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!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

They are together once again, the two of them. He is with his new toy, she doesn’t like this one, this one is too demanding of her Doctor. But sooner or later she will be gone and it’ll just be her and hers again. She makes sure the girl knows this. She is not about to be replaced by any stray the Doctor brings home to her. Because at the end of the day, at the end of the year, at the end of all of time, the Doctor is hers and will return for her like they will for none of their companions.

She likes some of them, River Song makes him happy, but River Song is but a chapter in their adventures together and the TARDIS knows that the first iteration of her doctor would have disliked the headstrong River Song. Each iteration brought home different friends but each time they brought them home, to her. The girl is right, the TARDIS is jealous sometimes of his various lovers, but once they get to see her, in a weak, human vessel but the girl is in front of him and he only has eyes for her deteriorating body.

Yes. She may have chosen The Doctor but the Doctor had also chosen her, and continued to choose her every time he came home willingly, with a pet in tow or fresh from leaving one behind. They changed but she existed outside of time and space, they belonged together like no other in the universe, the TARDIS and her Doctor.

Delores favourite time of day was just before breakfast. This was the time when Bruno’s telanovella aired. Delores was thoroughly engrossed in the current scandal when the rest of the town began to wake up, interrupting the quiet that made it easy for her to focus on the show. She tried to ignore Louisa’s gasp as she woke from a nightmare, Isabella’s frantic mumbling and her own mother’s sobs that she already knew stemmed from Bruno’s absence. She was trying to hear who Valentina’s secret baby was!

Bruno’s voice cut out and Delores had a moment of panic, what happened? Who was the baby? And then, slightly more concerning panic, what happened to Bruno? What made him stop? Where was he? His voice came from between the wall next to her, soothing and calming, Delores could almost picture his soft smile in his voice. "And that’s all until next time Mi Vida, tune in next time to find out about Valentina’s secret baby and what’s this? Carlos and Camila are twins?"

Delores gasped, "No!" she exclaimed before slapping a hand over her mouth. And then she remembered, no one would hear her. Except Bruno whose laughter she could hear easily in the wall.

"Have a good day Delores. I’ll see you at breakfast." And she smiled and leaned her cheek against the wall, near the only person in the house that had time for her when they weren’t looking for gossip.

"You too Tio Bruno." She would never tell anyone she knew about the Prophecy. Not even Bruno. This was one secret she would keep without being asked.

They say he held all the wisdom of the Golden Age in his eyes. They say nothing moved in Narnia without his knowledge. They say no one could lie to him and remain undiscovered. They tell stories of Edmund’s knowledge, of his penchant for reading, how long hours were spent in the company of the oldest of Narnia, listening and learning at their feet.

She dreams of a boy with the sun at his back, he hurts to look at, this boy and yet she cannot look away. He dreams of a girl, framed by more vegetation than he can imagine, her eyes dare him to look away and he finds he cannot. They dream of each other, twins without their other half, they remember as babies and dream as children. But as childhood melts away so too does dreams and he remembers only the vegetation, and she the sun.

They deal in their own ways. Peter soldiers on, treasures memories and places Narnia and everything associated with it in a very special place.

Lucy clings to the life she had, telling story after story, anything just to keep it alive.

Edmund is steadfast, holding to the memories without clinging to them, without depending on them, he lets them roll over him whenever they wish and stops to process them when they do.

Susan takes her memories and the feelings that came with them and buries them deep, on the rare occasion she lets these memories touch her they shake her to the core and leave her sobbing for hours on the floor.

Who can heal from Narnia? Who could forget that which they spent a whole life in? But they each try to heal in their own ways.

Diggory and Polly look at them and see Narnia as they never have in their own weary eyes. Eustace and Jill look at the Pevensies and are shocked by how little they leave behind in Narnia.

It is oh so hard for Eustace to be good here in England, to put to use lessons he learned in Narnia. It is as if he left his muscle memory behind, there. All the sword lessons learned from Reepicheep, the muscles and sun tan that had come from living on a tiny boat in the middle of the ocean, all gone the moment he stepped back into England.

But Lucy pulls him up from the floor easily, her eyes sparkling with hidden wonders and memories already threatening to fade away for Eustace.

Edmund speaks to him with the wisdom that just three months ago (a day ago?) had rubbed him the wrong way. Now Eustace knows that the knowledge had been gained in Narnia, the wisdom cultivated by war and error.

When he meets Peter, Eustace has no trouble believing he is looking at a warrior. Peter reteaches him how to swordfight, with sticks instead of real swords but he is keenly aware his opponent is lethal nonetheless.

When he meets Susan she dismisses them, and her siblings tell him she has forgotten Narnia, that she believes it to be all a game but Eustace sees the grace, poise and absolute control she holds herself with and knows that Narnia still has a hold on her too, though she may not acknowledge it.

Narnia shucked itself off his skin the moment he left it, but it clings to his cousins like a plague they cannot be rid of.

"They will return, my sweetling, return with the lions roar."

"And then they will rescue us?"

"Yes my sweetling, Aslan will not let Narnia be chained forever and when it is time he will send his warriors to save it, save us, so we must be always ready so when they call we can rise up with all the other Narnians. Will you be ready my sweetling?"

"I’ll be ready!"

Daenerys never knows the gods of Westeros.

Her first true introduction to religious practices came from the Dothraki customs, and she binds herself to them willingly or unwillingly when she eats of the horse’s heart and is told her son is to be The Stallion Who Mounts The World.

Her dragons were born in fire, yes, just as Melisandre said, but they were born in a Dothraki fire. A funeral Pyre. Perhaps as dragons her children were forever tied to the Lord of Light, but Dany waited eagerly for her Sun-And-Stars to return to her with their son.

Irri and Jhiqui teach her the ways of the Dothraki, slowly but certainly and as she had since her marriage she accepts them into her own life. She heeds the advice of the Blood-Of-Her-Blood and learns more from them than Viserys ever bothered to teach her. Dany knows safety from her time under the Mother of Mountains, happiness that didn’t last long when she turned to other gods and Blood Magic to save Drogo.

Tyrion tries to teach her of the Seven and she is reluctant to listen, Jon tells her of the Old Gods and she shies away. She lets Melisandre speak of her dragons, but for herself turns to Rommo and the other jaqqa rhan.

Somehow that group had become the most popular in the college. No one was really sure why or how – they always kept to themselves, were openly nerdy or rude, they embarrassed themselves more often than not but somehow everyone loved them.

Maybe it was Winger’s open manipulative tactics and insistence he didn’t need anyone. Maybe it was Perry’s open determination to fight ‘the man’ whoever that man happened to be. Or the way Bennett would give out free pastries and bakery goods in exchange for people’s favour. Or Barnes’ shortlived stint as head of the football team, the jock that chose to be mostly-nice to others. Maybe it was Nadir’s wacky theories and filmmaking that included everyone and made them all feel special. Or Hawthorne’s well meaning old fashioned humor and plain ignorance. Possibly it was Edison’s fantastic grades and willingness to do anything for an extra couple points.

Or maybe the individual members didn’t matter, maybe it had more to do with how they used that power – in fits and spurts, sometimes the unquestioned tyrants of the college, other times seemingly oblivious to their popularity.

One thing was certain – the Study Group was like nothing from High School but college was different – that was something they learned after the first paintball tournament – and was the Study Group really that odd in the grand scheme of colleges? They didn’t think so.

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?

They tell her he is dead, that he’s always been dead. They show her his dead body – the body that they are experimenting on and act as if he had just been an object. Wanda feels the swell of wrongness in her heart, screaming in her mind as she leaves the facility – a body is just a body after all, even if Vision deserves to be buried for all he has done for humanity. The lump in her throat only grows as she drives, expanding to form a pit in her belly, a stabbing pain behind her eyes and when she stumbles out of the vehicle and falls to her knees in the plot of land they were to build a house in together – the pit, the pain, the lump bubbles out of her chest in a scream. She can’t handle this, and when she stops a hand presses softly to her shoulder and she doesn’t want to wake up. Ever.

The last breath of a mother, the last breath of a chained being. The Planet knows what has happened immediately – it rains and does it oddly. What falls is not water or ash, what falls is hot and red and thick. It falls for the rest of the night as residents hide within their hardy buildings. The Planet is angry, they whisper, quieter than mice lest the Planet hear and turn its attention to them. The blood-rain only comes once more, while Jabba’s child is taken, and many see it as a sign of the planet’s favour for the Hutts and this is the message passed far and wide. And then the blood rain is gone again, and the people breathe a sigh of relief. But it is not gone forever – it comes back and this time it stays, a regular part of Tatooine’s weather, just as sandstorms were. Nineteen years later it ceases again and this time does not come back.

Edited 2022-10-09 01:18 (UTC)

It will never last. The Doctor knows this, the TARDIS knows this but the companion is still in awe. They always are, the TARDIS knows. It takes them time to realize that the man or woman they are falling in love with will never stop for them. Even the ones more special to the Doctor are never around for long. River thinks the Doctor will never love her, the TARDIS lets her drive her because they do. The Doctor thinks they will love her forever, the TARDIS knows they will but eventually that fierce romantic love will fade into something else and when they meet again it will not be how either expects.

It is in Narnia that Jill first sees Eustace’s cousins. They are depicted in one of the books she picks up before the owls send them out to the mountains. All four of them wear crowns of gold or silver, are depicted riding and bear ancient, medieval weapons. She would not have known who they were if not for the description underneath and Eustace’s later confession about his cousins. The portrait didn’t much look like English children to her, and Eustace’s cousins were younger than him. The portrait certainly hadn’t depicted children. But when they return from Narnia with a much younger Caspian, and they catch a glimpse of the approaching Pevensies, Jill could almost believe the stories. But then Caspian is gone and the Pevensie’s are just children.

It is years later, when she sees Tirian in the room with them, the magic of Narnia seeping through the worlds. And now she is armed with stories and knowledge, and she sees it and believes it for the first time. Peter is firm, commanding and he expects to be acknowledged. Edmund is tense and calculating and he is expecting a trap. Lucy is eager, her fingers twitching and she is longing for an adventure. The magic of Narnia fades but Jill finds herself still able to recognize the people they were in Narnia. She had never realized just how much it had shaped them.

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.

Ooooh, two for one bonus for my request, I love it. I love the subtle ways that Sarah changes, but Toby being not-quite-right is perfect! Makes me want to read something longer that explores it. Thank you for the fill, I adore it!

They are children still – nineteen years old and the leaders of a rebellion. Nineteen years old and seen too much death. Nineteen years old and no family left but each other and whomever they find.

Han remembers his own young childhood and the exploits of the Republic’s hero on the news. He wasn’t so young he didn’t remember. He had almost had a heart attack when Luke told him who Vader was. Han couldn’t help the twinge of betrayal that made itself known in his heart. Anakin had been a hero! General Skywalker had been his hero. But, he supposes when he looks up some of the old videos to show the twins of their father and his birthdate is displayed on the screen for just a second before he clicks away, he was young too. Nineteen years old and a General of the Republic Army, kark he was on frontlines when he was nineteen.

They tell him who their mother was and Han vividly remembers her too, he remembers hoping to see her, just once, to know that she cared about Corellia too. And he pulls up her speech to the senate during the Siege of Naboo, he has never seen this one – it occurred before he was born but- and it hits him. The Queen of Naboo is a position most often held by children. His hand shakes as he types out her name, just to click away quickly, the date burned into his mind. She was fourteen. No wonder the twins chased trouble and responsibility and helped everyone they came across. Their parents had both been so young when they started themselves.

Chewie had stuck around Han since he had met him – the kid was so young to be punting himself into danger. He is there when Han comes into the mess hall with shaking hands, listens to the kid’s blabbering about heroes and the twins, about too young burdens and he pats him on the back. He tells Han that he is just like them, escaping circumstances they had no control over or being controlled by those circumstances. Too young to help but determined to nonetheless.

Chewie tells Han it is a valuable trait, but one that requires support. Chewie doesn’t say it but he is that support for the three of them, him and R2. The droid knew more than he let on and for some reason was fiercely protective of the twins. The kids could be their helping selves because their elders were there to help them.

Ah, thank you! It's nice to see people still posting fills for this thing.

THAT ENDING LINE HAS NO RIGHT. This was wonderfully full of grief and heartbreak! ❤️💔

cool! love how arya searches out Drogon in the wilderness, the mental image of that is great, and I do like the idea of the three of them having dragons (though Dany dying is sad :( )

oohh nice. gold does suit her.

awww this is so cute!!

love the outsider pov of this, how Eustace can see Narnia in them when they might have difficulty to see it in themselves

I love that they become a whispered story, still believed in!

Thank you! I love the thought that Bruno wasn't completely separated from his family - and the idea that his telenovella's aren't lost to the walls.

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Three Sentence Ficathon 2022

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Daenerys

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Sansa & Arya, Sisters?

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Shmi Skywalker

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Re: Neither Escapes Unscathed

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Re: Jon & Sansa & Arya

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