rthstewart | Three Sentence Ficathon 2022

Entry tags:

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!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

Dal Timgar knew residing on Earth for the duration of medical school would require he accept and even participate in the customs of the planet, no matter how alien they appeared to him.

His first attempt at a Christmas present, based on a careful reading of his friend Tiger Martin's favorite holiday book, showed he had more to learn than just microsurgery.

"It's usually just an expression," Tiger explained with a friendly grin, admiring the actual door nail fitted into a miniature coffin with the name "Jacob Marley" etched into the wood.

Also inspired by topaz_eyes (2022-01-21 03:57 am)

Also inspired by kalira (2022-01-21 10:49 am)

Konan runs her knuckles down his jaw as she lays sprawled atop of him, musing on the coarse shade of a stubble that scrapes her skin; Kisame observes her as she does, smiling when her eyes meet his.

"Funny how a beard can get me closer to my namesake, isn't it? Sharks have sandpaper for skin."

She hums, palming the would-be whiskers once again before propping herself on her elbow to lay a kiss on his cheek -and adds truthfully: "I was thinking of persimmons."

Some part of Izuna always knew it would come to this. Come to them, with a thread thicker - stronger - more robust linking them than the thread between him and the Demon Tobirama, or even between Aniki and Hashirama.

He drinks the gasps and grunts and moans straight from Aniki's mouth, trailing down lower and lower, and their red thread glows brightly in his peripheral vision as he peers coyly up through his lashes, and swallows Aniki's cock.

Although usually a polite little girl, Dorothy found herself yawning while the Queen of the Field Mice chatted with her.

“It is your shoes,” the Queen pointed out after she apologized. “Their silver magic protects you from greater harm, but as the red petals stuck to them are merely ordinary things they will continue to work upon you until washed clean away.”

“Oh, but you are teasing me again!” Miss Morland laughed after a moment’s indecision.

Henry smiled in chagrin at his predicament since, having taught the lady to presume he was not serious, it was no surprise she should continue past the point when his praise of her was meant in all sincerity.

On forming such a close association with Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy—nephew of an earl, ten thousand a year, etc—Bingley had expected some comment at the club, being under no delusion that his family’s recent rise to fortune was universally accepted. However he was genuinely taken aback when told that Darcy was too cold a fish to like anyone, and would inevitably cause someone of his warm disposition grief. In some confusion he answered, “I make no demands and he is under no obligation, but as to character I must protest: he has the greatest heart of any man I know.”

Title from Chapter 4 of Pride and Prejudice: "Between him and Darcy there was a very steady friendship, in spite of great opposition of character."

The black of night hid the secret work of two women torn apart by suspicion.

One wove lies in the beds of men that another might chastely undo her charade’s threads.

Neither could trust the other with the truth, even if they hoped for salvation in the end.

Major Sheppard came in first, alone and looking... conflicted. That was never a good sign.

"Major?" Elizabeth waited a moment, but none of the others - his team, several Marines and a dozen scientists from various fields, all of whom had been eager to check out the new planet and people - appeared. "Major, where is everyone? Did the inhabitants cause you trouble?" The locals had seemed friendly, she was planning a diplomatic visit herself, but... friendly was always a relative term in this galaxy.

"Well... not really. They liked us." He shrugged. "They liked us a lot, especially the geeks, even Rodney."

Which said volumes about their friendliness.

"And Radek. Took them all over the place, showed them all these gadgets and things, talked up a storm," Sheppard said. "I think the ruler wanted to keep a couple of them, but Ronon stuck close and looked mean, so... they gave the geeks presents. Lots of presents."

Elizabeth relaxed - a little - and tried not to think too smugly that if someone with the politic charms of their Dr McKay could charm these people into wanting to be friends, maybe for once, just once, Atlantis had stuck diplomatic gold. "That's wonderful, John. Anything useful to -"

Her voice dried as something large and fluffy and... purple dashed through the wormhole and threw itself at Sheppard, making the most appalling yowling noise. He staggered a bit but caught it - just - and half-turned his head. "Okay guys, you may as well bring them through now..."

And Rodney came next, beaming in a way she couldn't recall ever seeing, with a left armful of lime-green-striped something and a right armful of blue snuggling into his neck.

Radek was next - his something, which was as orange as his hair, blinked at her with its one enormous rainbow eye, and made a noise like a demented but happy tiger as he cuddled it. And someone else came behind him, with a pink-and-white one. And another, and another, and then Ronon with five of them, a rainbow of somethings clinging to him with far too many legs and tails and...

And...

And they looked like plush toys. Like demented, one-eyed, alien plush toy...

"Kittens," Rodney said cheerfully, while trying to pet his now wriggling armfuls without dropping them or his gun. "Or skittens, That's what we've decided to name them. It's a diplomatic gift, Elizabeth, we can't refuse them and there's enough for everyone!"

Elizabeth opened her mouth. Closed it. Stared at her senior staff, her most trusted and reliable people all draped in an interplanetary pet shop full of 'skittens'.

And - because her fur allergy had to extend to a completely alien species, didn't it? - started to sneeze.

Edited 2022-07-20 11:41 (UTC)

gosh wow, there's so much loving detail in that first line, you can tell how devoted rey is to laertes before he even thinks (and not for the first time) of marrying him, and that last line. scorching hot, with a sweetness from all the context that comes before it.

Thank you! There are so many beautiful details to notice about Laertes, and Reynaldo is so beautiful when he's noticing, and I just wanted that devotion and sweetness to shine through. I also wanted it to be scorching hot :D

Her eyes are sparkling bright, blue as the sea, her lips curled with mocking merriment as she curves her hand to Prince Claudius’s cheek and pours golden promises into his ear. All the dreams of his midnight hours and midnight weeds collected — crown, ambition, queen — could be called his at last, and no breath of blame shall fall on him. All it needs is a little magic.

beatrice!! i love her, she knows exactly what she's offering, and there's just the slightest hint of a trap underneath those promises. i love the interjection of "crown, ambition, queen" and something about the formatting of highlighting it between two dashes really works for the fic. and then that final sentence really is what it comes down to. thank you <3

thank you! believe it not (i think you’ll believe it), i spent a lot of time trying to place that hyphenated phrase, trying to find the poetry of it and sounding it out on my head, and i think that’s where it belonged.

oof, i felt the little sting of an either accidental or deliberate utena reference with 'heartless doll' (anthy on the rooftop saying because she's the rose bride, the doll with no heart, she thought she wouldn't have to feel this pain) and oof, nothing in yasuda's life is easy. 'cruel unscalable cliff of probability' is such a vivid perfect phrase, it took me a moment to realize why, because it was a cliff that yasuda tumbled down and split their fate from lion's. and lion living for yasuda's sake, just as yasuda struggles for lion's, that's just the perfect conclusion, the perfect peak to end on.

oh yes, that utena reference was extremely deliberate and there was no doubt in my mind that you'd catch it. 'cruel unscalable cliff of probability' was also deliberate, but you phrased its significance even more perfectly, i'm always flattered by your comments.

oh i'm loving the sort of lilting rhyme and alliteration of the first sentence, dance to prance, prance to plants, say to she and sits and still, and waits to whisper with the sort of flowing rustling ending. the second sentence is blunter, and the last has a ... softness to it, like settling down to rest in the earth, where murky's parents love her.

ahhhh, thank you, i've been rereading this comment and blushing ever since i got it, i love how you pick apart my sentences to find devices and structures i wasn't even properly aware of, it's very flattering.

Mazes are things of ease for Sarah now, she always knows the way through them – takes all the fun out of a corn maze if you don’t get lost and Sarah never does. When the family goes hiking, Sarah walks in the exact footsteps of whoever walked before her, avoiding pitfalls with ease. Sarah walks gingerly, like she expects the ground to split at any moment when she walks upon it. She becomes the star of her schools track and field team because when she runs she puts her whole body into it and doesn’t stop or slow down until the race is over. In her speech she steps neatly around giving out any personal information at all, and never gives any promises save to her baby brother. It is this newfound closeness to Toby that her parents notice most of all. Sarah is never far from her baby brother and becomes distressed when she does not know where he is. She is often found with wide eyes, staring at her brother in wonder as if she is not quite certain she believes he is there, in front of her.

One night is a significant portion of life for a baby, even if the timeless Goblin Realm had been tethered to Human time for the duration. His parents find him a happy baby, giggling more than a baby ought. It doesn’t take much to entertain him, people make him happy. Once he is old enough to move around a bit more he delights in hide and seek, popping out right before he is found with a screech of sheer joy. When he starts to talk, Toby doesn’t do it like other babies, he doesn’t babble his own words so much as he attempts to copy your own words. As he gets older Toby begins making faces behind peoples backs, looking completely innocent but joyfully radiant whenever they look back at him. Teachers call him a prodigy child when he learns to read so much earlier than his peers, they call him a ‘joy to have in class’ because he is so quiet. His eyes are wide with wonder always, and he sits alone outside for hours. The promises given to him are always called upon, and the only promises he gives in return sound more like a business transaction than bonds between friends. The older he gets, the more unsettling his eyes appear. Is he looking through you, at you, or inside of you? Then Sarah comes and scoops him up as if he weighs nothing and the feeling is gone as if it was never there at all.

The night is dark and full of terrors and it is his job to do something about it. Moana was very nice to him, he needed to protect her. The only way to do that was to follow her when she went off on her adventure. He didn’t much like the mean man who threatened to eat him. If Maui would eat him than he might eat Moana too!

Father Christmas comes every year but the first year that a child becomes an adult is always special, because that is the year they get to see him. That is the year that he comes to them, specifically. The year after the defeat of the White Witch he comes to Edmund. His gift isn’t a sword a dagger or a bow, he already has a weapon, one of the best in Narnia. Instead it is a pin, the end is sharper than ice and the handle has a toxin that will render even a giant paralyzed. His gift is a Veritas Flower from the far reaches, the flower will render anyone under its influence incapable of lying. Edmund treasures these gifts and uses them sparingly.

She pulls out the berries. She’s not going to kill Peeta, not after what the capital had promised. How will the capital react to their famed ‘love story’ ending in a double suicide? Peeta looks at her in surprise, shock and love. They raise the berries to their mouths. No announcement comes forth bidding them both winners. They take- Peeta takes the berries, Katniss stands frozen, hand at her mouth and berries safely outside. These are her last moments. Peeta falls while she freezes, and in comes the capitol guards. She had frozen too long, she tries to shove the berries in her mouth but instead her arm is yanked away from her and lifted in a declaration of victory. She can only stare into Peeta’s eyes. He is not dead yet, and watching her.

They are the only Starks left (Bran doesn’t count anymore – not really.) Jon, who was once a Snow and bears dragon blood. Sansa, who has turned to ice in response to the cruelties she has experienced at the hands of their family’s enemies. Arya, who has fought tooth and nail to return home and return to herself. The dragon queen comes to Winterfell and the daughters of winter turn her away.

Rhaegar was promised a three-headed dragon, and Jon was to be one of the heads. Jon may have dragon blood but he has the eyes of winter, the heart of ice that he shares with his den mates. Viserion dies to the Night King, Rhaegal to the Iron Fleet, Drogon disappears with the body of his mother.

Children are not meant to remain with their parents forever, and Sansa raises Viserion from the flakes of death, brings him back into the comfort of family just had been done for her.

Jon brings Rhaegal back from the dead, just had been done to him, and they go home to their siblings – just as he had, not terribly long ago.

Arya follows Drogon into the wilderness, follows him to where he has mourned his mother with fire and blood, he is consumed by revenge, just as she has been, not long ago, and she accepts his vengeance and brings him home with her, home to her siblings, to their siblings.

Because what do the Starks have except family? And if Jon is a dragon then they are too.

The Starks are Kings and Queens of the North, they have icy hearts and fire in their veins, direwolves and dragons follow them.

There was a row of doors, glowing strongly with a regal, golden colour. The first one she touched caused a ripple of colour to expand across the door forming into the shape of herself, the image almost alive as it stared back at her. Her heart in her throat she turned her head in the sudden darkness to see the rest of the hallway empty and opened her door.

Neville screams when he sees the head of a woman go flying off the body of the snake, followed not long after by most everyone else in attendance. Instead of the body of a snake lies the body of an older woman. Before long word is spreading that You-Know-Who had imprisoned an animagus in the body of their transformed self, and kept them like that for years and years. Muggle Borns are nothing to his followers, but animagus are purebloods – or so the common knowledge goes. Years later they call it an eye opener, an event that caused the Death Eaters to do a double take, too late to stop themselves but shocking enough that their children are taught that what an evil man is willing to do to Muggleborns they will be willing to do to Purebloods as well.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 244 of 247

Three Sentence Ficathon 2022

Ritual

Idiomatic (Dal Timgar & Tiger Martin, Star Surgeon)

Naruto, Kisame Hoshigaki/Konan

Naruto Founders, Madara/Izuna

A Colorful Conversation

Only a Joke (Catherine Morland/Henry Tilney, Northanger Abbey)

A Very Steady Friendship (Pride and Prejudice, Charles Bingley)

Distaff

Stagate Atlantis - mostly Elizabeth, John and Rodney

Re: Hamlet, Laertes/Reynaldo (slightly nsfw)

Re: Hamlet, Laertes/Reynaldo (slightly nsfw)

Claudius/Beatrice (Umineko)

Re: Claudius/Beatrice (Umineko)

Re: Claudius/Beatrice (Umineko)

Re: Umineko, spoilers for Episode Seven

Re: Umineko, spoilers for Episode Seven

Re: Pathologic, Murky

Re: Pathologic, Murky

Neither Escapes Unscathed

no subject

no subject

no subject

Jon & Sansa & Arya

no subject

no subject