Three Sentence Ficathon 2022

[rthstewart]

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.

<br /><a href="https://rthstewart.dreamwidth.org/172142.html" _fcksavedurl="https://rthstewart.dreamwidth.org/172142.html"><img src="https://rthstewart.dreamwidth.org/file/71907.jpg" _fcksavedurl="https://rthstewart.dreamwidth.org/file/71907.jpg" alt="" title="3 Sentence Ficathon 2022 Banner" /></a>




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!



      

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Discworld/Galavant, Sybil & Richard & Tad Cooper, tips for helping your dragon grow up big and strong

*cartwheels in cheerfully* hello, all!

[betony]

Fullmetal Alchemist, Roy/Riza, I’d happily turn to stone before your basilisk eyes

I'm counting on you

[word_devourer]

"Sorry, Lieutenant," he says in response to her silence, ignoring that she's not a lieutenant anymore, anymore than he's a colonel, "I mean that I've always been able to count on you to tell me when I'm making a mistake, and I want you to know I can still rely on you."

"Of course, sir," she says, and leans in close, whispering, "but if you force me to put a bullet through your head, then I'll die cursing your name, so... please don't put me in that position."

"I understand," he says, "I suppose we'll both have to do our best, then."

[betony]

The Ghost Bride (book), Li Lan/Er Lang, When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it.

[betony]

Greek Mythology, Hektor/Andromache, memories by the Scamander River

[scytale]

"In a battle, what would you save first, me or one of the horses?" Hektor asks.

Their horses trot along the banks of the Scamander; she rides pale, fickle Lampos, who has always been her special favorite, and Hektor is seated on Aethon, who is usually so much less well-behaved. Perhaps Aethon longs for the sight of the sea as she does; more likely, she thinks with a private smile, it is her husband's skill with horses.

Then she considers her husband's question. "Which one is closer, you or the horse?"

"We're equally distant."

"Do I have an equal chance of saving both, too?'

At his nod, she smiles. "I'd save the horse, of course."

"You could have pretended to think about it," he says, his hand over his heart as if he has been stabbed with a spear.

"Surely my husband can save himself?"

He laughs, and the brightness of the sound pleases her. He's been so serious lately; the delegation from the Lycians has been occupying him. She's glad to lighten his spirits. Besides, she's missed teasing him; Ilium is not Thebe, and here she cannot be so light and free with him unless they are alone--and he has been so very busy.

"If you cannot defend yourself, I'd still go for the horse," she says, flashing him an impish smile. "I'd reach you faster on the back of Aethon or Lampos, and we'd ride down whoever it is that threatens you."

Amusement flashes in his eyes, and then he bows his head. "My wife is ever the tactician, even with my life."

Laughing, she urges Lampos into a run, and his hooves thunder; as always, he loves to run. Hektor brings Aethon to a gallop as well, and they exchange looks. Then they race their way along the banks of the Scamander, following the flowing river to the wine-dark sea.

In the years of grief and glory to come, she will remember this: her heart beating fast and her breathless laughter as she rides into the wind with Hektor behind her, his hand in hers at the end of their race, the horses on the shore, the sunset blazing when they turn their horses toward home. She will remember peace, and she will remember the roar of the sea.

[(Anonymous)]

Discworld, Sybil, Sybil visits the Wyrmberg

[betony]

Greek Mythology, Andromache/ or & Any, flyweight love

[betony]

Trojan War Cycle, Clytemnestra & Erigone daughter of Aegisthus (& Iphigenia), smoke and mirrors

Ritual

[woodmr]

The temple of Attica is quietly comforting after so much turmoil. Sometimes, when training in the mysteries and surrounded by incense, she sees her mother’s furious frown and hears again of the daughter more beloved in death than any still alive. But she always lets the visions pass away when pouring the libations out.

[betony]

Trojan War Cycle, Ilione daughter of Priam and Hecuba, the world turned upside down

[betony]

Greek Mythology, Any, Envy and ire, darkness and light/Gods can have it all, so why can't I?/Love and desire, life after life/The gods can keep it all, if you'll be mine

[scytale]

No sounds of laughter or excitement ring out in the marketplace, and the merchants are blank-eyed and listless, letting her haggle the price down far too easily.

The indifferent gossips tell her that the god has not yet been found, and she thanks them for the news and takes the long mountain path back to her small house; when her handsome husband returns from the flocks at twilight, she tells him her worries, her words dripping with fear at the strange new world they live in.

"There's nothing we can do," he says, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her until she feels safe again; the night cradles her like the embrace of wings and Psyche thinks about how fortunate she is to wed such a loving, considerate man, to live in a house filled with joy and happiness, even in a world where all passion has flown away.



(with thanks to nyappytown at tumblr for taking a quick look to make sure the sentences make sense, mistakes my own)

[betony]

Greek mythology, Andromache & Aphrodite, an explanation of the diadem and veil Andromache claims to have received from the goddess on her wedding day

[betony]

Historical RPF, Cleopatra Selene/Juba II, I just stopped believing in happy endings/Harbors of my own/But you had to come along didn't you?

This Tired World Could Change (Historical RPF, Cleopatra Selene/Juba II)

[vialethe]

She is well used to being alone, Selene - life taught her that lesson early, brutal and reinforced time and again. There are no others like her, and there never will be, for Rome will not allow it.

But Juba - Juba is like her, a Roman who is anything but, ruler of a stolen country, all guile and intelligence and cunning under a shell of what they call civilized, the only one who understands what she is, who she might be - and what they might build, together, a wide sea away from this cold marble city.

[betony]

Historical RPF, Margaret of Anjou & Isabella of France, advice on being a she-wolf of France

[betony]

Historical RPF, Richard/Anne & Edward of Middleham, you outshine the morning sun/my son

[betony]

Historical RPF, Any, you’re my king and I’m your lion-heart

Here be Lions (Historical RPF 18th Century, Wilhelmine of Prussia & Frederick II.)

[felis]

When Wilhelmine turns twenty-one, she wishes, not for the first time, that she was a warrior, a knight, who could protect her beloved younger brother from his detractors, who could raise a sword against anyone who beat him and brought him to tears, even if it was their own father, the King -- maybe Frederick wouldn't be planning to run away without her then, leave her behind to escape his misery, two soldiers at his side instead.

When she is forty-seven, feeling her life slip away from her bit by bit, she writes desperate letters, wishing she was an Amazon, could ride into battle at her brother's side, vanquish his too many enemies - not under the banner of glory and state, but of heartfelt love. It's all she ever wanted in the end: for him to be safe, and to love her back with all his heart.

[betony]

Historical RPF, Richard/Anne, “Teach not thy lip such scorn, for it was made/For kissing, lady, not for such contempt.”

Let it All Come Clean (Historical RPF, Richard III/Anne Neville)

[vialethe]

It will be better this way, Anne thinks, rehearsing sharp words that do not come natural to her tongue, trying to be her sister, her father, anyone with a harder heart than her own, a soft, bruised organ fluttering within her as he approaches.

“I understand you will want nothing to do with me,” she blurts even as he inclines his head to her, proud that her voice quavers not once, “as the disgraced widow of your enemy, the daughter of your betrayer - you needn’t speak of it, I would rather not hear that from you, of all people.”

Barely can she bring herself to look at his face, expecting - what? Hurt? Scorn? - but instead, Richard laughs, and snatches up her hands in his, kissing each palm in turn until she flushes, and says, “Your mouth was made for sweeter things than such words, my Anne; let us leave bitterness behind, now.”

[betony]

Howl's Moving Castle, Sophie/Hatter, hold me fast/and fear me not

[betony]

Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice/Benedick, a heart doubled

[betony]

Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice/Benedick, what happens when the gulling doesn’t happen?

[ernest]

“If he is sad, he wants money,” says Don Pedro and Benedick winces at being so easily found out but does not deny it; he’s been bored almost to tears by the endless talk of wedding preparations and would do anything for a diversion.

Unfortunately one comes in the form of the prince’s brother with the news that Hero has been disloyal; Claudio refuses to believe it until he’s seen it, but even after they’ve been shown two silhouettes at a windowsill, Benedick remains doubtful.

“Still, what good will it do to shame her publicly?” he asks one more time, but Claudio is firm in his course, so Benedick once more curses the fickleness of love and resolves to speak with the girl’s father in time to halt this marriage so it won’t be destroyed before it’s even begun.

[betony]

The Mummy series, Evie’s parents, history repeats (or rhymes)

[betony]

The Mummy, Rick/Evie, forgotten first meeting

(I can never resist a cliche)

[(Anonymous)]

The Americans are being loud and obnoxious, and Evelyn is quite aware of what her mother would have said about her sneaking around, trying to get a glimpse of disordered soldiers; though this was not her intent; she is far more interested in their talk of the treasures they saw whilst in the desert.

Hiding from a group of them doesn't quite work as one of them stumbles into her little alcove--the alcohol on his lips when he kisses her in the dark startles her but a moment before her heel ground into his toes breaks her free of his embrace.

The tingling of her lips is something she'll never think of, she tells herself quite firmly (which is a lie, of course, and her mother would be quite appalled).

[betony]

The Mummy Series, Nefertari & or / Anck-su-namun, easier to be blind and hate in the darkness, than see the truth of you

Violent Blossoms Akin

[vialethe]

One of Nefertari’s lovers is bold, his tongue too honest and eyes too sincere for court; “Are you not much the same, though, she and you?” he asks once when she has railed against her father’s consort, bitter and untrusting and hard as desert stone.

His eyes are kinder than Anck-Su-Namun’s have ever been, the slant of his cheekbones in the light not as sharp, but still, they are similar; still, Nefertari sees her great enemy in him, hears her voice, a broken, empty thing, saying, “We are but tools to your father, you and I, his golden toys to play with and discard as he will - someday, you will see it too, and then I will pity you.”

The winds off the sands are warm as her lover’s breath, but still, Nefertari shivers.

[betony]

Mulan (animated), Fa Mulan & Any, family tree

What Comes Next

[silveradept]

The scroll of the line of Fa is long and detailed, and held in a place of reverence with the shrines to the ancestors. The sword and armor in her hands is heavy, meant for the son that has neither been born to them nor will marry in time to fulfill the Emperor's summons.

For a moment more, she hesitates, but then, the sword falls and Fa Mulan dies so that Fa Ping may grow, new shoots bursting forth from dead branches.

[(Anonymous)]

Any, Any, inadvisable substitutions while cooking

Macbeth

[syrena_of_the_lake]

“Eye of newt, check,” muttered the First Witch, “and toe of frog, and what was the third thing?”

“Wool of sheep,” said the Second Witch confidently, but the Third Witch spoke over her: “Knees of bees and hair of the dog!”

By unspoken agreement, when the three met again, none of them spoke of the Birnam Wood Incident (and if Lady Macbeth was still sometimes seen licking her lips like the cat that caught the canary, well, surely that could be attributed to her own nature rather than the ill-advised addition of a cat’s meow to the witch’s brew).

[vialethe]

Greek Mythology, Cassandra, only twenty minutes to sleep/but you dream of some epiphany/just one single glimpse of relief/to make some sense of what you’ve seen

❤️️!

[betony]

Alone among the gods, Cassandra bears great Morpheus no ill will, for he at least takes rather than gives: takes memory from her until all she knows is dull exhaustion, wrests grief from her so she might yet laugh at a childhood prank, leeches love from her so she might look upon visions of her burning city like a stone. She is grateful for his favor like a temple-bred heifer thanks the priest who keeps it alive until the day of sacrifice; she is ashamed of her weakness down to her bones.
(Still she closes her eyes, and sleeps again.)

[(Anonymous)]

any, any, wild pear tree

FFVII, Sephiroth & OC

[(Anonymous)]

It was spring when the Shinra clan came to Wutai. Their ships landed on the peninsula on the other side of her family's land, where she'd been told the sand was pale and golden instead of the black shore she could see from the palace windows. A winding line of men and chocobos crossed the rock and scrubby grass between, making their way into the forest to begin fighting their way north; Arisu waited very patiently with all the wisdom of her four years of age, until her family was loudly distracted talking about how their helping the Shinras overthrow the Kisuragi shogun would propel them to ruling in turn, before taking her little bag and slipping out of the palace gate.

The forest was further away than she'd thought it would be, as she hurried along to make the most of the dark; she made it under the shelter of the trees before the moon dipped below the sea, and she murmured a goodnight to Kaguya-hime-sama before falling fast asleep herself at the roots of a sheltering tree.

When she woke up, the petals of the wild pear tree she had slept under had dusted her hair like stars, and the Shinras' Silver Demon was standing over her, looking down like he'd never seen a little runaway before in his life.