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

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “we’re way too pretty for prison”

Way Too Pretty for Prison - Miranda Lambert & Maren Morris

Ribbon (Sharp Objects, Camille & Amma & Adora)

[swirlsngirls]

“Good grief, you’d think you three were the ones who murdered those girls, the brazen way you talk about them,” Adora says, putting her hand to her head as if she’s about to faint. “How horrible.”

“If we did,” Amma counters, winking at Camille as Adora fusses with the perfect blue ribbon-tied ringlets of her daughter’s hair, “they’d never arrest us. We’re way too pretty for prison.” Once Adora finishes, Amma and her two friends who follow her everywhere leave, Camille knows she’s right—- no one would even suspect them.

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “this gun’s for hire / even if we’re just dancing in the dark”

Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen

And Then There Were None

[ernest]

The four who have made it to the third night do not trust each other not to be the murderer, because U.N. Owen must be among them, but they each believe they’ve found someone who it isn’t, which oddly allows them all to relax.

No one remembers whose idea it was to light candles against the dark; but it was Blore, already holding a bottle of brandy, who said they should simply drink all the liquor in the house since they’d be leaving soon anyway; and Lombard started playing the swan song indictments on the old photograph until it turned into music. They can’t quite forget that they’re all in danger, but they can laugh about it, and dance, and tell old stories until the moon comes down, promising each other that death is for… the other people.

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “when I’m finished, they won’t even know your name”

Praying - Kesha

Miscalculation (Naruto; Danzou, Shisui)

[kalira]

"You- You can't think to get away with this," Danzou hissed, anger warring with the righteous burn of knowing he had been right about the Uchiha, "and when I return to tell the rest of the council-"

"When I'm finished," Shisui said, his ruby eyes whirling into a pinwheel as he pressed the hilt of his blade against Danzou's throat as his eyes widened, "they won't even know you. Your name will be forgotten and all you worked for undone - all you stole returned."

"Isn't that why you wanted to start with him, Danzou-sama?" someone asked in a half-familiar voice, but Danzou's world narrowed to the spin of Shisui's eyes, panic and despair pulling at him.

[marquisguyun]

Dumb Husky and his White Cat Shizun, Chu Xun & Chu Wanning, What is family?

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, “wanna see you begging, say ‘forget it’ just for spite”

I Hate Myself for Loving You - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

You Are My Glory

[ruanchunxian]

Xia Qing didn’t know what she actually expected, coming all the way out there to Yu Tu’s neck of the woods. By the time eight o’clock rolled around and she had waited for the better part of two and a half hour, she was really questioning her own sanity. After all, why was she doing this, sitting here in a deserted café in the middle of nowhere, staring at a cold cup of tea for the last two hours, looking for all the world like she’d either been dumped or stood up, waiting for someone that might never show?

~*~

He did show up, though, and for a second, Xia Qing’s heart lifted with hope – perhaps her patience and suffering had moved him after all.

That hope vanished almost as quickly as it’d come, as he was stony-faced and impatient, sullen and silent, and Xia Qing wondered what he would have deigned say to her if she had not brought up Qiao Jing Jing, which obviously hit a nerve with him.

Realising this, she saved her most devastating words for last – “No wonder you went back to the research institute, it’s not like you have to worry about those material things anymore” – and the way his jaws twitched and his brows drew together, just for a second, gave Xia Qing a flash of spiteful pleasure.

Except, that spiteful pleasure vanished, just as quickly as it’d come, too, when she forced herself to admit, out in the drizzling cold, that all between them must now be at an end.

[wearing_tearing]

any, any, huddling for warmth

Huddling for warmth (The Terror, Goodsir/Collins).

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Holding his bag of instruments, Harry walks back to the sick bay, trying to leave the cold behind--but it is not easy, not when it clings to everything and everyone, like a shadow with sharp edges. As he steps inside, he pauses, and then smiles--Henry is there, asleep, with his head pillowed on his arms. Slowly, he opens his eyes, and Harry sits next to him and takes his hand, and their fingers, entwined, create a little safe place of their own--a place that defies the shadows and the cold, a place that is warm like fire, and bright like a spark.

[wearing_tearing]

any, any, dragons

Shireen gets a dragon (asoiaf)

[elementalraven]

Shireen stares at the shiny surface of the object before her, silver-grey in colour with swirls of royal blue and jagged streaks of sapphire; it wasn’t even her intention to stray so far away from her rooms really, she just needed a little breather from her books and lessons and decided to explore, but then she got distracted by all he dragon statues and imagery that she had never been allowed to stare at before, and the next thing she knew was that she was lost.

Shireen stretches out her hand and brushes the tips of her fingers along what can only be a dragon egg. It feels warm to the touch.

[wearing_tearing]

any, any, knitting

Agatha Christie's Jane Marple

[smallhobbit]

Miss Marple took out her knitting and began to slowly work on the sleeve. To the uninitiated she was simply an old lady occupying her time before supper, but to those who knew her well she was using that time to listen to a conversation between two people sitting close to her in the hotel lounge. After a while, the two departed, leaving Miss Marple to put her knitting safely in her bag and go to make a telephone call to the nice detective inspector she had been talking with earlier.

[wearing_tearing]

any, any, deep dark woods

[ruthchinn]

Agniezka has never been afraid of the Wood like she should have been, even when it was truly a place of darkness, needing to be cut back by axes and fire. When she passes through as its guardian, humming some formless song through the shadowed forest, through roots and branches and undergrowth heavy on the ground that might entangle any other traveler, she can always find her path. There is beauty and life in these deep dark woods, and someday she will learn how to share it, too.

[ruthchinn]

Greek Mythology, Circe, freedom

[scytale]

"I need cleansing, Aunt," Medea says, but for all she bows her head low in supplication, she lies when Circe asks her how she came to be here.

It's all the fault of that young man of hers, and Circe ought to turn him into a particularly loathsome pig for all he's done to her brother and nephew (and all the pain he will cause her niece in the future, if she reads the selfishness and ambition in his eyes correctly); still, she would rather not pit herself against Hera, and interfering wouldn't do Medea any good anyway.

The girl won't learn anything from being handed her freedom; that must be something she chooses for herself.

[kiestan]

any, any, if i could / try a little harder / i could succeed -- home, madeon

Scum Villain's Self Saving System, Luo Binghe

[marquisguyun]

It was cold in the woodshed. Luo Binghe drew his knees up to his chest, wincing as the motion pulled at overworked muscles. If he kept working hard, Shizun would accept him someday, right?

...Right?

[kiestan]

any, any, weirdest crossover

Jack Reacher x Awaken the Stars

[ruthchinn]

Reacher does a double take at the sight of a familiar man in this middle-of-nowhere town in Pennsylvania, though, after a moment, he recalls that this must be Cody's hometown. Not wanting to draw attention to himself and his current investigation into the town's strangely un-aging mystery man by calling out directly, he signals to the waitress for his bill, hands her the cash, then ambles across the street, as if it's sheer coincidence that he happens to pass by the sheriff's car.
... has that man not aged one bit since over a decade ago, from the looks of it? Cody looks to be still in his mid-to-late twenties, when he ought to be hitting his mid-thirties, and probably showing the wear a bit from his service. Perhaps Reacher's investigation will turn up a great deal more than he was expecting.

[kiestan]

transformers, any, self insert

Transformers: Battlegrounds

[raisedbymoogles]

I'd been an overhead observer to the Autobots' trials and tribulations for so long that it honestly slipped my mind, as it seemed to have slipped Bumblebee's; no one even so much as gestured to me when Optimus Prime joined up with the rest, and when I transmitted my tactical directions through Teletraan-X's interface, Optimus Prime followed them without a whisper of protest.

Which was why I was as surprised as he was when Optimus Prime glanced up casually, did an absolutely cinematic doubletake, and demanded, "How long has THAT been up there?"

"Uhh... a while?" Bumblebee admitted sheepishly, and Optimus covered his optics and muttered an apology to me, which I assured him wasn't necessary; I still didn't fully know what was going on, but it seemed like - to say the least - he had a lot on his mind.

(i may revisit this, the TF:BG self-insert is practically canon so it feels like cheating >_>)

[kiestan]

two fandoms featuring mecha/robots, any, dick measuring contest

[kiestan]

any, any, your most nostalgic trope

TMNT (2k7), April

[raisedbymoogles]

(nostalgic trope: token girl makes good)

Foot Clan Guard number whatever-and-three marched into place, less like a ninja than a soldier. One that wasn't expecting trouble, no less, which was why even a novice like April could swing down from the rafters and knock him out with a well-placed knee to the face.

"Thank you, Master Splinter, for making me do chin-ups," she gasped, dragging her victim into a broom closet.

When Oroku Saki passed by that particular hallway, he saw the requisite guard and did not look further. April, dressed and masked in 'borrowed' Foot Clan gear, burned to charge in and demand to know where the Turtles were right then and there, but she stood at attention until the bastard passed and she was guarding an empty room. Then she abandoned her post and headed deeper into the compound.

Hang on, guys. I'm coming.

[kiestan]

naruto, sasuke/sakura, forward thinking

[raisedbymoogles]

any, any, this post

[ruthchinn]

any, any, imitate your favorite writer's most used trope

Hail to Thee! (What if Lady Macbeth met her eventual husband while disguised as a boy?)

[woodmr]

GROUCH.
Nay, sir, I shall not offer up my name
Till thou hast paid that same tribute to me.

MACBETH.
Then tell me not at all an’ I shall guess
What noble’s son thou art: your speech belies
The grossness of your clothes, and accent proves
We both are scions of one of Scotland’s thanes.

GROUCH.
None of that fraternity claimed me till now.

[kiestan]

naruto, any f/f ship, sexy no jutsu

[kiestan]

boruto, sarada, chidori

[elementalraven]

any, any, write something inspired by one of the fills on here

[primeideal]

(Inspired by this Discworld/Narnia crossover):

"Come!" Aslan's roar shakes the world, the color of his golden paw slashes through the sky. "The old Disc is gone, and see; a new Disc, the true Disc, is at hand."

AND I SUPPOSE YOU WILL HAVE NEW ELEPHANTS AND NEW TURTLES TO SUSTAIN IT ALL? says Death, who has endured, of course, until this end of all things.

Aslan tosses his mane. "That isn't exactly the idea, no."

[svgurl]

gilmore girls, rory/jess, dance

[demigodscum]

"Find a song that convinces me," Jess had said after days of nagging, so, naturally, Rory had gone home, taken out one of her many journals, called Lane, and started a list:

Songs for Dancing with Jess

• Sparks - Coldplay - Parachutes (Jess likes, but too slow?)
• Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want - The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow (a joke)
• Dosed - Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the Way (Jess likes, but no)
• A Worrying Thing - Yo La Tengo - Painful (fitting maybe... but too romantic?)
• Here She Comes - Slowdive - Souvlaki (too sad)
• Wish You Were Here - Incubus - Morning Drive (Jess likes, but inaccurate and undanceable)
• Let's Dance - David Bowie - Let's Dance (too disco)
• Stay - David Bowie - Station to Station (fitting lyrics, hard to dance?)
• Hard to Explain - The Strokes - Is This It (not for this)
• Back to You - John Mayer - Room for Squares (too sappy for Jess)
• The Letter - PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her (fitting lyrics, wrong mood)

It takes her two weeks to make a decision and plan for her mom to be out of the house for the afternoon, but finally the moment comes when Jess is standing in her living room, watching with raised eyebrows as Rory fumbles with stereo and rambles, "It's a classic artist but not an obvious song, and it's — it's a little romantic, I guess, but not really, it's more subtle than some of the other options I considered, and no, I'm not showing you my list — unless you really want to see it — and this is slightly on the faster side, but we don't have to follow the tempo, I just figured that this sort of had meaning, I guess, and — okay, okay, I'm playing the song."

The guitar for "Stay" comes on and Jess' eyes narrow with focus, then the drums and they widen with surprise, and by the time Bowie starts singing, Jess is pulling her closer by the hips, saying, "Bold choice, Gilmore," and Rory smiles and wraps her arms around his neck.

[svgurl]

ted lasso, ted/rebecca, wait

[svgurl]

star trek (aos), kirk/spock, i want you to be happy

[canon_is_relative]

There are times when Spock has to concede that humans must have a kind of inborn strength of character superior even to Vulcans. In this moment, for instance, sitting in one of the pleasant parks dotted around the grounds of Starfleet command, when the golden light of San Francisco sunrise is playing across the captain’s face and glinting in the errant strands of his hair. If Spock feels his resolve tested in such a setting, if it takes no little effort to keep himself from reaching out, from touching, he can only imagine how the humans in his presence must feel, and marvel at all of those who interact with James T Kirk as though he can come and go from their lives and leave them no more affected by his absence than his presence.

The captain draws his eyes in from the bay at last, focusing on Spock’s face as his own is transformed by a small, amused smile; the lines around his eyes that have grown more pronounced in the past years in no way detract from their unerring blue. “Well, Spock? What do you think?”

“Captain — Jim,” he corrects himself when he sees the protest in his captain’s eyes, “You’ve asked me to be honest about my feelings in the matter and while you know that I never stray from the path of truth you also know better than most that expressing my experiences in emotional terms can be unsettling. However, as you have asked, I will make the attempt. I must admit that I would find it...difficult, to adjust to life aboard the Enterprise with a different captain, however, I hardly feel that my own difficulties should affect your decision and find myself thinking instead of yours. This promotion is a great honor, and would doubtless present you with new challenges and opportunities to develop your already considerable skill set. However...knowing you as well as I do, I must pose the question...would it make you happy? I find it...curiously distressing, Jim, to envision you setting off on a new course that may not bring you happiness commensurate to what you would be leaving behind on Enterprise.”

[svgurl]

mcu, bucky/sam, do you take suggestions

[peaceful_sands]

"Do you ever listen to my ideas? Like do you even consider taking suggestions?" The frustration in Sam's voice was clear as Bucky paused before leaping from the bridge.

"Depends," came the response.

"On what?"

"Whether you suggest something I thought of but hadn't got around to doing yet," came Bucky's answer and before Sam could say anything further, he leapt off the bridge and onto the boat passing below.