Three Sentence Ficathon 2022 Part 2

[rthstewart]

UPDATE 14 FEBRUARY 2022 -- 3SF 2022 IS NOW CLOSED TO NEW PROMPTS!  Do continue to fill prompts already posted but the 3SF 2022 is now closed.  We'll be back next year in a new comm (If I can get my act together).  Thank you again!

THIS IS THE NEW POST FOR PART 2 OF THE 3 SENTENCE FICATHON -- ALL NEW PROMPTS SHOULD BE POSTED HERE
You may continue to fill prompts (but not leave new ones) at the original Post 1 here but please post new prompts here, not there.  And if you're asking, hey is just me, or did this get enormous really fast? Why yes, yes it did.  Last year, it took us ten days before I opened a new post.  This year, it took us about 5.5 days to get there.  So, by all means, go back and fill in Post 1 and post new prompts here!

Also woops, in an indication of how busy I've been with other things, I neglected to post that for a third year in a row the awesome conuly  started a master list of unclaimed prompts and has been updating it as time permits.  Obviously a huge task! Thank you!

 

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

[(Anonymous)]

mdzs, any, healing hugs

Wen Ning

[quillsshadow]

Wen Ning has grown up knowing that it takes more than hugs to heal people; wishing that he could offer his sister more help than simply doing her small tasks and occasionally wrapping his arms around her when there's no one to see the vulnerability. After he died, after Wei Wuxian brought him back, he had to be even more careful so that his inhuman strength didn't make a hug from him a source of injury.

All his practice is worth it, though, to be able to hug Lan Sizhui who is Wen Yuan - and if hugs don't heal, they are certainly a worthy celebration of the healing discovery that he has family still alive in this world.

[(Anonymous)]

Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth, post-Nibelheim AU - Accidental New Mother Acquisition

[(Anonymous)]

Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild, Link, we're told he's covered in scars by Robbie in-game but never see them; is the Guardian-fire like a lightning strike?

A story without words

[word_devourer]

There are the ordinary ones, of course, the calluses of his hands and feet, from walking, climbing, or wielding a blade, the scars that come along with them, the burns at his arms from a cooking fire gone wrong, or a bit of exposed skin when he was caught in a burning patch of grass.

Then, there are those that few others could match; the thick scar at his stomach that would have killed him without the shrine of resurrection, the network of silver from a thousand skirmishes, the spreading, branching redness where lightning struck him, the patches of white where a guardian, turned from its purpose, grazed him close enough to carve away his skin, and a dozen or so scars marking injuries that, but for the blessing of the lady Mipha herself, would have certainly killed him.

There may once have been a chance that, free of the pressures of his duties as champion, he might have been willing to speak again, but now, even as Ganon is quelled again for a time, it becomes clear that there is no healing that can free him from the memories.

[paxilam]

the witcher, any, headache

the witcher (netflix), yennefer/geralt, a little nsfw

[peaked]

Perched on the edge of the bed, Geralt bows forward and rests his head into his calloused palms and bites his time. Yennefer immediately curves her naked front to his bare spine, her hands gentle as she roughly rubs at his forearms, his biceps, and slithers her hands into his long hair.

"Thinking of me, Geralt?" she laughs quietly against his ear, nipping at his earlobe.

Geralt hums and doesn’t move, hiding his smile in the heel of his palms. "Always," he says, keeping his head in his hands as Yennefer kisses the top of his head, the nape of his spine, the top of his ear in her bid to cure him of his ache.

[paxilam]

Any, any, in a long queue

[ruthchinn]

He's in a long file winding back and forth under harsh lights, trying to get through to the security check without expiring of boredom. Kai pulls off 'lazy college student' perfectly well - alright, it's not like he'll be able to return to his studies, what with the whole on-the-run business and all - but he's still looking late-teens at best, not a threat to anyone. The queue shuffles forward, no more than a couple yards. Kai sighs. He should have bought a book before getting to the airport.

[paxilam]

Lotr, any, ride on eagles

[paxilam]

any, any, around the chimney

Dragonriders of Pern via SouCon MUSH's Xanadu Weyr

[chanter1944]

The second dragonet of the evening spills into the open just as the first Impressee and his new best friend are being guided off the sands by a shamelessly grinning assistant weyrlingmaster. As the new arrival clambers fully to clumsy paws, there's a definite pleased murmur through the crowd backed by at least one draconic trill of approval from the ledges, though it's hard to tell whose lifemate emitted it (if Eelie's fondly amused glance upward gives anything away, his marks may just be on their Weyrsecond's Nayleth appreciating two of his own hide color in a row), and at least one boy on the sands themselves starts making eager come-over-here gestures; this dragon is the brown of solid brickwork and packed clay woven with dried grass stems, scatter-swept ashes and rare wood-fueled fires flickering off close walls and, as his wings fan, the near-black smears of soot too honest to ever be crackdust.

It takes a long minute's inspection of first one group of mostly boys, then another composed entirely of very giggly girls, and then a few ill-matched members of the class standing together out of sheer necessity before the around the chimney brown stops in his tracks and when he does, he leaves an especially highborn Holder boy open-mouthed in unflattering disbelief because it's one of that mismatched handful, a short, scrawny, shaggy-haired lad found Holdless in Igen territory and Searched to Xanadu entirely by happy chance, who nearly pitches forward, struck speechless in astonished awe, as amethyst eyes meet his.

[paxilam]

any, any, shattered glass

Dragonriders of Pern via SouCon MUSH's Xanadu Weyr

[chanter1944]

"He looks like a Honshu quilt, almost," says Sherna, at the same moment Z'ran's opining, "like someone dropped a Glasscrafter's goblet on the floor...?" Both the candidate coordinators are right; the blue who's the subject of discussion is a patchwork of light yet vivid shades flashed with paler and darker traceries, very like both a certain kind of quilt and smashed-and-repaired glasswork. He's also, after a minute spent inspecting a long rank of lads of varying ages and origins, heading determinedly for a small group of girls instead, and it's the tallest one of those he selects as his, an awkward, nervous lass in her mid teens, all fine black hair and overlarge eyeteeth and, now, shoulders no longer bowed by the scorn of her fellows at Thessaly Hold.

[jinty]

any, any, here we use Polari when casting spells

(Polari wikipedia entry here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari#Glossary)

[jinty]

Harry Potter, Arthur Weasley, uses Polari when spell-casting and gets an unexpected result

(Polari wikipedia entry here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari#Glossary)

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “and I’m not cool, and I’m not smart / and I can’t even parallel park”

brutal - Olivia Rodrigo

[jinty]

rthverse Narnia, Edmund in London, learns or adapts Polari

(Polari wikipedia entry here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari#Glossary)

A couple of Bolds in Piccadilly

[rthstewart]

So, I've never heard of Polari, and it's taken me a bit to pull this together! But let's give it a go!

Before going into the club with no name off Piccadilly – it was on the one all the chaps in the office had recommended -- Andrew had studied all the cant, the Polari they called it and, though he could barely see through the strobing lights and the thick smoke was making him cough and wheeze, no sooner had he’d ordered a vera lynn at the bar, then a soft, blonde fortuni homy palone had sidled up next to him; he’d gotten the Dilly boy a drink and he thought he’d made it pretty clear he was looking to cottage with a “so,” that he was “bold” too, and wanted arva but would settle for a plate of meat and pay a lot of dinari for it.

They were just making for the exit when another Dilly boy sauntered up, dark and sharp, with a vogue between his teeth and kohl under his eyes and Andrew was prepared to pay for them both when the man squeezed Andrew’s bum so hard it would leave a bruise, and, in a cold tone that made him shiver, barked to the pretty blonde, “Take a troll for another tootsie trade, you manky fruit.”

He would have paid for them both but the blonde took the drinks and flounced off and, before he could order another round and begin the negotiation anew, the man took his arm in a vise grip that could have snapped bones and, whispered, “Andrew, you are going to leave now, go home to your wife, Sarah, and consider yourself very, very fortunate that you were not burned by a Dilly boy on the dole for the KGB.”

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “I am the one I’ve been waiting for”

I Am the Fire - Halestorm

Maid Maleen (fairy tale)

[betony]

Maleen waits.

For five years, she startles at every footstep outside her prison, sure that it is her true love come to rescue her, or Father thought better of his rage, or even a passing curious monster hungry for new prey; but it is always nothing, and she is always wrong, and she is weary of waiting, down to her bones.

It takes two years more for her to emerge into the sunlight, nails split and mouth bloody with spite, but this promise at least she makes herself: that if all the world forgets her name, she will remember.

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “you call me a bitch like it’s a bad thing”

You Call Me a Bitch Like It's a Bad Thing - Halestorm

RWBY, Yang, Nora, and One Poor Fool, Target Practice

[silveradept]

"You b—" the man began, before Yang's finger in his face stopped his likely profanity-laden rant.

"Yeah, yeah," Yang said, bored and looking at her nails, "you're going to call me a bitch, I'm going to beat the shit out of you for it, and I'm going to walk away from this encounter completely unsatisfied, so, instead, to liven things up and give you a sporting chance,"—Yang whistled—"I'm going to let my friend with an equally raging hard-on for violence and a fucking huge hammer splatter you into next Tuesday."

Before the man could protest further, Nora, already with a full head of steam and a lightning charge, swung Magnhild through the space that the man had been occupying, setting the whole of the kinetic energy stored up until the point of impact to the job of putting the man on an escape vector from both women's gives-a-fuck-about-you bubble.

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “I wanna feel the shiver of something new”

What Else Can I Do - Encanto OST

9-1-1, Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, The Strength of His Regard

[ladyjax]

Athena stood back out of the way as the crew of the 118 brought the last of the blaze under control.

“Alright, let’s wrap it up!”

Her attention was caught by the voice of Captain Robert Nash chivvying his crew along. It wasn’t the first time she’d listened as he made sure that everything was running smoothly; she’d caught many of the same calls as the 118 over the past few years. Why should now be any different just because of a dinner date or two?

Maybe it was the strength of her regard or some burgeoning sixth sense but suddenly Bobby’s head turned and he scanned the crowd until he caught sight of her. A slow, knowing smile formed as he strode towards her. Athena raised her chin and held her ground.

Bobby stepped up next to her, gazing at the scene. “Sergeant.”

“Captain.”

“I’m off shift after we get back to the house,” Bobby said. “Are you free this evening?”

Athena looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “I might be,” she replied. “What did you have in mind?”

Bobby turned slightly and bent his head just so. “I was thinking breakfast in bed,” he replied, the low rumbling undertone in his voice causing a thrill to run up her spine. “That is, if you don’t have an early call tomorrow.”

Athena’s mouth suddenly went dry as his intention became crystal clear. “I,” she began, then quickly cleared her throat. “I’m free.”

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “I was victim, I was quarry / now I shake my mane”

Apex Predator - Mean Girls the Musical OST

Original Poetry

[ernest]

she writes herself apart,
the sharpest strands of thought
unraveled, broken, just
to make anew. a shame
she couldn't listen, learn,
grow according to plan.

plans so often break bad:
poisoned threads are tacked down,
all embroidered to her
standard, bearing teeth and
claws, so standing my ground,
i write her down myself.


(okay, technically this is tangled the series, because my girlfriend invented a classic poetry form used by the saporians for eir longform retelling of the series, and then wrote an example as written and translated by in-universe historical figures, and then i wrote fan poetry of that, and in conclusion this fill is so far from the canon it's basically an original piece. i did get it to be three sentences though!)

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “in canon they have never met / i don’t care, i ship it”

I Ship It - Not Literally Productions

idk what this is (Zoe/Root, Person of Interest)

[swirlsngirls]

The thing is, Zoe Morgan is a vessel of patience; she has to be: society’s secrets don’t just reveal themselves without a constant maneuvering of emotions, a fine push-and-pull until information is extracted.

Root, on the other hand, is decidedly not; she breaks their stare-off and makes an exaggerated sigh, giving in and asking, “And why shouldn’t I kill him?”

“Because,” Zoe says, “we still need information out of him. Put the gun down.”; Root still doesn’t lower her gun, but her eyes flash and say make me, so Zoe leans forward, until she is towering over Root, and kisses her, pressing her into the wall as Root grins ferally and they push-and-pull too until Zoe wins and grabs the gun.

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “if I say the wrong thing / or I wear the wrong outfit / they’ll throw me right over the side”

Lifeboat - Heathers: The Musical OST

You Are My Glory

[ruanchunxian]

The award ceremony took place in Hainan on a beach, in the middle of a typhoon – or at least, that was what the wind felt like on the red carpet; Jing Jing was thankful that her manager had somehow had the foresight to check the weather and informed her stylist, who had then wisely put her hair in a tight updo, cemented with half a can of hairspray, and then chosen for her a dress sufficiently weighted that the skirt held its form by itself and also acted as anchor to keep Jing Jing herself upright – oh, and the stud earrings were a godsend against the wind.

“All the media coverage praised your look, Jing Jing,” Xiao Zhu said the next day, grinning, “and all your photos definitely turned out much better than Zhou Xiao Qi’s.”

“Of course,” Jing Jing said, unable to help feeling just a little bit of smug at the memory of witnessing her rival trying to make it down the windy red carpet in a floaty, gauzy dress that ended up twisting around her body, becoming almost like a sail helping the wind try its best to whisk her away – so it wasn’t nice, but it wasn’t as if Zhou Xiao Qi would be above making thinly-veiled insults publicly on Weibo if it had been Jing Jing who had to spend an entire red carpet walk trying to keep loose hair being blown wild and still half of her photos ended up with her having hair in her face; at least Jing Jing was keeping her vindictive glee to herself.

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “no one here deserves to die / except for me and the monster I created”

Dead Girl Walking (Reprise) - Heathers: The Musical OST

Shadow and Bone/TGT, Baghra

[betony]

Long life allows for a sense of poetry, and Baghra sees it best in her splendid shadowed son, her favorite of her many offspring through the years, her mirror in more ways than one. She knows all too well how this story will end, having weighed the small science's balances and found them wanting; she hopes only that it will be a good death, when it comes.

There will be others--Aleksander was cursed with an unfortunate affection for dramatics-- but none so richly deserved; Baghra spits upon the fire and settles beside it to wait some more.

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “we’re all damaged, we’re all frightened / we’re all freaks but that’s all right”

Seventeen (Reprise) - Heathers: The Musical OST

Dolls of New Albion, Byron + the voodoopunks

[fullupwithfire]

They always come that first time wearing what brought them like glowing signs, bright and easy to read in their faces, the way they hold themselves: anger, fear, loneliness, pain, the weight of expectations, the weight of questions.

Byron takes their hand and shows them into the dance, he takes their problems and shows them how to spread it among the dead and the dancers, to let it be lifted from their shoulders by a dozen voices and hands, until it doesn't feel so heavy and nobody has to be alone.

They come weighted and leave smiling, and Byron can forget his own loneliness for a moment when they do.

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “my give a damn’s busted”

My Give A Damn's Busted - Jo Dee Messina

Obsidian & Blood, Acatl & Teomitl

[notapaladin]

What do you think of Tizoc, Teomitl had asked him, and Acatl—Acatl had told him honestly, had spat out words like lead on his tongue. Had told him that their emperor was weak and cowardly and a murderer, a man who didn’t deserve to wear the Turquoise-and-Gold Crown. It had hurt to say, even more when he’d had to follow it up with a simple plea for Teomitl to stay his hand. To not slay his brother yet, no matter how badly he deserved it.

But Teomitl had taken his words to heart, and since then Acatl had discovered it opened the floodgates. It was easier to speak his mind now, to not worry about going too far or being judged for it. Teomitl had plenty of venom of his own for cruel and stupid people; he wouldn’t be shocked. And Acatl no longer needed to worry about setting a good example.

Still, the first time he grumbled, “That’s because Quenami is an utter bastard,” Teomitl dropped his tamale in shock.

[ultra_fic]

MCU, any, college AU

[ultra_fic]

Star Wars OT, Han/Leia, roleswap

Fill: Concealed Cargo

[(Anonymous)]

“There are credits to be made,” she mutters, “and I am hardly pleased to be wasting one of the Falcon’s compartments on charming, useless royalty instead.”

He doesn’t point out that there’s an Imperial bounty to be made, if she only had a little less integrity, just leans against a crate of mystery contraband and says, “You’d think a smuggler would be better at lying.”

“If I were, I’d be a politician,” she retorts – and the tiny twitch upward at the corner of her mouth is harder won and more satisfying than any victory on the Senate floor.

[ultra_fic]

Firefly, any, in space no-one can hear you snark

Scared to Lose (Firefly, Mal & River)

[vialethe]

“Not as funny as you think you are, little one,” Mal says, eyes narrowed against his co-pilot, sitting there across from him staring out at the sky like she didn’t just deliver a mortal blow to a man.

“Sense of humor is subjective,” she says, not paying him no nevermind, far as he can tell, “so I am exactly as funny as I think I am - no other measurement makes sense.”

“Fine,” he says, after opening and closing his mouth a few too many times for comfort, cause he ain’t about to try to argue with her when she’s got that kind of logic by the tail, “but let’s get one thing straight, me and you - my ship does not like you better’n me, and that’s that.”

[ultra_fic]

Little Women, Beth, what might've been if she lived