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

[wickedlittletown]

Les Misérables, Valjean/Javert, reincarnation

Les Misérables, Valjean/Javert, reincarnation

[sandrine]

"You," the man says, and you might not know his name in this life nor would he know yours, but you'd recognize him anywhere just like he has recognized you, just like the last time or the time before that, through the centuries and continents.

"Me," you reply, firm and sure, because you're not pretending anymore and you stopped running a long time ago, and then you suggest, "Why don't you come in?"

He narrows his eyes at you, suspicious like he still doesn't trust you, and that, too, is familiar; it makes you wonder how many lives it'll take until he stops expecting the worst of you – but it's fine... after all, you have all the time in the world.

[(Anonymous)]

The Expanse, Avasarala/Amos, flirting

Like a Lover Who Isn’t in Love (The Expanse, Chrisjen/Amos)

[vialethe]

“Don’t fucking call me that,” she snaps, and might be his imagination, but Amos is pretty good at seeing past paint, and he’s pretty sure that’s a natural blush staining Chrissy’s cheeks.

“Can’t help it,” he says, stretching out his legs and giving her his best shit-eating grin, the one Peaches told him is cute even if he doesn’t understand why at all, “guess it’s just how I think of you.”

The sideways look she gives him at that is easy enough to read, so he adds, “Well, to be honest, that ain’t the only way I think of you,” and waits to see what she’ll do; no matter what it is, he’s betting he’ll be satisfied, one way or another.

[wickedlittletown]

any, any, "You like that song?"

and they was always singing in the back of your mind (Hadestown, Hermes & the Fates)

[ernest]

For the most part Hermes is unpestered by the Fates: it’s not that he’s immune, but they know he knows about stories and inevitability, so it’s a better show to watch him resist an ending he knows is coming than to push him towards something he would have done anyway.

“Anybody got a match?” asks a runaway with wildly cautious eyes, and while he could warn Orpheus not to take hold of her until he knows how to keep from losing sight of her, instead he just starts humming like a train from far off. This may still become a tragedy but it is a love song first, and maybe it will turn out this time, so he will sing it again and again and again.

[schoolsasaint]

any, any, humans are made of stardust

Utena, Anthy+Miki (plus anti-Anthy/Akio, mentions of incest)

[last_haven]

Her brother used to go on about the stars, reciting facts, tracing constellations like the freckles on her thighs, tracking them like beasts on the hunt. One thing he mentioned was that everything was made of the elements born in stars, from hydrogen on down the list. He mentioned that even the iron in their blood was born from a star.

It was Miki who once mentioned that it was iron that was the death knell of a star, it's final creation before the fires gave out to birth the element.

Anthy lifts a hand up to the stars, curls her fingers into a fist, and imagines she can see the iron in the blood thrumming in her hand. She likes to imagine that it would be iron enough to choke the life out of her brother as well.

Afterwards, she deigns to performing a duet with Miki, as a gesture of gratitude for the thought.

[(Anonymous)]

The Expanse, Bobby/Avasarala/Amos, morning after

[galadryels]

Any, any, "to have and to hold does not require to then play fetch"

So Many Journeys May the Sun and Moon (Hamlet, Claudius/Gertrude)

[ernest]

It is strange, to trust that what her husband says is what he really means. Gertrude had gotten so used to figuring out what Old King Hamlet was thinking, and soothing his moods before he had to make them known with fists and harsh words, that for the first few weeks she still flinched whenever Claudius was too gentle with her, calculating when the other shoe would drop.

“Oh darling,” he said when he finally understood her fear. “I don’t play those kinds of games, not with you and not with anyone – this love is too dearly won.”

[(Anonymous)]

The Expanse, Bobby/+Avasarala/+Amos, chocolate

[tiny_ninja]

Any/Any/"Come on, sweet catastrophe."

original project

[be_themoon]

He hates bar fights, because of course he does. He hates it when she hears someone say something and her head turns and he knows exactly what's about to happen, knows just how far she's willing to go.

"We could have one night without you having to talk yourself out of a disciplinary action," he says into his glass, but he looks up and he sees that crooked grin, every moment she's had to fight for her position in it, and he puts the glass down and stands up.

[tiny_ninja]

Final Fantasy VI/Setzer Gabbiani/"Dear Maria, count me in."

[sincereously]

Star Wars, Han/Lando, just trust me

[demigodscum]

"Uh, heh, Lando, look, I don't — don't you think this is — I mean, hah, this ain't gonna be, you know, good, right? So why don't you just —"

"Just... trust me, baby," Lando says, and Han is so busy spluttering and scoffing over the pet name that he almost forgets what they're doing.

Until Lando's finger is inside Han's ass, and — and — well, and then it's too late to do anything but let the man keep going, right?

[sincereously]

Star Wars, Mara/Luke, old stories

[alexseanchai]

Miraculous Ladybug, any character(s), fairytale AU (canonical illustrations from 4x09: 1–4 & 5–8)

Reynard Rouge and the Marinette du Carabas, Fox in Boots

[silveradept]

"If you follow me and do as I say," the orange-tailed, dark-skinned fox woman said, "I will help you win the hand of Prince Adrien."

"I have neither armour nor sword, and Price Adrien is guarded by a fierce dragon and an evil fairy," Marinette responded.

"Then we shall start there," the fox woman said, "with you taking your clothes off and swimming in the river."

[sincereously]

Star Wars, Mara Jade, family

[grandmemester]

Watch Dogs Legion (Bloodlines), Aiden & Jackson, Aiden doesn't change his mind

[vialethe]

Shadow and Bone/SoC, Inej/Kaz, is it insensitive for me to say/get your shit together/so i can love you

Raindrops too Small

[word_devourer]

How can you ask someone you care so much about to change themselves for your sake, when you're so closed off and solitary yourself?
How can you dare to change, to let go, for a second, of the caution that has defined your life, kept you alive, for a person you could who may never be able to do the same?
What can you do but stand near to them, and hope that by some chance, some little miracle, something finally pushes the two of you together?

(Side note, relevant to the title, did you know that because of how surface tension works, it's way easier for large raindrops to merge than small ones? V. strange)

[vialethe]

The Grisha Trilogy, The Darkling/Alina, you had to kill me, but it killed you just the same/cursing my name, wishing i stayed

The Grisha Trilogy, The Darkling/Alina, you wear the same jewels that I gave you / as you bury me

[snacky]

She watches his body burn and she thinks of all he took from her, but she also thinks of all he gave her —- the life of a Grisha, being accepted and embraced by people like her, the courage and determination to use her power, to oppose him (but there was always the hope, infinitesimal though it was, that he might join her).

She has given up her power for this moment, and in killing him, took his from him.

But she is familiar with this power, this loss, with merzost, and she knows that the making at the heart of the world is never truly gone from her — her powers will return and so will he, and it’s just a question of which will be first.

[vialethe]

Shadow & Bone/TGT, The Darkling/Alina, what a wicked thing to do/to make me dream of you

Shadow and Bone, Darklina

[caramelsilver]

It was like he was in her blood, boiling her nerves, and heating her soul. No matter how far she ran, he's there, around every corner, in every shadow. Not even asleep can she escape him, he's there, making her doubt her... everything.

[vialethe]

Narnia/GoT, Susan/Jon Snow, so i will not ask you where you came from/i will not ask and neither should you

[vialethe]

Shadow & Bone/TGT, The Darkling/Alina, i still believe in what we could become/it’s something better than what we are from

Shadow and Bone, Darklina

[caramelsilver]

Even after she leaves him, he refuses to let go of the vision, the hope for the future. He has been alone for so long, he has waited for her for so long, so when you've lived as long as he has, this disagreement they have, this little fight, is but a second in the long future they'll have. He's an expert at waiting- she'll come around.

[vialethe]

Narnia, Susan/&Edmund, you know that my train could take you home/anywhere else is hollow

[be_themoon]

The curl of his hand in hers is so gentle, no words needed. She breathes out, grips it tighter, and then she glances at him and smiles.

"Perhaps Greece?" she says, as if they aren't sitting at a funeral, as if their past and future doesn't lie dead and dying and fallen around them, as if they aren't just one small step from wanting to follow.

[vialethe]

The Folk of the Air, Jude/Cardan, who could ever leave me, darling/but who could stay

[svgurl]

Smallville, Clark/Oliver, promise

it's been forever since i watched this but uh, have an attempt?

[be_themoon]

(ngl i rewatched this vid to see if i might be able to do this, which is one my fave vids ever and such a good oliver study, ugh)

Clark always promises. He promises the moon, he promises the impossible, and he means it every damn time, which is the worst part. He means it, every single time, every earnest nod, every genuine smile, every clench of his fists.

Oliver wishes, sometimes, that what he wants is something Clark could promise him. He knows it won't be.

[svgurl]

MCU, Bucky/Sam, wardrobe malfunction

[mad_madam_m]

Sam's wings don't open, and he's going too fast, he's going to—

Something slams into him from the side, and the momentum takes both of them through a window in a shower of glass, and they go skidding across the floor to a stop.

Sam coughs and rolls over to see Bucky slowly crawling to his feet. "Thanks for the save."

Bucky smiles grimly and hauls Sam to his feet. "Hell of a time for a wardrobe malfunction, yeah?"

"You're telling me."

[svgurl]

MCU, Steve/Tony, decaf coffee

Such A Mean Boyfriend, How Dare

[(Anonymous)]

"How," Tony proclaimed, flat with fatigue and still dry as dust, "very dare you. That's a breakup offence, Cap, that's not even real coffee-"

"How long's it been since you slept?" Steve replied, just as dry, and sheepdogged a bitterly-complaining Tony back to their bed.

[svgurl]

Gilmore Girls, Luke/Lorelai, vacation