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!



      


















wearing_tearing: black and white icon of a person holding a wolf mask to their face. (Default)

[personal profile] wearing_tearing 2022-01-17 02:38 pm (UTC)(link)
any, any, truth spell
swirlsngirls: side view of a light-skinned woman with wavy brown hair. Part of it is being lifted to the side by someone else’s hand (Default)

The Lie and the Truth

[personal profile] swirlsngirls 2022-01-20 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
Blue made a few stuttered motions with her left hand, as if the idea of Haughn cheating on her had broken her physically as well as fracturing her heart. Haughn recognized the translucent crystal-blue of a truth spell suspended in the air before it shimmered and disappeared, as if winking, into Haughn’s skin.

“I lied,” said Haughn, and a gasp slipped out of Blue’s lips, the confirmation jolting her, “I lied…right next to you in bed that night. I never cheated on you.”
Edited 2022-01-20 05:46 (UTC)
wearing_tearing: black and white icon of a person holding a wolf mask to their face. (Default)

Re: The Lie and the Truth

[personal profile] wearing_tearing 2022-01-20 11:40 am (UTC)(link)
Oh wow, great use of the truth spell!
swirlsngirls: side view of a light-skinned woman with wavy brown hair. Part of it is being lifted to the side by someone else’s hand (Default)

Re: The Lie and the Truth

[personal profile] swirlsngirls 2022-01-21 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
hehe thank you!!
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)

Fae Words (Gargoyles; Xanatos/Owen)

[personal profile] kalira 2022-01-20 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"You look," David paused, tilting his head, "incredibly entertained."

Owen smirked. "It is incredibly entertaining," he stressed the word with an undertone of laughter, "that they would think being restrained to the truth would do Puck's mischief any hampering whatsoever."
mad_madam_m: Mad Madam Mim as a dragon (Default)

Re: Fae Words (Gargoyles; Xanatos/Owen)

[personal profile] mad_madam_m 2022-01-23 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
Bahahaha yessssssss.
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: Fae Words (Gargoyles; Xanatos/Owen)

[personal profile] kalira 2022-01-23 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
8D (Someone knows nothing practical about fae, I'm guessing. >.>)
mad_madam_m: Mad Madam Mim as a dragon (Default)

Tiger & Bunny, Barnaby/Kotetsu, He Could Use a Truth Spell, Honestly

[personal profile] mad_madam_m 2022-01-24 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
"Two days?" Kotetsu's voice comes out strangled and he's powerfully regretting asking the other NEXT to demonstrate her powers. "I can't tell a lie for two days?! Not even a little one?"

She laughs and draws back across the table. "Nope, not even a little one. For forty-eight hours, you'll have to tell everybody the truth." She props her chin in her hand and wrinkles her nose. "Fun, isn't it?"

Kotetsu lunges out of the chair and pulls out his phone to call in sick—something he's never done in more than ten years as a hero—because he absolutely, positively cannot see Bunny in the next two days, or else he'll spill that he's in love with him.
wearing_tearing: black and white icon of a person holding a wolf mask to their face. (Default)

Re: Tiger & Bunny, Barnaby/Kotetsu, He Could Use a Truth Spell, Honestly

[personal profile] wearing_tearing 2022-01-24 03:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Oooohhh, I love it!
mad_madam_m: Mad Madam Mim as a dragon (Default)

Re: Tiger & Bunny, Barnaby/Kotetsu, He Could Use a Truth Spell, Honestly

[personal profile] mad_madam_m 2022-01-24 04:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! <3
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)

Cassandra of Troy, Truth Hurts

[personal profile] silveradept 2022-02-01 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
They always claim to want the truth.

But from my lips, the truth always falls, and their ears are closed to it, and their minds recoil from it, and their swords and spears demand me to stop speaking it, and they go and fight each other so as not to make what I have uttered chime true, and in so doing, they hasten it.

They always claim to want the truth; this is the first lie they tell.
theseatheseatheopensea: Lyrics from the song Stolen property, by The Triffids, handwritten by David McComb. (Default)

Re: Cassandra of Troy, Truth Hurts

[personal profile] theseatheseatheopensea 2022-02-01 09:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Yesss perfect!
wearing_tearing: black and white icon of a person holding a wolf mask to their face. (Default)

Re: Cassandra of Troy, Truth Hurts

[personal profile] wearing_tearing 2022-02-02 11:18 am (UTC)(link)
I loooove this!

Obsidian & Blood, Acatl/Teomitl

[personal profile] notapaladin 2022-04-24 12:46 am (UTC)(link)

The curse was elegant in its simplicity. If Acatl hadn’t been so annoyed by it, he might have found it admirable. For the next week, he would be compelled to speak the honest truth of his heart, and there was no cure. He would have to live with the consequences of his speech.

So all he had to do was not talk to anyone for five days. Easy. He could manage that.

Except of course, because the fates were tormenting him, Teomitl all but sprinted into the temple an hour later, out of breath and talking a mile a minute. “Acatl! What’s this about a truth spell? Are you alright? Have you found who cursed you?”

He bit his lip hard, but it didn’t work. He couldn’t keep the words in. “No, but I’m fine. I’m just glad they were aiming for me and not you. If you were hit with a truth spell, you’d probably cause seven diplomatic incidents in the first five minutes.”

Teomitl looked about to argue, but then he paused and frowned skeptically at him. “Are you sure you’re cursed?”

“Rude!” he huffed. “I love you madly, but if you don’t learn some tact before your brother dies we’re all going to be in trouble.”

Teomitl didn’t appear to have heard him. He was staring at Acatl like a stunned rabbit, mouth slightly open. Acatl tried not to think about the curve of his lower lip until the man spoke, drawing his attention right back to it. “You...love me?”

“...Fuck.” His face felt like it was on fire. He’d never meant to say that. Teomitl was a dozen years younger than him, married to his sister, and due to become the next Emperor of the Mexica. Acatl had taken vows of celibacy. He’d long since accepted he didn’t have a chance; gods, he was lucky to still be in Teomitl’s life at all. Please don’t ask me to elaborate, he prayed.

Too late. Teomitl was stalking closer, and when he took Acatl’s hand in both of his own Acatl couldn’t pull away. Not when the man looked at him like that, as though he was on the edge of everything he’d ever wanted but wasn’t sure it was for him to have. “You love me,” he repeated. “As a man?”

He might once have at least contemplated his answer—if nothing else, his vanishingly unlikely dreams of confessing had involved more picturesque surroundings than his weedy, dusty courtyard—but with Teomitl looking so hopeful all he could say was, “Yes.”

And then he didn’t need to worry about saying anything else, because Teomitl was kissing him.