rthstewart | Three Sentence Ficathon 2022 Part 2

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.

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

any, any, protective action

The three young officers crept around the corner of the hallway, making sure the coast was clear - it wouldn't do to be discovered too early when they were on the way to protect their young King from an assassination attempt by a group of Austrian and Saxon agents. While William waited for Henry's sign to attack the enemies lying in wait in the King's study, he took a couple of quick bites from the bread and cheese provisions he'd organized earlier; it couldn't hurt to keep his strength up.

When Ferdinand finally stormed the door with a loud yell, brandishing his epee and startling one of the rather monkey-ish looking assassins, William followed, all thoughts about possibly being too old for games like these forgotten in the ensuing commotion. (He'd still have to remember to tell his brothers not to mention any of this back home, though, especially the "young King" part of the scenario; there were more dangerous foes in the land than imagined assassins, for both them and their future King.)

(technically, this is a prequel to this one from last post)

As a sensor type, Konan is the first to notice the sudden concentration of chakra in the air; how it gathers and distributes in different points and how it triggers the ambush aimed at them from all directions.

As someone who, by instinct, puts the safety of her companions over her own, Konan is the one to spin on her heels and jump, slamming her body against Kisame's; arms wound around his neck and legs round his middle.

"What-"

Half a second later he learns what, for paper wings sprout from her back, enveloping them both and forcing weapons to bounce off them like droplets off an umbrella; he unsheathes his blade seamlessly after.

Jin Ling is not going to apologise for sending for his other uncle and the Sect Leader for the region, no matter how big a mistake it has turned out to be and how much the others are never going to let him forget it.

And it had been a mistake; Jiang Cheng had lasted all of twelve minutes before losing his temper and yelling at two children, the six year old Hanguang-Jun and the baby Yiling Patriarch, he had lashed out - as he did, he always did - at the latter for what, saving the young disciplines from being hit by the curse? Being the ones to answer the call about the curse in the first place? Being close enough to Yunmeng to hear about the curse? What?

Who knows?

He probably didn't even mean what he'd yelled, but the tiny Yiling Patriarch had cried and the adorably bristling little Hanguang-Jun had bitten a Sect Leader, whacked him on the knee with a sword Jin Ling hadn't even thought he could lift, and now stands, trembling but determined, and fiercely hugging the sobbing baby to his small chest as he glares at his supposed brother-in-law.

Jin Ling's brilliant idea of taking the afflicted couple to Lotus Pier - never one that would pass muster with the Lan disciples but damn it, it is closer than Gusu! - dies the minute Lan Zhan proves that cursed or not, child or not, he is as protective of his Wei Ying as ever...

(Please note I did 5 ficlets with a linked theme, this is one, the others are here, here, here and here. I couldn't resist.)

Edited 2022-03-14 08:55 (UTC)

He doesn’t think. There’s a monster straight from the underworld bearing down on them, and Acatl—well, he’ll be the first to say Acatl’s a skilled fighter, but not when the thing currently charging at them doesn’t seem to have easily stabbable parts. So he dives between them and nicks his own arm, bringing Huitzilopochtli’s protective magic to searing golden life.

The monster isn’t so easily deterred. Now that he’s bought them both a moment to think he can see it’s something like a smoky beast of shadows with a head like a caiman and claws—ouch, very sharp claws—like a bear. It’s all he can do just to hold it back, because his sword isn’t doing anything. It seems to really hate his magic, though, which gives him an idea.

Acatl’s quicker than he is. “Keep it steady so I can banish it!”

“Work fast,” he snaps back. His skin feels like he’s been shoved into an oven, and he’s dimly aware that he’s still bleeding. But Acatl said to keep it steady, so that’s what he’ll do. Feint here, jab there, keep moving and circling and don’t show fear—

He can hear Acatl chanting. It can’t be much longer now.

Step. Turn. Watch its claws and teeth, keep your distance. Slash down, briefly parting the smoke that wreathes its body. Step.

Acatl’s voice lifts. Mictlan’s magic surges like the tide, cold and empty and final. Teomitl staggers, nearly falling to his knees, but that’s alright. He’s allowed to be weak now, because the shadows are rising to sweep their foe away.

Three Sentence Ficathon 2022 Part 2

no subject

Historical RPF 18th Century; William, Henry, and Ferdinand of Prussia

Naruto, Kisame Hoshigaki/Konan

The Untamed, Jin Ling, Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng

Obsidian & Blood, Acatl & Teomitl