua: (Default)

Re: Brooding (Final Fantasy IX, Mr. 33 + Mr. 111)

[personal profile] queenlua 2021-02-13 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
adoooorable, ty for this!
fallen_stage: Kuja standing in the wind, facing down Bahamut (Default)

[personal profile] fallen_stage 2021-02-13 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
im glad you enjoyed it! the black mages are my absolute favorite