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

[vialethe]

Shadow & Bone/TGT, Alina/The Darkling, cause there we are again when i loved you so/back before you lost the one real thing you’ve ever known

[alexseanchai]

Miraculous Ladybug, Marinette/Adrien, cosmic love

She'd Do Anything For Love...

[silveradept]

There is a purple butterfly in her room.

She'd been thinking about how much fate had drawn her and Adrien together, like the story of the red string, or the romantic comedy, or any of the many fantasies that have played out in her mind that she's never been brave enough to confess, even the thought of taking him to see the stars from as close as they could go, the power of the Ladybug keeping them safe and warm as they beheld the beauty of the cosmos.

The icy stare she has keeps the butterfly pinned in place, a dare and a rebuke, rolled into one: fuck around with pure love and find out who ends up in pain.

[alexseanchai]

any, any, masks

Obsidian & Blood, Chalchiuhnenetl & Teomitl

[notapaladin]

“Tell me more about this Acatl-tzin of yours.”

“He’s not my—oh, fine.” Ah, her sweet, brave, naive little brother. He can’t resist an opportunity to talk about the High Priest of Mictlantecuhtli, and he doesn’t know what he’s revealing with each smile and blush and proud Acatl-tzin says...

All she has to do is pat his arm and poor them more chocolate. Talk about how Acatl-tzin seems like an exemplary man, truly, it’s simply a shame that he’ll always see Teomitl as a child. Ah, but that’s too depressing to contemplate—tell her, has Teomitl won any great victories lately? How are things with his new bride? Is their brother still ill? The Heartland? Well, that explains a great deal about everything, if their Revered Speaker is a man already dead. Such a shame. Still, he likely won’t do anything too damaging. They can hope. Ah, but Teomitl is impatient. She can’t blame him for that. Perhaps it is wise to begin building up his own power, just in case—and yes, his dear elder sister has plenty of ideas.

“Do you truly think this is necessary?” he asks her once.

She imagines herself behind the throne clad in gold, her skirt a single shade off from imperial turquoise.

And she says, “You’re a clever young man. It’s better to be prepared for any eventuality, isn’t it?”

When he nods, she smiles.

[alexseanchai]

any, any, mountains

[alexseanchai]

any, any, rooks

The Exchange (Isabella Thorpe, Northanger Abbey)

[woodmr]

Of all the Thorpe progeny, Isabella believed herself the cleverest. She certainly understood the game better than John, for all his boasted skills, and did not have the smallest intention of trusting to his kind offices for her future security.

It was the work of a moment to turn from his friend Morland’s humble devotion when besieged by the more attractive Captain Tilney.

[alexseanchai]

any, any, roses

Through the Looking Glass, Alice :)

[sallymn]

"Oh my," Alice said finally, watching from a safe distance, "I have never seen such a thing as roses that talk, and certainly not roses that talk... and eat Queens!"

"Perhaps you should think again about the feast at the end of your game," the Gnat murmured in her ear, "or at least decline the crown you will be offered."

Alice, who had dearly wanted a crown, watched the last little bit of the Red Queen - a buckle-shoe-clad foot! - disappearing into the petal covered centre of the biggest red rose... and decided that she did not want it that dearly...

[alexseanchai]

any, any, knots

Obsidian & Blood, Acatl & Mihmatini

[notapaladin]

“Sometimes I’m jealous of your hair,” Mihmatini tells him.

Acatl stares at his little sister in shock. “Why?!” It’s a ridiculous concept. Mihmatini’s hair is arrow-straight and gleams like a polished obsidian mirror, falling to her waist like a waterfall. Well, almost straight; she’s just combed out her marriage braids, and they’ve left kinks behind. But those will soon be gone, and she’ll be back to her usual loveliness. He’s positively unkempt in comparison.

She gestures at him. “It’s so thick and wavy! Like our mother’s. And it looks so nice when you bother to take care of it properly.”

Slowly, he reaches up to tuck an errant curl back behind his ear again. It’s just slightly too short to stay in the white cord holding the rest of his hip-length hair back, not that the cord is more than a token gesture half the time anyway. She is right that it’s something he’s inherited from their mother—the only thing she ever left him other than her scorn—but... “Mihmatini, it breaks combs.”

“It does not!” she huffs at him, and shifts to kneel behind him with her own comb in hand. “Here, let me comb it out for you for once. You’ll see how much better it looks.”

He sighs. There’s really no stopping her once she gets an idea in her head. “Fine,” he mutters as he loosens his hair, “but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

For a few minutes, it’s actually rather pleasant. And his hair does need the attention. But then—

Snap.

“Ow!”

“...Ah. There went a few of the teeth.”

“I tried to tell you!”

[alexseanchai]

any, any, pearls

[alexseanchai]

any, any, hook

[alexseanchai]

any, any, horn

[alexseanchai]

any, any, blight

Obsidian & Blood, Quenami

[notapaladin]

The sickness, whatever it is—fever, boils, delirium, death—is spreading, and Quenami doesn’t know how to stop it. (No, that’s a lie. He knows, but he won’t let himself contemplate it. He did not go into the Heartland, humble himself before his god, return Tizoc-tzin to life, just to kill him. He is loyal. Besides...the man isn’t such a bad Revered Speaker, is he? There have been worse. Surely there have been worse.)

(Forty captives. Three hundred dead warriors, and only forty captives, and half of them are dying already.)

(Surely there have been worse.)

He bleeds himself. He sacrifices. He prays. He whispers in dark corridors, marshals his priests, keeps Tizoc-tzin as stable as he can. And he watches more men (women) (children) die, and he hopes he isn’t next.

Magic, says that jumped-up peasant Acatl, not a common plague. He hates to admit it, but the man might be right. At least in that case, it isn’t his responsibility anymore; with Acatl doing what he does best, he’s free to focus on ensuring their Revered Speaker’s survival. The common rabble can die in droves, but the leader of the Mexica Empire must live on.

With the High Priest of Huitzilopochtli by his side, naturally.

[alexseanchai]

any, any, blade

Obsidian & Blood, Acatl/Teomitl

[notapaladin]

Copper and bronze were useful in their own ways, but they required regular sharpening and maintenance. Not so obsidian, which stayed as sharp as the day it had been flaked off from its core. Underworld obsidian, green-tinged and rippling with magical power, was even sharper.

All this was to say that when Teomitl idly rolled over and picked up one of Acatl’s knives, turning it this way and that, he was acutely aware of how his lover stiffened. He couldn’t blame him, really; wounds made by these blades festered instead of healing, and even a scratch could mean a slow death. Still... “I just wanted a closer look.”

“You’ve seen them before,” Acatl pointed out. There was a rustling that suggested he was propping himself up on one elbow to keep an eye on him.

Worrywart, Teomitl thought with no small amount of affection. “Usually when you’re using them.” The knife he was holding was excellently made, handed down from one High Priest to the next; the edges gleamed like mirrors, and the hilt had been wrapped in white leather cord. The same sort of white leather cord, in fact, that held Acatl’s hair off his face. The overall effect was of something clean and elegant in its simplicity, with nothing ostentatious to distract from its purpose.

“And?” Acatl’s warm breath wafted over his shoulder. “What do you think?”

“They remind me of you.”

[alexseanchai]

any, any, seed

[alexseanchai]

any, any, sate

Obsidian & Blood, Acatl

[notapaladin]

There are tamales stuffed with duck and fresh greens. There are bowls of stew, fragrant with chilies and herbs. There are platters of roasted venison in pumpkin sauce and freshly-sliced fruit drizzled with honey. By the sides of everyone’s plates are stacks of warm flatbread baked to golden-brown softness, just the way Acatl likes them.

He’s not allowed love or wealth or glory. But he is allowed this, and so he digs in with abandon.

[ravenlilyrose]

any, any, something messy

Pellinor, Cadvan of Lirigon/Dernhil of Gent

[sidleypkhermit]

“What is this about exactly—“ Cadvan had to wage bloody war against his own heart, as well as other parts of himself, to break the kiss and rest his hand on Dernhil’s shoulder as he stepped carefully back to arm’s length— “some kind of forgiveness? or some kind of punishment?”

“No, my friend,” Dernhil said with a long-suffering sigh, tracing his fingers down the back of Cadvan’s hand, “those are two things I’m certainly not trying to do to you. Guess again?”

[ravenlilyrose]

any, any, time travel incident

Stagate SG1 - Daniel (rather a lot over 3 sentences...)

[sallymn]

Daniel stared blankly at... himself. An older, a startlingly potbellied, wildly overdressed and bald himself who was looking around with round, searching eyes through the biggest, ugliest, most multi-coloured glasses he had ever seen.

"When is this?" 'Himself 'said, finally looking straight at him and wincing. "Oh... sorry, I'd forgotten just how military I looked at that stage."

"Military -?" Daniel said faintly, thinking how Jack would react to that idea.

"I - well, we - haven't worn fatigues since that business of the... ummm, I'd better not tell you, had I? Time/space paradoxes and all that. What you don't know might not kill you again."

"Again?"

"Again. And I said 'might'. When is it - please, I don't have much time. Day, month, year?"

Daniel had to think about it for a minute - he'd been working for three days on the prep for the planned mission - then told 'Himself', who sighed in relief.

"Good. Great. For once they got it right -"

"They?"

"Sam and Rodney and Radek and Bill and... never mind. You don't know the rest." 'Himself' frowned. "I'm not sure you even know Rodney yet, let alone Radek, but never mind, you will. I'm not here to talk about them, and I don't have long. You can't tell anyone you saw me -"

"Don't worry," Daniel said fervently, "I won't." Another trip to the padded cell was not something he was going to damn well ask for.

"I know you won't, you're me, or you were, or will be." 'Himself frowned slightly, shook his bald - did it have to be bald? - head, and went on, "And this is vital. Absolutely vital. They - Sam and Rodney and... never mind, they sacrificed three of our last Stargates to get me here, it's apparently way harder to time travel when realities are going out of sync, and I don't have long. I've got a warning for you. I'm only here to give it to you because you - I - listened when I - you - did this way back when. The fate of half a dozen realities - mine and yours included - depends on it."

The fate of worlds was something Daniel was depressingly familiar with... but realities? "What?"

"Yes, I mean it. You and I are going to spend most of our lives that way, sorry. But this is critical."

For three Stargates, it would have to be. "Okay, what?"

"You're going to Planet XYY-553 tomorrow, yes? With SG-3 and SG-5. Recon and research."

"Ummm.... yeah, that's the plan."

'Himself' paused, and a weird expression crossed his face which seemed - almost - to be wavering in and out of sight. "Crap, I'm out of time. I have to go, Daniel. Just remember, when you get to Planet XYY-553..." His voice faded along with most of... well, him.

"Wait!" Daniel jumped up and tried to reach out. "Don't what?"

"I can't... can't..." 'Himself' came back with a jolt, staggering slightly. "That's a fourth Stargate gone, and don't ask me what they're doing, you don't want to know. You don't ever want to know. Don't even ask them when the time comes.

"But yeah, you're going to XYY-553. And when you do..."

He started fading again, and the words were almost an echo as he disappeared.

"Don't come back."

[ravenlilyrose]

any, any, the most important question

Obsidian & Blood, Acatl/Teomitl

[notapaladin]

“Do you trust me?” Teomitl asks him.

Not, Do you love me. Or, Do you want me. The answers to those are so obvious as to be self-evident even with Acatl’s reticence and Teomitl’s general insecurity. But trust? That’s something different. Something much more important than Acatl’s heart or body. It’s a question that requires thought.

Acatl’s decided on his answer long ago.

“Yes.”

“Good,” Teomitl breathes, and draws his sword.

And they charge into the fray together.

[ravenlilyrose]

any, any, ritual

Obsidian & Blood, Acatl & Acamapichtli

[notapaladin]

It feels strange, Acamapichtli reflects, to be working on a ritual with Acatl that actually doesn’t involve the very fate of the Mexica Empire. At least, not immediately. It’s for the maintenance of the Great Temple, which while certainly vital isn’t about to collapse under their feet.

Not that Acatl seems to realize this, judging by the agitated inky swirls of his magic. Acamapichtli prods him a little too hard to be entirely companionable. (He really can’t help it. Acatl’s just so skinny and easily offended, it’s a constant battle not to put him in a headlock.) “Calm down. We’ve done this dozens of times before.”

“You have,” Acatl mutters.

Acamapichtli smirks. That’s right; he’s been High Priest of Tlaloc for far longer than Quenami and Acatl have served their own patrons. “No pressure, then!”

[ravenlilyrose]

any, any, the roles we play

[ravenlilyrose]

any, any, twenty years later

I was going to make a joke about the "trauma train" but it seemed in poor taste

[last_haven]

Susan stands in front of the graves--five of them, in a not-so-tidy row since the ground is starting to shift with spring rain making the ground swell--and tries to breathe. Their son is squirming in her arms because she's gripping him too tight. Grace offers to take him and she hands the toddler to her wife, but now with her hands empty, all she can do is helplessly clench and unclench her fingers over nothing.

"Shall I start first?" Grace tries again. "Introduce myself to the in-laws?"

It's a silly joke, made worse by the fact that this isn't even the first time she's been to the graves, and Susan is still ashamed that this is the closest she's managed to get to them since the funeral without hyperventilating.

Susan shakes her head--she is not going to break down this time. It's been twenty years, damnit, and with Henry getting older, she didn't want him growing up not knowing about her family. After all, she is not ashamed of them--and she hopes they are not ashamed of her either.

Slowly, she takes a breath, and manages to greet the silent headstones before her for the first time in years.

[ravenlilyrose]

any, any, quiet strength

Obsidian & Blood, Mihmatini

[notapaladin]

She cooks. She weaves. She minds her brother’s children. She holds the household together. She studies magic, yes, and she’s good enough that her teachers all hope she’ll become a priestess, but she really just wants a husband and a family of her own. Simple things. That’s all she needs.

Becoming the Guardian of the Duality, the direct link between Ometeotl and the Fifth World, is...an adjustment.

A nightmare at first, but then she realizes one simple fact. As a simple housewife, even as a concubine, she might have had happiness. But as the Guardian, she has power. Power enough to ensure her well-being and that of her family. Power enough to save the Fifth World. All she has to do is figure out how to use it.

In the meantime, she cooks. She weaves. She minds her brother’s children. She learns how to make a life together with her husband; even though he’s a stubborn idiot, he’s her stubborn idiot. And she’s happy.

[ravenlilyrose]

any, any, the wrong emotional response

Obsidian & Blood, Acatl

[notapaladin]

The Revered Speaker is dead. Acatl should be horrified. He should be worried. He should be praying to the gods to spare them another descent of star demons.

He shouldn’t be heaving a sigh of relief and feeling the last four years of weight slough off him. And he definitely shouldn’t be fighting back half-hysterical laughter. Finally, they’re free. Finally, they can move forward as an Empire and rebuild all the things Tizoc’s destroyed. Finally, he doesn’t need to lay awake at night wondering if the stars seem a little brighter than they did the night before.

When Ichtaca reminds him of the ritual they must perform now that the man’s dead—he wonders how it happened, he sort of hopes it wasn’t Teomitl—it takes considerable effort to bite back a grin.

[ravenlilyrose]

any, any, heaven on earth

[slowmercury]

Monkey Island, Guybrush/Elaine, surprisingly competent

[ravenlilyrose]

any, any, left behind

Naruto, Sakura Haruno

[vindoletta]

[spoiler: character death]

"Those who leave their comrades behind are worse than scum", their sensei had said, before disappearing completely from her life once the boys had left the team.

Tsunade had barely taken a look at her, barely heard her plea disguised as a willfull vow, before laughing her out of the Hokage's office.

In another world, Sakura Haruno would put in years of sweat, sleepless nights spent reading and grueling dawns training, all culminating on the second coming of a legend - in this one, she was the first one of her promotion to die.