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!



      


















sixbeforelunch: a striking woman wearing an ornate hat and necklace (Default)

[personal profile] sixbeforelunch 2022-01-16 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
Any, Any, “It could be worse. I’m just not sure how.”
archersangel: (movies)

Stargate: SG-1

[personal profile] archersangel 2022-01-16 07:09 am (UTC)(link)
It seemed like this planet was out to get them. Jack thought.

Teal'c had twisted his knee and was limping along insisting that he was fine. Sam was devloping a rash on her abdomen. Daniel had lost his allergy medication & was dealing with itchy eyes in between bouts of sneezing. As for Jack, he had a case of the trots, from what he didn't know.

O'Neill had just decided to cut their mission short & the team was making their way back to the Gate when it started raining out of nowhere. "Just when I thought it couldn't get worse. Jack muttered.
be_themoon: I want a better world. By me. (Default)

[personal profile] be_themoon 2022-01-16 03:01 pm (UTC)(link)
sg-1!!! oh no i love them so much and this is adorable, i'm always so happy to see other people who get their ridiculous team dynamic
archersangel: (historic fiction)

[personal profile] archersangel 2022-01-17 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
thank you!
sixbeforelunch: a striking woman wearing an ornate hat and necklace (Default)

Re: Stargate: SG-1

[personal profile] sixbeforelunch 2022-01-16 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Aw, poor team! Nicely done.
archersangel: refers to the original (Default)

Re: Stargate: SG-1

[personal profile] archersangel 2022-01-17 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
thanks.
sallymn: (primeval 3)

Re: Stargate: SG-1

[personal profile] sallymn 2022-01-17 12:54 am (UTC)(link)

"Let's see..." Lester had that smile om his face. "You've accidentally let a a clutch of baby tyrannosaurs loose in the middle of London. Plus a huge flying - what is it?"

"Pterosaur, well actually Quetzalcoatlus."

"Thank you. It promptly divebombed Parliament House and then excreted all over the lawns at Buckingham Palace. And we cannot do anything because there are a swarm of giant scorpions between us and the doors?"

"It could be worse," Connor said helpfully. "I'm not sure how, but -"

"I could fire you again?"

sallymn: (sg1 4)

Re: Stargate: SG-1

[personal profile] sallymn 2022-01-17 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
Oh I like this! I miss SG!, I should write them again sometime :)
archersangel: ("awake")

Re: Stargate: SG-1

[personal profile] archersangel 2022-01-17 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
thank you.

Re: Stargate: SG-1

(Anonymous) 2022-01-19 02:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Hee, yes! The missions that didn't make it into an episode...
wearing_tearing: dark red background with wei wuxian and lan wangji staring at each other in the xuanwu cave. ([cql] wangxian)

Modao Zushi/The Untamed: Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian

[personal profile] wearing_tearing 2022-01-16 05:37 pm (UTC)(link)
"C'mon, Lan Zhan, it could be worse!" Wei Wuxian said as he tried to wrangle a drunk Lan Sizhui into the room--it seemed like he also had the Lan's low tolerance for alcohol despite not being a blood relation.

Lan Wangji raised an eyebrow at him and then slowly moved his gaze to the vomit coating the edges of his sleeve.

"Okay, I'm not sure how, but it could be!" Wei Wuxian argued, but didn't protest when Lan Wangji came over to help him put their son to bed.
sallymn: (love 13)

Re: Modao Zushi/The Untamed: Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian

[personal profile] sallymn 2022-01-17 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
I like it :)
sallymn: (primeval 3)

Primeval, Lester and Connor

[personal profile] sallymn 2022-01-17 12:53 am (UTC)(link)

"Let's see..." Lester had that smile om his face. "You've accidentally let a a clutch of baby tyrannosaurs loose in the middle of London. Plus a huge flying - what is it?"

"Pterosaur, well actually Quetzalcoatlus."

"Thank you. It promptly divebombed Parliament House and then excreted all over the lawns at Buckingham Palace. And we cannot do anything because there are a swarm of giant scorpions between us and the doors?"

"It could be worse," Connor said helpfully. "I'm not sure how, but -"

"I could fire you again?"

Re: Primeval, Lester and Connor

(Anonymous) 2022-02-01 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
Keep the firing in reserve, Lester.

This made me laugh, and sounded exactly like something that would happen. Idiots that they sometimes are, I suppose they can't exactly control the anomalies.
sallymn: (primeval 2)

Re: Primeval, Lester and Connor

[personal profile] sallymn 2022-02-01 08:29 am (UTC)(link)
They were Very British heroes... so this sort of thing would happen yes :)
kalira: cartoon representation of Kalira (pale skin, long brown hair, fangy smile, with thumb and two fingers raised), wearing a black tank top and cardigan, on a galaxy in ace flag stripes/colours (Default)

Worse (BtVS; Xander, Spike, Buffy, Willow)

[personal profile] kalira 2022-01-18 06:56 am (UTC)(link)
"Hey, girls, cheer up! It could be worse!" Xander said with determined cheerfulness, swiping his rain-soaked fringe out of his eyes. "I'm not sure how, but-"

"Horde of g'zanthrr demons." Spike said, flicking his cigarette to the concrete.

"Yes, that!" Xander said, gesturing at Spike. "As Fangless says, there could be . . . whatever-"

"No, you berk, there's a horde of g'zanthrr demons. There." Spike jerked his head and Xander looked, taking in the electric blue and sickly yellow creatures rushing towards them as he heard Buffy and Willow groan behind him.

Re: Worse (BtVS; Xander, Spike, Buffy, Willow)

(Anonymous) 2022-01-19 05:26 am (UTC)(link)
I love this so much, it’s amazing 😆
kalira: cartoon representation of Kalira (pale skin, long brown hair, fangy smile, with thumb and two fingers raised), wearing a black tank top and cardigan, on a galaxy in ace flag stripes/colours (Default)

Re: Worse (BtVS; Xander, Spike, Buffy, Willow)

[personal profile] kalira 2022-01-19 05:32 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks! ^.^
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)

Encanto, Mirabel, It Can Always Be Worse

[personal profile] silveradept 2022-01-20 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
She'd cracked the whole thing, to the point where it had obliterated the house and the mountains behind it.

"Everyone's alive, though, so it could be worse, even if I'm not fully sure how," Mirabel said aloud, before realizing what kind of statement that was.

With the certainty of someone who recognizes too late that she's tempted Fate, Mirabel turned slowly around to see Abuela Alma standing behind her, an accusing look on her face that told Mirabel that things were about to get a lot worse still.
severina: (twd: daryl)

The Walking Dead, Daryl/Beth

[personal profile] severina 2022-02-13 10:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Daryl's eyes follow her as she moves around the camp; he hovers nearby when it's her turn to do the cooking; he sets up a spot to clean his arrows that happens to be right next to where she's helping Judith do her colouring; he even manages to be hovering around the general area of the bushes were she goes to relieve herself, 'cause you just never know what -- or who -- is lurking out there in the dark.

"She still hasn't noticed you?" Glenn says one night when they're sharing a log during dinner.

Daryl shifts his eyes away from Beth and shrugs. "It could be worse," he says. "I'm just not sure how."

Obsidian & Blood, Acatl & Teomitl

[personal profile] notapaladin 2022-04-21 02:48 am (UTC)(link)

“Well,” Teomitl said, “it could—”

“Don’t say it.”

“—be worse—sorry. But it could.”

Since they were both currently crammed in the same small cage in a cave north of Tlacopan, after a diplomatic endeavour that had turned into an investigation into an unorthodox cult and promptly gone very far south very quickly, Acatl couldn’t feel even a shred of Teomitl’s optimism. They’d only been able to hastily bandage their wounds, their weapons had been confiscated, and the cage wasn’t big enough for either of them to stand up straight, never mind fight. So he hunched further into the corner and asked incredulously, “How?!”

“...I’m not sure,” Teomitl muttered. “I don’t have your gift for pessimism. But I know it could.”

Grudgingly, he nodded. They could be dead or tortured or sacrificed to fuel a spell. So far, none of that had happened.

Yet.