rthstewart: (Default)
rthstewart ([personal profile] rthstewart) wrote2022-01-15 12:00 pm

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 [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.

 

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



      


















Re: Untamed, Yu Ziyuan/Jiang Fengmian (and no one is happy about it)

(Anonymous) 2022-01-20 03:17 am (UTC)(link)
Well, that explains a lot. What a mess (pretty scenery, though)
eagleoftheninth: (Default)

[personal profile] eagleoftheninth 2022-01-20 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
they're trying their best>/i>
sincereously: night sky above mountains (Default)

[personal profile] sincereously 2022-01-20 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
So sad, and so lovely!
sincereously: night sky above mountains (Default)

Re: Of hopes and dreams

[personal profile] sincereously 2022-01-20 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
I love the sense of wonder Luke has here!
sincereously: night sky above mountains (Default)

[personal profile] sincereously 2022-01-20 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
She’s so close and yet so far - really wonderful take on this!
scytale: (Default)

Re: Untamed, Yu Ziyuan/Jiang Fengmian (and no one is happy about it)

[personal profile] scytale 2022-01-20 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
Haha, thank you. :)
sincereously: night sky above mountains (Default)

Re: Farscape: Imposter Syndrome (John Crichton & Aeryn Sun)

[personal profile] sincereously 2022-01-20 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
Ha! They have some great back-and-forth going.
sincereously: night sky above mountains (Default)

Re: Teen Wolf: Derek/Stiles

[personal profile] sincereously 2022-01-20 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
Of course something like this would happen to them - good to see they’re happy to get out of this jam together!

(Anonymous) 2022-01-20 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
“How can you accuse me so,” Hondo wails, waving his hands to demonstrate the pain, the horrible aching pain this brings him, “my old friend, how could you do this to me? Me, your amazingly clever, amazingly handsome business partner pal!”

No one who has met Hondo more than once is surprised to learn that this speech, roughly translated into normal spoken Basic, means that Hondo has stolen everything you were carrying, down to your pocket lint.
sincereously: night sky above mountains (Default)

Re: Umineko, Shannon & Kanon & Beatrice

[personal profile] sincereously 2022-01-20 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
I love this take on the prompt -magic chains, so clever!
Edited 2022-01-20 03:55 (UTC)
cornerofmadness: (Default)

[personal profile] cornerofmadness 2022-01-20 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
any, any, watching battlebots very loudly

Re: FF7(R-ish), Aerith

(Anonymous) 2022-01-20 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
Ouch, that hurts. The flowers depend on Aerith and she still can’t stay…
sincereously: night sky above mountains (Default)

Re: Alex Rider, Alex & Yassen

[personal profile] sincereously 2022-01-20 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
"the grin slowly creeping across Alex’s face" - oh, how the turntables. Love it!
chanter1944: Captain Sulu, looking straight ahead and wearing a determined expression, on a muted green and gold background (TOS - Sulu: quarter impulse power)

[personal profile] chanter1944 2022-01-20 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Benjamin Sisko &or/ Julian Bashir, treasure a commander with kind hands
sincereously: night sky above mountains (Default)

[personal profile] sincereously 2022-01-20 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
Poor Ahsoka! It’s such a fraught situation and she’s understanding, but it has to hurt.
chanter1944: Captain Sulu looking port side high, Commander Rand standing at his shoulder, on a muted green and gold background (TOS - Sulu and Rand: knowing how to turn)

[personal profile] chanter1944 2022-01-20 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
Star Trek: The Original Series, Hikaru Sulu, easy on the ears
sincereously: night sky above mountains (Default)

[personal profile] sincereously 2022-01-20 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
Cute!! Officious little Leia, and Ahsoka’s so emotional.
sincereously: night sky above mountains (Default)

[personal profile] sincereously 2022-01-20 04:04 am (UTC)(link)
The true path to the Dark Side - a soggy bottom. Lol forever at Palpatine getting his revenge on poor judging!

[personal profile] chanter1944 2022-01-20 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
Thursday Next series (Jasper Fforde), any, "I tolled the bell, man."
sincereously: night sky above mountains (Default)

[personal profile] sincereously 2022-01-20 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
Oh wow, this is awesome! I love seeing Cat’s evolving relationship with her faith, how her relationships to different gods range from awe to warmth to anger in accordance to the different stages of her life.
sincereously: 3SF over white background with black lines (3sentenceficathon)

[personal profile] sincereously 2022-01-20 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
ASOIAF, any, sister
Edited 2022-01-20 04:11 (UTC)
ernest: (don't panic)

Re: Umineko, Shannon & Kanon & Beatrice

[personal profile] ernest 2022-01-20 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
thank you! there are many different kinds of chains in umineko, and while some of them are physical chains to make locked-room mysteries, there are also magic chains to keep someone trapped by their mind or circumstances, and even more metaphorical chains keeping characters connected to all the people they have been in the past or might become, and it was a LOT of fun to work with all those different meanings.
arveldis: Éowyn at Théodred's funeral (Default)

Silmarillion, Haleth/Caranthir

[personal profile] arveldis 2022-01-20 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
Haleth tilted her chin at the Elf lord, who gazed at her people with pitying eyes as he noted the numbers of their slain and maimed and the destruction of their homesteads; she wanted no man’s pity, be he Elf or Man, and her spine stiffened when his gaze came to rest on her: She was bloodied and bruised, more wounds than a person, surely a pitiful sight to one of the Eldar, but she would bear herself with pride—yet instead of pity, she thought she read something else in his gaze, something that made her look him evenly in the eyes and straighten her shoulders, something that made her sense that he saw her as an equal.

Protection and friendship Lord Caranthir offered to her and her people, but she did not want such things—she wanted her own lands, free of vassalage; her family around her again; her people numerous and prosperous; her arms to not always feel so empty.

But he did not offer that, though his eyes shone with growing respect and awe as he watched her, his glance appraising; he could not offer that, for Men and Elves did not join; his pity for her people only could he extend, and for that she refused his offer and turned away: She was the chieftain of her people, and she would not accept recompense from one whose offers of aid had come too late and stung of pity, however much her loneliness called out for the admiration she had seen in his gaze.