rthstewart | Three Sentence Ficathon 2022

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Three Sentence Ficathon 2022

This post is NOW CLOSED TO NEW PROMPTS! PLEASE POST YOUR NEW PROMPTS HERE, IN POST 2! Do continue to fill prompts here but please put all new prompts in Post 2.

Welcome to the Three Sentence Ficathon!

Here's a Friending meme!

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 at bit after about 2 weeks and especially once we open a new post because this one is approaching 4,500 comments.
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.

Here's my attempt at a text box that might go horribly awry.

How long will it go?
The 3SF closes to new prompts on February 13, 2022. The entry stays open permanently and people post fills all year long. (There were a bunch of new posts to the 2021 3SF this week!)

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 (and much more). 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, protect yourself, 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 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

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.

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thursday Next series (Jasper Fforde), any, "I tolled the bell, man."

Star Wars Legends, Mara Jade, before all else, be armed.

“Worst undercover mission,” prompted Leia as she filled Mara’s glass (Whyren’s Reserve, naturally, as if a half-Corellian household could serve anything else).

“Boobtown,” Mara answered with a grimace; Leia arched an eyebrow and nudged the bottle closer to her sister-in-law. “Mining boomtown on Mindrin VI,” Mara elaborated, “I was undercover as an Askajian dancer.”

“Don’t they have—?” Leia motioned vaguely at her chest.

“Six breasts? Yes.” Mara drained her glass.

Leia tried to channel Han’s best sabacc face. “How did you do it? Better yet, why?”

Mara sighed heavily. “The follies of youth, Leia. Still, how else could I have smuggled in four thermal detonators?”

ROTFL. Gawd I love this.

LOL! Oh my goodness, so good!!!

I love this XD Their interactions are perfect and I loved the punchline

ASOIAF, any, sister

Edited 2022-01-20 04:11 (UTC)

"We'll be as sisters," Margaery had told her. It's true that a marriage to a son of Highgarden will give her the Tyrells as good-family, but Sansa will never give up her own sister. Arya was wild and disobedient and she might be dead in the war or she might have escaped somehow but she's free, free as a bird, more free than Sansa is ever likely to be.

Oh this is so good! I love Sansa being a good sister, especially to Arya. It's very like her to want to hold on to what's hers.

I love this!

Great fill for this prompt.

Oh, lovely. <3

Oh, Sansa. Love her trying to hold on to her family in her heart, even with Arya so far away.

Upon hearing of Elia's death, Oberyn and all of Dorne had raged - fires in the streets, clashing of spears, baying for dragon's blood in a fervor that had not been seen since the days of the Young Dragon - the clamoring of vengeance echoing from Sunspear to Starfall.

Doran had wept, of course, but more than that, Doran had *ached*. Wished with all his heart that he'd kept his sweet, beautiful sister safe in their homeland instead of marrying her off in a fool's wish. Elia was no Maron, to walk the halls of the Red Keep unscathed, nor was she Daenerys enough to enchant her husband's head out of those books of his.

His brother comes to him with an ultimatum, raise Dorne for Viserys, marry him to Arianne (his bright-eyed girl, silly and eager and strong). Doran strikes Oberyn for the one and only time - they will never again be the playthings of the dragons. No more Dornish blood will be spilt as Elia's was.

I love how you characterized Doran - he's got so much pain, but he expresses it in a very different way than Oberyn and much of the rest of Dorne, and above all he wants to preserve Dorne and its people as best he can.

Are they even siblings after so long apart? She is a Stark and she knows this still (her life had been defined by her family after all). But she had been the reason father professed guilt, she had sent that letter to Robb – she had caused so much pain to her little sister in the short time they had been together. Had hated her so terribly much, had blamed her for Lady’s death when the circumstances had been her fault in the first place. Arya was her sister and she loved her so much – but was she Arya’s sister?

It had been so long since she had seen Sansa, dressed up on the steps of the Sept. Since the day their father died. It had been longer for Sansa – their eyes hadn’t met like hers and Father’s had. What would her older sister think of her now? A girl who is Arya Stark but had pretended not to be for longer than she had ever been Arya. A girl who had left her sister behind to suffer, a girl who had left Westeros when their family had been in so much trouble. A girl who had abandoned her family at the onset of winter. Father would be ashamed, would Sansa accept her as a wolf once more? Were they still sisters after everything she had run from?

Poor girls!! Their deep feelings of guilt and self-doubt parallel each other so well, despite their very different personalities and experiences.

Thank you! I love the though of both of them being so uncertain of their place in their family after so long apart but clinging to each other anyway. I definitely think Arya and Sansa are more alike than either would like to admit, despite going through such different things.

Attack On Titan, Levi, clumsy

Leverage, Hardison/Eliot, one of the ways Eliot protects Hardison that has nothing to do with physical safety

(apologies in advance for the tortured punctuation - I was trying for just 5 sentences before admitting defeat!)

They're the other side of the con and both Sophie and Nate are now out of action with nasty colds, undoubtedly caught through a combination of the people they'd been dealing with all being ill and the truly awful weather, when suddenly Hardison realises that he doesn't feel sick - not at all which he thinks is really unusual or would have been not all that long ago.

It occurs to him that things have changed since Eliot and he got together and he looks across at the other man, who's in the kitchen prepping dinner and before he can stop himself, blurts out, "Eliot!" Eliot turns sharply, knife in hand bracing himself for a threat. "I'm not sick," Hardison continues, surprise still evident in his voice; the confusion on Eliot's face prompts him to carry on, "Nate and Sophie are both ill, everyone on the con had some kind of cold or infection, and Parker isn't feeling great and the weather is lousy and I was always catching stuff before but now..." He trails off not sure where exactly he's going with this. Eliot huffs in exasperation, turns back to his preparation where he pointedly picks up another red pepper and begins to dice it and suddenly Hardison realises that this is what Eliot does to protect him. He can't actually fight germs or whatever, but he feeds Hardison all this food that boosts his own immunity, he doesn't let him stay up all night gaming but makes sure he gets a proper amount of sleep and this is the result - Hardison is healthy. "You did it!" he said with a certain amount of awe in his voice, it gets a typical Eliot huff and shrug, but Hardison can see the small lift of a smile almost hidden by his hair and the angle of his head.

He stands up and walks across to stand behind Eliot, waits for the other man to turn, then says, "You did it. Thank you," finishing with a kiss before letting Eliot get back to his preparation.

<3 <3 <3 The feels!! I love this so much <3 Thank you! Eliot would SO protect him in all of those ways.

Eliot found Alec slumped over his keyboard, his head cushioned on his arm. He sighed, put the groceries on the counter then walked over to look down at his partner.

He was always after the younger man to get more sleep and not to get caught up in trying to delve into the mysteries of the Black Book. They had a business to run; two really, now that Leverage International was up and running.

“I’ve got it, El.” A familiar phrase now, and one that Eliot was going to insist that Alec retire or at least reconsider.

He put his hand on Alec’s shoulder and shook it gently. “Hey, babe. Wake up.”

Alec groaned as he lifted his head, the light from his terminals reflecting blue against his skin. He blinked to focus then yawned. “El. Sorry,” he yawned again. “I was just finishing up some stuff while I was waiting for you.”

Eliot shook his head fondly at the little white lie. “Didn’t mean to take so long,” he said gruffly. “Why don’t you come with me and lie down for a bit. I can cook us something in a little while.”

He was satisfied when Alec didn’t fight him about it.

AWW I love the quiet gentleness here - it really sets a mood very vividly and sweetly. Thank you - I just love this and I love their characterizations here SO MUCH!!!!! <3 <3 <3

this was from me by the way lol - not logged in. Anyway, I obviously loved it!!

Thanks!

"It'll never work," Eliot says after Hardison excuses himself to the bathroom.

"Why not?" the other man asks.

"One, the man believes that 'orange' is a food group, two, he's Team Jacob, and you seem like a Team Edward kind of guy, and three, I'm his boyfriend and I don't like you."

LOLOLOL

that is just terrific!!

Thank you <3 <3 <3

"No," Eliot says, grabbing Hardison's arm and steering him away from the big brew kettle that dominated the back room - and, more importantly, making him drop the little plastic package in his hand with one strategic dig of fingers into nerves.

"Wait, wait, hear me out," Hardison protests, already twisting like he wants to go back, "other people have already made batches like this, right, but they've only tried using one ghost pepper--"

"No," Eliot says again, and shuts the door in Hardison's face.

lolololol

this is just PERFECTLY them!!!

thank you!!!

The Originals or Vampire Diaries, any 2 male characters, keeping a secret to spare his feelings

Vampire Diaries/Originals or Never Have I Ever or Cobra Kai, any m/m, it was easier to hate him before realizing he was a really good kisser

It was a lot easier to hate Paxton when he was just the dumb popular guy Devi picked over him, who was admittedly attractive but no substance beyond that and being the subject of Ben’s resentment.

That was until Paxton showed up at his bedroom window, rain-soaked, wanting to apologize even when it was Devi’s fault, not his, that Ben had been hurt.

It was a lot harder to hate him now when he’d invited Paxton over to play video games as a gesture of good will, and one thing had led to another, and suddenly video game controllers and Devi were long forgotten; there was only Paxton’s warm lips over his, soothing the chill of his perpetually empty house.

Edited 2022-01-20 07:17 (UTC)

I didn't know I shipped this, but hey, you learn something new every day.

Very cute! Good for them boys.

I didn’t know i shipped them either tbh, i just couldn’t remember any other male characters so i figured why not. the concept is intriguing me now…

YES I hope you write more <3 <3 ;)

Ooh I love this! I ship Ben/Paxton so much but it's weirdly rare to find it, and I so completely love this take on them! Thank you <3

aaaa that’s so sweet, thank you!

by the way do you have an ao3 account? i might post this there and I’d like to gift it to you if you want

Josh's heartbeat spikes when he's pulled into the alcove, fight-or-flight reflexes instinctively making him struggle against the possessive, unyielding hands on his hips – Klaus!, he realizes too late at the familiar sight of the deadly smile inches from him, and his fear doesn't subside at all, even when it's joined by the hatred he can never quite stifle around Klaus.

"Play along, love," Klaus whispers into his ear, his hand curved around Josh's neck like a collar holding him in place, and the next thing Josh knows, Klaus bends his head and presses his mouth to Josh's.

It's—overwhelming: all heat and tongue, venomous teeth scraping dangerously against Josh's lips, like Klaus wants to stake a claim, and all Josh can do is let himself be kissed, forgetting for a moment that this is nothing but a distraction, that he's supposed to be play-acting, and that Klaus is the worst person he's ever met.

Holy shit, this is hot. And the phrasing so perfectly captures Josh complicated loathing and arousal and fear, and what a great last line. I love this so much!!! Thank you <3 <3 <3

Any, the moment someone realizes the love triangle should be solved with a long-term triad/threesome

(Crying Suns)

Rebecca isn't stupid--she's nearly as talented a roboticist as she is a pilot, and you don't become an expert in the laws of robotics without learning a little about the laws of humanity along the way--so when Oberon says "I've been watching your family for a long time, Ellys" she knows to hear my cloning facility isn't the only genetic experimentation I run.

When Ellys says "I'm not sure the Survivalists deserve the retribution that the Emperor plans for them," she hears I'm not sure I can do this much longer.

And when Okonkwo, wild-eyed and fervent, swears to her "I'd never do anything to hurt you, Rebecca, Ellys is like my brother, you just deserve so much better," she calls Ellys before Okonkwo can leave and says, "We need to talk."

I don't know the canon, but I love you don't become an expert in the laws of robotics without learning a little about the laws of humanity along the way, what I see of the characters and how well you write Rebecca's intelligence and the others trying to work through things, both related to the romance and not. And I ship it. :D

This is so completely lovely and thoughtful and beautiful - thank you!!

"We're not really normal any other way, why is this any weirder?" Parker asked, frowning. She tucked her legs up and propped her elbows on them, looking from one of her boys to the other and watching as they looked suddenly more flustered.

She sighed; she was sure they'd figure it out eventually . . . and then maybe someone would explain why this was so unexpected to them, when Parker was sure it just made sense.

Parker is very wise, and also has excellent taste in men.

:D Thank you so much for this!! I LOVE this OT3, and Parker's starting question is so HER and so THEM and so GREAT <3 <3 <3

That she is and she definitely does! haha

I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks! Parker is such fun to write and has such a great perspective, really. ♡

"I love him as much as you do." Ga Eul said, and Woo Bin felt a flare of temper that almost overtook the edge of nausea that he'd been struggling with. As though any woman might claim to the same depth of care he carried after a lifetime with his best friend . . . but while Woo Bin might love Yi Jung, and he didn't doubt he was loved in return, he also didn't doubt Yi Jung's love for this sweet, pretty woman . . . and her he could keep, could show off.

"Do you really." Woo Bin spat, far rougher than he'd ever allowed himself to be around Ga Eul before; more than he normally would around any lady, but to hear the love he had carried since he was a child so easily-

"Woo Bin!" Ga Eul said sharply, and he jumped as she caught hold of his jacket collar; his eyes widened as she pressed a kiss on him, and he froze, even as she pulled away, just a little. "I am not fighting with you," she said more softly, winding her arms around Woo Bin's shoulders and holding herself close, despite the deep pink suffusing her pretty face; he jerkily wound his arms around her waist comfortingly, almost without thinking, "not to belittle you or- or taunt you or fight with you over- over him, or anything," she said, meeting his gaze fearlessly, "but . . . you love him as much as I do, and I think perhaps. . ."

Woo Bin gentled his hold around Ga Eul's waist, one hand sliding up her back as he tilted his head to brush his lips over hers in a sweeter caress.

Woo Bin had ruthlessly strangled down his own admiration for her, seeing the depth of Yi Jung's - and for all his charm, Yi Jung did not open to anyone so easily the way he had to Ga Eul - and seeing the way she had looked at Yi Jung in return, soft heart in her eyes. But- But if he dared. . .

Ga Eul's embrace eased into something more comfortable even as she drew herself closer, mouth soft beneath his own.

. . .I swear this was going to be three sentences, it got away from me, oops. ^^;

Don't know this fandom but you make it sound fabulous!

Thanks so much for this gorgeous fic!!!

Aa, thank you very much! ♡

Ended up just over three.

Duke and Nathan are sniping at each other again, and Audrey has finally had enough; it's not as though she hasn't considered the idea in the dark of night when she's half-awake with her hand between her legs.

"If you two don't kiss in the next ten seconds, I'm shooting one of you," she says, standing, gun in her hand and steady as she trains it back and forth between them, "and then you get to kiss me."

She's stood on the edge of a cliff before, this is simply another moment when someone has to drag her back from the edge--Duke goes in first, hands catching in Nathan's shirt before Nathan's own come up to his face.

Her gun drops to the deck as she is pulled between them, and all of those late night fantasies are nothing like the real thing--for one thing, there are a lot more elbows in noses and hands in faces at the wrong moments.

Whoa this is HOT and also so completely in character for all three - LOVE THIS!

LOL at how Audrey resolves it, and then the kiss is just hotness and sweetness and it's so great - thank you <3 <3

Thank you! I spent so much of that series going, "AUGH, just kiss! All three of you! Please!"

Also, I refuse to believe Audrey never considered it, that seemed exactly the sort of cutting to the chase thing she'd come up with. :D

"It would be so much easier if all of them would just say they want each other," Juleka fumed at Rose. "Marinette stops having panic attacks because she has two people to calm her down, even if one of them is my brother, and Adrien gets the two girls he's admired from afar ever since they came into his life."

"Would you like me to interfere, love?" Rose replied, pressing a kiss to her girlfriend's lips.

[That is, Luka-Marinette-Adrien one way and Marinette-Adrien-Kagami the other.]

This is great! I don't know this fandom, but this is so funny and cute and the characters seem awesome!!!!! Thank you <3 <3 <3

Mihmatini loves her husband. Unfortunately, so does her brother.

And equally unfortunately, it’s clear that her husband loves him back. Oh, they haven’t told her any of this. But when one man turns an army around for another, she can connect the dots. Teomitl looks at her brother as though he set the sun in the sky, positively gushing over him whenever he gets the chance. By the Duality, he was willing to kill the Emperor for him. That’s not even considering Acatl himself, whose dour face turns fond whenever they’re in the same room. Who was willing to break vows when Teomitl made it clear it was necessary. It’s positively embarrassing.

Most women would be jealous. Or angry. Or both. She...well, she won’t lie and say it doesn’t annoy her a little—really, she’s not sure which of them has worse taste—but what’s worse than watching her husband’s distracted glances or her brother’s lingering smiles is knowing for a fact that it’s going to continue on exactly like this forever if she doesn’t do something.

And it will have to be her, because for all their flaws, these are men that love her. Teomitl has made it clear in a thousand ways that he’ll never break her heart again, and she doesn’t have to ask Acatl to know he’d move mountains for her. Men like that don’t snap and act on their simmering sexual-romantic tension unprompted, even when it’s so thick she could cut it with a knife.

One night, they’re eating dinner together, just the three of them in a loose triangle around the table. After the third time Teomitl’s fingers “accidentally” brush Acatl’s hand while passing a side dish and the fourth time Acatl smiles at him, her fraying patience snaps.

“Acatl. Teomitl,” she says very evenly.

Her brother blinks at her, probably warned by the tension in her voice. “What’s the matter?”

She considers subtlety—I don’t care what you do on your mat, or Both of you should be happy—but discards it. They’re not quick on the uptake in this area. So what she actually says is, “I have no problem sharing my husband, and if you two don’t start kissing instead of hovering around each other like a pair of courting hummingbirds, I am going to scream.”

Teomitl’s jaw drops. Acatl makes a choking noise. Neither of them appear to be breathing.

“Now,” she continues, “I am going to get up and take a walk around the Sacred Precinct. You have an hour to do—something, I don’t care what, as long as your clothes are back on by the time I return. I said I don’t mind sharing but I draw the line at seeing my brother naked. There’s a gourd full of avocado oil in Teomitl’s bedchambers. Have fun.”

And then she gets up, brushes crumbs from her skirt, and leaves. She’s almost out of earshot before she catches Teomitl’s stunned whisper of, “What the fuck did I just hear,” and it’s too much.

She bursts out into giggles.

Ooh I don't know the fandom but this was so terrific!!! lololol, love that she has just had enought of their nonsense

The canon is a rather grim/gloomy noir fantasy/mystery series set in 1400s Tenochtitlan. The fanfic is me grabbing it by the throat and snarling "BUT WHAT IF THEY WERE IN LOVE AND NOTHING HURT." They just have so many emotions! Mihmatini is going to fix everything.

Shadow & Bone/SoC, Inej/Kaz, forever is the sweetest con

It's the little things, Jesper thinks, that give it away.

They're not the types to wear rings or pledge words in public or any of that -- too compromising on a mission, too risky a chance someone might see it and know you're vulnerable, all that.

But Jesper knows they're as good as married the second Inej's hand lands on his and Kaz lets it stand there for a full minute, and he doesn't bother to hide his widest, most swagger-filled grin at them to show his delight for them; vulnerability, maybe, but only for a second.

Kaz/Inej and secret weddings! Adorable.

JESPER!! Using his POV is an inspired choice, and his widest, most swagger-filled grin made me laugh. Subtle, but in a very Jesper way. And of course he knows them so well that it's the slightest of tells that gives them away! This is wonderful.

Love it!!

Yesss, HANDS giving them away!

i love this, omg

I love this so much!!

Narnia (Tisroc & the King AU), Aravis/Khalid, broken me and broken them/and you are broken, too/open ears, their eyes are open/makes me call for you

Aravis names him Rahmat, and he grows up to be the splitting image of her brother in all but expression. In no time at all, even the fiercest of Aravis’ slanderers fall silent, for there is no questioning the piercing dark eyes that instantly recall Rabadash Tisroc’s lineage — nor the way his brows draw together when he is angry, or the brightness in his delighted smile (so rare and twisted in Rabadash, but so purely joyful in Rahmat).

Rahmat grows up, and for a long time does not question the miracle of his birth, nor the tale of Aravis Tisroc, builder of bridges, bearer of the child of two Tisrocs, who rode pregnant into battle. Yet he notices the silence from his mother when his father is mentioned, the stormy glare in his Uncle Khalid’s eyes, the way his Uncle Ishamiel steers the conversation away.

A Prince in his position cannot be raised to be naive, and so he learns of the cruelty of child marriages, of the depravity-clothed-in-luxury that once ran rampant in his palace, of the inhuman practices still practiced outside of Tashbaan. Aravis Tisroc allows him to hear every testimony, even from a young age, that he may learn of the plight of his subjects and take part in its resolution. He hears every account, that is, but his mother’s own.

Still, it is not until he is nearly a man, in conversation with his cousins, that he comprehends the terrible truth of his parentage—of his mother’s age upon marriage, and the conditions in which he must have been conceived.

For many months, riding through deserts and gorges among people who do not know him on mission after mission in the Tisroc’s name, Prince Rahmat wonders how many times he has been his mother’s tormentor—his every childish glare and thoughtless comment a reflection of his father’s violence, his very existence the unwanted souvenir of the darkest years of his mother’s life. He wonders at the pain he has caused, and at how he may take it away, and it is so burdened that he returns to Tashbaan—victorious in name but ashamed at heart.

But now, wandering the palace with an adult’s eyes, he accidentally catches a glimpse of his mother’s private quarters—of the long fingers threading through her hair and cradling her cheek, of the low murmur of a Tarkaan’s voice, of how a kiss the Tarkaan presses to the corner of her mouth prompts laughter so carefree that it may have belonged to a girl. It is a glimpse of love, born in the greatest adversity and sustained in secret over nearly two decades—a love that raised Rahmat, too.

It is only then that he sees in himself what his mother has always seen: that the dark fire in his eyes is not cruel, but impassioned; that his brows do not hold a shadow of violence, but stubborn intelligence; and that his smile is not the descendent of a depraved Tisroc’s delight—but the offshoot of a rare blossom none but Khalid Tarkaan’s closest are permitted to see.

NASIM. This is such a gorgeous little piece, after our convo about Dad!Khalid last night. Rahmat is such a sweetheart - the way he worries about Aravis and his parentage as he grows up is so touching, and the little details (Khalid being 'stormy!' Ishamiel changing the subject (does he know?!? or does he just know Aravis doesn't want to think about Rabadash...)) of his expressions and upbringing just make it better.

AND THEN HE COMES BACK AND CATCHES THEM and oh my, I adore it. The way it changes everything about himself in his eyes to see Khalid there instead of Rabadash-!! MY HEART. What a sweet, glorious little might-have-been this is.

Narnia (Tisroc & the King AU), Aravis/Khalid, but there’s no seduction, only destruction

Shadow & Bone/TGT, The Darkling/Alina, oh, you cannot love in moderation/you’re dancing with a dead man’s bones

He thinks, with sudden amused malice, of little Alina's horror of she knew that her lips had brushed against the Black Heretic's, if she so much as dreamed that the hair she wound her fingers through was that of a man who'd lived twenty times her lifespan, if she had any inkling of the weariness he feels without her, day in and day out--
He thinks of her warm hands pulling away, her eyes shuttering; he thinks of the instant even her seemingly boundless faith will shatter.
He thinks he might see fit to hold his tongue for some time longer.

(Okay I might literally die with joy of you writing my newest and dearest OTP for me...)

The progression in this!! The way he goes from amused and a little cruel to remembering how much life sucks without her, and oh no, if she leaves it would be terrible, maybe he'll just be quiet...I would never have considered the prompt that way but it is, of course, utterly perfect. I love the way your mind works.

(They're so unhealthy but so shippable! Though I admit to liking show! Mal a heckuva lot more than book!Mal)
Thank you!

Well that's cause book!Mal is one of the biggest douchebag characters ever committed to the page. The showrunners clearly knew that nobody liked him and fixed all his flaws!

They are the MOST shippable!! They activate my old Hades/Persephone feelings so bad.

Book! Mal's Volume 2 sulkfest for absolutely no reason drove. Me. Bonkers. The presence of Nikolai Did Not Help (though I kind of prefer him with Zoya, tbh).
(I haven't gone AO3 diving yet, but *is* there a Hades and Persephone Darklina AU yet?)

Right, how does Alina look at the gorgeous, powerful, ageless Darkling AND the gorgeous, charming, powerful Nikolai and go nah...nah, I'll take this grumpy asshole over here who wants me to be less than I am and is being a baby cause he's no longer more important than me.

I'm sure there are many Hades/Persephone AUs, it's finding a good one that would be the issue! I wrote a lot of Darklina fic last year, so I wasn't doing as much reading or I'd give you recs.

Shadow & Bone/TGT, The Darkling/Alina, when i was a man, i thought it ended/when i knew love’s perfect ache/but my peace has always depended/on all the ashes in my wake

"How do you handle it?" Alina asks, breathless, laying on the war-room table beside him. "The death. All the people..."

"I learned not to care," he says; he slides his hand over her cheek and kisses her, a promise that she, one day, will learn to do the same.

Oh, poor Alina, having that question (while laying on the table, too 👀) at all - and then getting that cold answer. He'd have to be a little inhuman, after all that time...

Narnia, Aravis, I saw the city through my tears/the darkness will soon disappear/be swallowed by the sun/I am coming home

The gashes from the lion’s claws throbbed with a pain Aravis had never felt before, and the blood soaking through her tunic made it stick painfully to her back, rubbing over her wounds with Hwin’s every step, though the horse tried to be gentle; tears fell down Aravis’ cheeks, and she roughly brushed them away with her forearm, only to pull her tunic across her wounds again.

She gritted her teeth and grimaced, blinking away her tears, and she saw a hut in the distance; it was a modest dwelling, and it stood in a pool of light, light so bright that between it and her tears, the image in front of her became hazy and indistinct, and she thought she saw a city and a castle rising beyond the hut, and she whispered to Hwin to gallop faster, ignoring the pain in her back that flared anew as Hwin changed her gait.

She was coming home; it was a home she had never been to before, but she knew it was hers.

Aww, I love how Hwin tries to be gentle for Aravis's sake, and how Aravis feels like Anvard will be home before she ever really gets there. It's a good ending for them, and fits so well with canon, too.

Thank you! ❤︎

Aravis' resilience is great, as is the care that Hwin is taking with her.

Thank you!

Harry Potter, Draco, telepathy

Empathy was bad enough, Draco thinks, rubbing his temple, but now his gift – his unasked-for, headache-inducing, totally unnecessary gift – has developed to the point where he can hear his classmates’ inane thoughts. It’s enough to put him off his breakfast to listen to his peers preening at themselves as they get ready in the morning, but then passing Potter in the Great Hall and hearing wow, those pants really flatter him makes him want to scream. Really, hasn’t Fate had enough fun at his expense?

Edited (formatting) 2022-01-23 18:41 (UTC)

poor, poor Draco 😂

He had grown up with this – why was it now so much more painful than before? He wasn’t trying to hide anything, there was nothing to hide – it only hurt if you were trying to hide something. He saw his mother curling her hands into fists behind the Dark Lord and reminded himself he chose this and curled his own to stop himself from crying out in pain as every inch of his mind was pored over.

Shadow and Bone, The Darkling, So if you kiss me/ If we touch/ Warning's fair/ I don't care very much

Edited 2022-01-20 11:47 (UTC)

“Did you think this would stop me from doing what needs to be done, sweetheart?” he asks, breaking off the kiss, though some faint, long-dormant part of him still finds it agony to do so.

He has never reveled in being cruel, but it does amuse him just the smallest touch to watch Alina’s face, watching the shift in her expression from raw desire to muddled confusion, right through to hurt.

“You could offer me everything you have to give, and still I would expand the Fold,” he says, as gently as he knows how, and hardens his heart against hers breaking; let her have a taste of it, he thinks, of the pain and the loneliness, and does not add that it couldn’t be allowed to matter, whatever her feelings, whatever his own - not weighed against the good for all Grisha.

any, any, antique knife

Locke nodded towards the ornate implement, and suggested, "I'll take that one?"

Edgar paused as he buckled his armour, saw what Locke was looking at, and said, "You will not – that's a priceless Figaro heirloom. Anyway, it's not a combat knife, it's a letter opener – I've no idea how it ended up in the armoury."

Ha, I love it!

"Oh, what's this, Angel?" Mikhail asked, and Angel turned around to see him holding a knife Angel had thought he'd put away. "It looks really old."

"It might be," Angel said, remembering shoving it up his sleeve on the way out of a burning palace in Byzantium; it had been bloody then and the edge dull, "I picked it up a while ago, that's all."

At a market stall in Calormene, Edmund comes across a knife made of no material he recognizes, be it metal or stone or glass. It looks more like starlight, or smoke, or even dreams, and the merchant says it can cut a path to other worlds. He nods quietly and purchases it without even haggling for the price.

lotr, éowyn & any, improved recipes

any, any, birthday cake

Sakumo eyed his cub dubiously, inspecting the mess over the counter and sniffing - it still smelled like sugar and chocolate; not things Kakashi was prone to getting into, generally.

"What are you doing, cub?" Sakumo asked, stepping fully into the kitchen.

"Practising!" Kakashi said seriously, attention riveted on the measuring cup he was holding. "Minato-nii's birthday is in two days and he told Mama he'd never had a birthday cake and he likes cake so he should have one." he said firmly, and Sakumo bit his lip, amusement and fondness mingling in his chest . . . with a trace of anger for those who had supposedly been responsible for their little nikkou before he quietly adopted himself into their family.

lovely scene!

Thanks!

“You jump up on the table and put your pawprints all over that birthday cake,” Larry meowed at Gladstone.

It really took the piss, the way the rest of the country was sticking to the rules in lockdown, unable to celebrate with their families, while his housemate was getting a surprise birthday party in Downing Street, complete with birthday cake.

Larry, meanwhile, was going to jump on the kitchen counter and knock all the glasses of wine onto the floor – cats gonna cat, after all, and the cats deserved a little fun of their own.

GO LARRY

lol

Ainosuke pulled a small box out from a bag and slid it across his desk to Tadashi. "Here."

Tadashi very carefully picked up the plain white box and lifted the lid to find an absolutely decadent chocolate cake sitting inside, with Happy Birthday written across the top in silvery-white icing. He sucked in a deep breath. "Ainosuke-sama?"

Ainosuke smirked. "Nothing but the best for my dog. I hope you enjoy it."

Tadashi closed the lid and held the box close, fighting to keep his happiness from showing on his face—well, showing too much. "Yes, Ainosuke-sama."

sweet! but that "dog" makes me curious about the whole thing and fandom as well

Haha yeah; it's a fun show. And an interesting ship. XD

Thank you!

"It was quite clever of you, dear," Miss Marple said in her gentle, relentless way, peering at the murderess as she continued to knit, "to substitute that sugar rose on the totally harmless birthday cake with a poisoned one, knowing that Evadne-Ann, known to be such a greedy girl, would sneak into the dining room and eat it before the party, so that everyone would naturally think that it was meant to kill the birthday girl... you.

"You hated her so very much, didn't you?"

Evadne-Anne's friend sank down in the over-stuffed armchair opposite, and put her head in her hands. "Since we were at school together, and yes, she stole food even then."

The perfect crime story in 7 lines!

Thank you! I'm tempted to use the idea of poisoned birthday cake again for a story...

Perfect.

Thank you!

any, any, night sweats

You - It's another night of your existence and you can't sleep. Your body aches, your mind blurs, your bed is soaked in sweat.

Electro-Chemistry - It's the speed, sweetheart. And the alcohol. Great for keeping you up and moving, not so great for sleep.

Encyclopedia - The average healthy individual needs an average of seven to nine hours of sleep per night to be functional. Poor sleep, such as interrupted sleep, lack of deep sleep, or other sleep disorders can make one feel less rested.

Endurance - If you weren't such a mewling weakling you wouldn't have to rely on stimulants and let the booze do its job.

Logic [Trivial: Success] - Alcohol caused this in the first place.

Electro-Chemistry - And sobriety would make it worse!

Volition [Medium: Success] - You could choose it anyway, push through until in a year or two you can sleep deeply.

1. What about now? I just want to sleep.
2. That sounds scary, I'd rather be a drunk.
3. [Endurance - Formidable 13] I'm ready to dry out.

Ancient Reptilian Brain - Afraid that decison's out of your hands, long since you woke up from the primordial muck.

Limbic System - These habits are long since ingrained in you, Harry.

1. [Volition - Medium 10] I'll deal with this in the morning.
2. That sounds scary, I'd rather be a drunk.
3. [Endurance - Formidable 13] I'm ready to dry out.

Volition [Medium: Success] - Putting off the decision is easy; promising to actually consider the problem is the hard part. I'll hold you to that.

You - Great, another thing to look forward to in the piercing light of morning. For now at least you roll over, trying to find a gentle spot for your kidneys, and drift as you think of something that might be good tomorrow.

Esprit de Corps - There's always Kim! He never lets you down.

Electro-Chemistry - You still have his handkerchief don't you?

You - You do. You shuffle your hand in the coat on the floor and pull it out.

Perception (Smell) - It's full of the Lieutenant's scent. A pine-forward aftershave.

Electro-Chemistry - It's enthralling.

Volition - It's soothing.

Empathy - It's comforting.

You - It's no nightlight or downer, but it's as good a soporific as you can get right now. Your sleep is no more deep, but it is less turbulent, like floating quietly in a cloudy sky.

Edited 2022-01-26 03:48 (UTC)

fascinating! love the whole structure **

thanks! I wanted to practice writing harry and his huge peanut gallery so i thought a short piece would be a manageable way of doing that. All his brain friends are so chatty... thats why the game limits your skill points or they'd never shut up long enough to get anything done.

im glad my efforts wrestling with html paid off!

Narnia Rthverse/Bringing Up Baby, Peter Pevensie/Mary Anning Russell, follow my lead

Edited 2022-01-20 15:26 (UTC)

"Good lord, Peter, what are we going to do with her, she'll be carted off to the Circus," Mary cried and firmly shut the ballroom door so as to not terrify the other members of the household or random delivery girls and messengers that might pop by; the morning had certainly taken an unexpected plunge through the Looking Glass when Bayberry had popped out of the drinks cabinet and asked politely where she might find live game to hunt as she was very hungry.

"Well, one thing, right away," Peter replied looking uncommonly flustered; the prospect of a Narnian Talking Leopard roaming Oxfordshire looking for breakfast had managed to shake even his Sphinx-like, unflappable calm.

"Tell Lee to not try to clean the ballroom just yet and," Peter opened the door and called in, "Bayberry, I know you'll be thinking no one could possibly care if you chewed on the old bones in there while we find you a nice side of beef, but please do not for the bones are very, very old, as precious as anything in the treasure chambers at the Cair, and they will have a very unpleasant plaster aftertaste that would not satisfy at all."

Edited 2022-01-20 17:42 (UTC)

hahahah this is perfect

Thank you!

Narnia, Aslan & the Trickster, the inevitable comparison to Tom & Jerry

Star Wars AU, Don Quijote the Jedi knight, windmills were the least of his concerns

Narnia, Uncle Andrew/Jadis, she stays in London

She will need an heir eventually, and given how sluggishly magic flows in this new world, the best she can do is tweak biology rather than bypass its demands entire -- and while the man is a deluded fool with a weak body and a displeasing face, he does have magic in his veins; he will do for seed (carefully winnowed and sieved) until she finds something better, or his nephew grows old enough to be useful.

Such a pity, Jadis reflects, that his sisters had not been born male; either of them, even the softer one fading on her deathbed, would have made a vastly preferable consort -- perhaps even one she might tolerate to stand by her side in battle rather than lock in a well-furnished chamber to await her reluctant attentions.

Ah well. Lilith started with less when she came to Charn, and Jadis will outdo her ancestor in this as in all else.

Lord of the Rings, eye of Sauron, spokesman for Clear Eyes (wow)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 46 of 50

Three Sentence Ficathon 2022

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Is that a lightsaber in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

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ASOIAF, Doran Martell, sister

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Sansa & Arya, Sisters?

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Fill

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Leverage - Alec Hardison/Eliot Spenser - Handle with Care

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A Proper Wingman

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Never Have I Ever, Ben/Paxton

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The Originals, Josh/Klaus

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Simplicity (Leverage; Eliot/Parker/Hardison)

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Worth Fighting For (Boys Over Flowers; Yi Jung/Woo Bin/Ga Eul)

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Haven, Duke/Audrey/Nathan

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Miraculous Ladybug, Juleka puts it all together.

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Obsidian & Blood, Mihmatini/Acatl/Teomitl

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AU-of-an-AU - Rahmat instead of Ram

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oh nasiiiiiiiiiiim....

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