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

[ruthchinn]

Blood of Eden, any, survival

[ruthchinn]

Waterfire Saga, any, ghosts

[ruthchinn]

Percy Jackson universe, Frank, heritage

[ruthchinn]

Kane Chronicles, Sadie, passing

[ruthchinn]

Dark Heavens, any, legacy

[ruanchunxian]

any, any, You booked the night train for a reason / So you could sit there in this hurt

Final Fantasy VII, Barret

[(Anonymous)]

Midgar trains are never empty, but they’re empty enough at this hour to pretend that he’s alone in the world, and that the world is nothing but the creak and sway of rusting cars along a track that ain’t leading homewards, and Marlene sleeping heavy on his lap, too worn out for comfort to matter. His arm still aches and itches at the graft site, but he’ll find work here when he can, and money for the kid, down in the mako-lit dark without even a sky to return to.

After that, he’ll find weapons.

[ernest]

any, any, see that young man who dwells inside his body like an uninvited guest

Fullmetal Alchemist (manga/Brotherhood); Alphonse Elric

[presumenothing]

Ed appears to think that Al joins him on his PT sessions just to be nice, because his brother is an actual prodigy but also an unmitigated fool, but the exercises actually do help – physical benefits aside, running through each part of his body in turn serves to remind him that they're there, which isn't a benefit to be dismissed out of hand.

His problems are different from Ed's; there's no muscle memory to rewire after all, seeing as he hadn't been physically been in the armour, yet all the same there's something there he needs to be reacquainted with.

(Possibly it's on the same dimension of intangibility as the three-inches-to-the-left he still feels when he wakes up wrong some mornings, but Al's not too worried; he'll know what it is when he sees it, and he will find it, eventually.)

[ernest]

any, any, permanent bruises on our knees / never forget what it felt like to live in rooms like these

[(Anonymous)]

Any, any, fart jokes inside a church

Hamlet

[ernest]

When asked what he would do to prove himself his father’s son, Laertes answers without hesitation that he would cut Hamlet’s throat in the church, and Claudius, who has been struggling even to ask for forgiveness when he’s not sure of his own sincerity, suppresses a shudder. It may be fear and it may be fascination, but all he knows is that such determination is something holy and beautiful, more than just a weapon to point in whatever direction he pleases.

It is Hamlet, of course, who ruins everything by turning it all into a joke: just as Laertes is really starting to question whether any of this is justice, Hamlet accuses him of dallying, using the lewdest gestures his rapier can manage, and from then on all their ends are set.

[dariaw]

MCU or The Punisher or Cobra Kai or The Originals/Vampire Diaries, any m/m, enemies make the best lovers

[dariaw]

Any, any, bubble tea

[dariaw]

Leverage or MCU or The Originals or Agents of SHIELD or Chuck or The Good Place, any, playing in the snow

WandaVision [takes place during the finale], Monica Rambeau/The Other Pietro

[aelisheva]

“This winter storm contained to Westview must be a result of their one-on-one magic duel,” Monica yelled to Other-Pietro over the blizzard’s winds, “so this is no time to just lay down and play in the snow…even though that would be kinda fun.”

“Maybe some other time?” Other-Pietro blurted out before smacking his head — again, so not the time for comic relief.

However, Monica gave a quick nod, before scrunching up her face to radiate a ring of blue light around herself to light their way; despite the cold, her cheeks couldn’t help but heat at how he stared at her with wide eyes like she was a fallen star.

[vialethe]

Shadow & Bone, The Darkling/Alina, you and me just running towards the light/giving up the fight/hoping we survive

[betony]

He wonders, once, what she might say if he offered her a certain island far away, guarded by sirens, and hospitable to shadow and sun both; if he offered eternity as a prize, a promise, rather than a prod to force her to further his own plans.

(He wonders, too, what he might respond; there is a pleasure to wanting, after all, new and unfamiliar, and he is not certain he can bring himself to give it up)

But they've come too far now, he reminds himself, and there are too many destinies they've outrun; he only wishes he had paid attention before he'd scattered them in his wake, thoughtless and desperate as ever.

[vialethe]

Shadow & Bone, The Darkling/Alina, i didn’t know if you’d care if i came back/i have a lot of regrets about that

[vialethe]

Trojan War Cycle, Andromache/Hektor, i was born to beg for you

[betony]

She would beg, too, if she thought anyone might listen; Father Zeus, who'd accepted so many sacrifices, and Queen Hera, who prizes fidelity. But too well she sees now that she was crafted as a lesson to other girls, a reminder of the dangers of desperate love, a taunt to those who imagined themselves to have caught hold of perfect joy; she was born to weep, and be whispered of.

Still Andromache regrets none of it-- she is proud enough, at least, for that.

[nasimwrites]

Narnia/A Wrinkle in Time, Susan Pevensie & Charles Wallace, "let's find out"

A Disproven Hypothesis and a New One

[silveradept]

"I had hypothesized that tessering had only happened to members of my own family," the strange boy said to Susan, "but after hearing your tale, it seems you have had a similar experience to mine."

"And you believe that with this…tessering power might allow me to find my brothers and sister again?" Susan ventured.

"I can only hypothesize," Charles Wallace said, "but I would very much like to find out.

[nasimwrites]

Narnia, The Tisroc and the King AU, Aravis/Ishamiel/Khalid(/Cor?), making it work ;)

By the Rubies in Your Voice (Narnia T&K!Verse, Aravis/Ishamiel/Cor/Khalid)

[vialethe]

It is the smaller things that make life worth living, Aravis Tisroc thinks, sitting at a conference table in a city neither of the desert nor the mountains, bored out of her mind by droning Tarkaans and fractious Lords; small things like watching the golden King across from her, catching his eye just to make him blush; small things like dear, loyal Ishamiel beside her, and the way his fingers brush hers as if by the most chance accident as he passes her a note.

Small things like said note, with its contents quickening her heartbeat, so that she can hardly keep her voice steady through the final formalities, so that she takes the chance of grabbing Ishamiel’s hand under the cover of voluminous robes as they flee the room, her step light as a girl’s, as a dancer’s.

“What’s gotten you two looking like the cat among the pigeons, as it were?” Cor murmurs, from just behind them, for of course he’d noticed, and of course he’d followed; Aravis merely passes him the note, saying, “Khalid is on his way,” and waits for the long, slow smile to spread across his face before she adds, “and most eager for his bed, he says, so we mustn’t disappoint him.”

[nasimwrites]

Narnia, Aravis/Cor, post-HHB Aravis (now in Archenland) discovers Cor is actually a Calormene spy

[nasimwrites]

Narnia, The Tisroc and the King AU, Aravis/Ishamiel, the Tisroc's steward

Aravis/Ishamiel

[animus_wyrmis]

In the first year of her reign, it was Ishamiel who was her first ally, who stayed behind and kept Tashbaan in her control, who quelled the rioting before she came home victorious. In the fifth year of her reign, it was Ishamiel who came to her with news of infighting and treason in the west, who finessed trade agreements with the south and calmed Khalid once again. Now, in the tenth year of her reign, Aravis watches her steward and wonders if any Tisroc before her had ever had someone like this by his side.

[nasimwrites]

Narnia, The Tisroc and the King AU, Aravis/Khalid, sliding into the proverbial DMs

Put Down the Knife (Narnia T&K!Verse, Aravis/Khalid)

[vialethe]

“I could have you executed for that,” she says, narrowing her eyes at the man across from her, who seems, as ever, to be taking it in his stride, even as she continues, “I should have you executed for that.”

“You might,” he says, shocking her by leaving his seat, not to loom over her as she’d expect from him, but dropping instead to his knees with the grace of a warrior, “but then who, O Tisroc, would relieve that tension I spoke of, which is so clearly evident in your mood, and-” here he dares touch her, one hand resting above her knee, the weight and heat and intent in it making her head swim, “-dare I say, your body as well.”

“Be that as it may,” she says, grasping for some vestiges of authority and, she suspects, failing, “offering to tend to my oasis, as you put it, is hardly a respectful way to go about seduction,” but she does not remove his hands, and the low rumble of his laughter against her skin is her reward.

[nasimwrites]

Narnia, The Tisroc and the King AU, Corin & Ishamiel, a night out

corin's liver was probably healed at some point in his youth by lucy's cordial

[animus_wyrmis]

"It's just--it's just--" Corin says, gesturing wildly around them and staggering, "what do you call it--"

"An oasis?" Ishamiel suggests, amazed that Corin is still standing but bewildered as to where this conversation is going.

"Olliance," Corin corrects. "The olliance, only a madman -- madwoman -- they're both mad, to have come up with it, is what I'm saying. We," he finishes, "we're the same, because we're not mad, you and me."

Maybe it is as the poets say: the sober man speaks wisely, but in the foolishness of the drunkard is the truth.

[nasimwrites]

Narnia, The Tisroc and the King AU, Khalid's thoughts on Rabadash

Let Me Try Once More (Narnia T&K!Verse, Aravis/Khalid)

[vialethe]

“You knew what he was,” Aravis says, trying to block that selfsame knowledge from her mind, “and you did nothing.”

Khalid watches her with heavy-lidded eyes, dark and unfathomable in the dim lamplight, low as his voice, and says, “I knew he was cruel - who better to know that than a younger brother, I ask - and I knew he was rapacious, and a fool, a man without the wit to know who and what to fear, and would bring about his own downfall before I could have the pleasure.”

“And while I will not apologize for that, for letting that fire forge you,” he continues, sliding one hand into the dark tumble of her hair, bringing their foreheads to rest together, “I will say that this I know now as well - he did not appreciate the wealth he possessed,” and though he does not say to her, I am not my brother, she hears it nonetheless, spoken in every piece of fealty his hands pay out to her in love.

[paxilam]

Any, any, sunbathing

Obsidian & Blood, Acatl & Teomitl

[notapaladin]

Upon reflection, Teomitl felt a little bit like a lizard. A very drowsy, very contented lizard. The sun baked into his bare back and thighs, and when he shook an errant lock of hair away from his face the world behind his closed eyelids turned red with it. He could very easily fall asleep like this if he was allowed.

There were footsteps approaching in a cadence he recognized. He didn’t open his eyes as a sandaled foot prodded him gently. Acatl’s voice sounded from above him, wryly amused. “I’ve never seen you so still on purpose before. I thought I’d best check you were still breathing.”

He hummed, a wordless affirmation, and was rewarded by the faintly slithery thump of cotton on stone as Acatl sat down next to him. “Enjoying your nap?”

His mouth felt like it had been glued shut, but he nevertheless managed to force it open to murmur, “Should join me.” The gods knew Acatl didn’t take enough time for himself.

And the gods were merciful, because Acatl sighed and shifted his weight a bit more comfortably on the ground. “Very well, then.”

The sun was so wonderfully warm.

[paxilam]

Any, any, doing a crossword

[primeideal]

(Harry Potter)

"Arthurian sorceress reversed wordplay, with love for acceptable mark," Percy read. He liked it better when Bill or Charlie were there to help him with the Daily Prophet's cryptics; the twins just tended to spill breakfast on them.

"How many letters?" Ron asked.

"Seven."

"Morgana. She's on every other Chocolate Frog card."

It fit perfectly. Maybe his baby brother was smarter than he let on.

[paxilam]

Constantine, John Constantine &/any, possessed cat

John Constantine/Zatanna Zatara, DC Bombshells (Comics)

[aelisheva]

"First you get turned into a bunny and now this," Zee quipped, booping the top of Cat-John's head, "plus it's funny that all the passersby think you're just some normal possessed cat."

"Easy for you to say, dollface," Cat-John grumbled.

"Wait -- last time the Bombshells all called you the Hareblazer or Bun-stantine, are you Cat-stantine now??" Zee gasped with delight.