2023 Three Sentence Ficathon - Post #1

[3sfmod]

Welcome to the 2023 Three Sentence Ficathon!
As of 16 Jan 2023 this post is NOW CLOSED TO NEW PROMPTS! PLEASE POST YOUR NEW PROMPTS HERE, IN POST 2! Do continue to fill prompts here but please put all new prompts in Post 2.



This post will remain open for new prompts until we hit 4000 comments, at which point we'll open a new one to avoid captcha as long as possible. New fills and comments on fills will always be welcome.


How to Prompt

Prompts should be one prompt per comment, formatted in this way: fandom, character(s), prompt word/sentence

Example: Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi, I don't like sand

Prompts may also be open ended, unspecific, or anthropomorphic, such as:

any, any, I don't like sand
or
Earth geography, sand, I don't like humans very much, either

Prompts for relationships are welcome; a / is used for romantic/sexual relationships and an & for platonic. A prompt that uses both means the relationship can be written as either romantic or platonic, such as:

Star Wars, Anakin/&Obi-Wan, I don't like sand

Prompts may be repeated if they are unfilled; there is no obligation to read through every prompt to make sure yours isn't a repeat. This year's 3SF will stay open for new prompts through Sunday, February 12th.

How to Fill

Respond to your chosen prompt with a short fic of three sentences containing the fandom & characters requested!

Prompts can be filled more than once, as many times as someone has a new idea for them.

Notes & Rules

No, fills do not need to be exactly three sentences! It's more of a guideline. Please abuse grammar and punctuation as much as desired.

3SF is a Choose Not to Warn space. Spoiler and content warnings are not required, though writers are free to add them if they please. If you see something you don't like, just scroll until you do!

A Dreamwidth account is not needed to participate. Anonymous prompts/fills are welcome, or you can use Open ID.

Cross-posting is encouraged; there is a 3SF Collection on AO3 if you'd like to post fills there as well.

Note that the comm is searchable! Tick the 'include comments' button when searching to easily find prompts for your chosen fandom/characters.

And most importantly, have fun! If you have questions, check the Sticky Info post and if they're not answered there, head to the Contact the Mods post.

Comments

[ruanchunxian]

She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters & Matt Murdock, “Nelson, Murdock, Page & Walters”?

[ruanchunxian]

She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters /& Matt Murdock, vigilante shit

(Doesn't have to have anything to do with the TSwift song but can if you want)

[artemis1000]

Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace, Ruyi/Hailan or Ruyi & Hailan, embroidered flowers

[ruanchunxian]

Jiejie had died in a gown embroidered with her beloved green plum blossoms, the same flower that refused to bloom on that dry plant sitting still innocently in the courtyard of Yi Kun Palace, no matter the efforts of the palace’s best gardeners, because green plum blossoms hailed from the south and could not thrive in these cold northern climes.

Hailan turned the green plum blossom hairpin in her hand - it had been a long time since she had last worn it, because it simply stood out now at her age; but when she had been younger, the green plum blossom was an ever present in her hair, albeit so often nestled behind showier, brighter jades and kingfisher feather blues - then, only she and Jiejie ever understood why Hailan valued this green plum blossom hairpin more than any other priceless baubles bestowed on her by the emperor.

Now, Hailan reached with trembling hands into the coffin and tucked the delicate crystal hairpin in between the layers of of Jiejie’s gown; there she would have to be satisfied with it remaining for all eternity, pressed against Jiejie’s heart.

[whynot]

Reservation Dogs, Jackie/&Willie Jack, compromise

[whynot]

Alice in Wonderland/The Matrix, Alice, glitch

[chronologicalimplosion]

Things had been strange as long as Alice could remember, the word itself a linguistic holdover that must have meant something once less like water to a fish. The Red Queen had always been in charge, and her enforcers had always shipped out stacked like cards, and the disembodied smile had always followed her around when she ventured too close to the trees.

It was the day at the tea party, when all the liquid fell straight down in unfunny puddles on the floor, like tea had ever listened to gravity, that she found herself seeking out The Caterpillar for answers, absolutely unprepared for the mundane unstrangeness awaiting her Outside.

[shinon]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Ferdinand & any, constructive criticism

[artemis1000]

The Silk and the Brocade, any, the rooster from Sichuan song

[ruanchunxian]

Do you mean The Sword and the Brocade cdrama rooster song? 😁

[whynot]

Duck Hunt, baby duck, plotting revenge

[be_themoon]

They hug it almost every time, smothering, as it looks through the bushes, scanning for it's family, knowing they won't be coming back.

And then they send it back to grow older.

This time, it picks up a knife.

[artemis1000]

Story of Yanxi Palace, Fuca Rongyin & Wei Yinluo, unexpected lessons

[shinon]

Final Fantasy XII, Vayne & Larsa, gifts

[artemis1000]

The Legend of White Snake, Xiao Qing, the taste of human

Adoption

[woodmr]

The change from snake to woman was unsettling at first, like those pitiful creatures born blind, unable to sense the world around her no matter how much her deformed tongue flicked the air.

Light was too bright, noise was everywhere, disorienting and dizzying. Only when her equally transformed sister held her close did Xiao Quing find an anchor in the familiarity of touch.

[whynot]

Mass Effect, ensemble, starring Mordin Solus as Alexander Hamilton

Mordin Solus - One Big Comma Splice

[word_devourer]

"Interesting musical, early 21st century, remarkable fusion of at time prevailing trends in musical theater and hip hop genre, very popular at time, possibly to point of overexposure, surprising resurgence as potential tool to placate reapers, very strange."
"I don't pretend to understand it," says Shepard, "but if we're doing it, we may as well give the one person who's done musical theater the starring role."
"Role of Hamilton intriguing, significant time spent in center stage, experience with Gilbert and Sullivan likely an asset in situation, on other hand, multiple characters, separate requirements for acumen, perhaps commander/captain better fit metanarratively, no, no, strict adherence to metanarrative a trap, more important to secure proper performance, perhaps Burr?"

[artemis1000]

Under the Power, Shangguan Xi/Zhai Lanye, freedom

[artemis1000]

Marvelous Women, Shen Cui Xi/Zeng Bao Qin, the second time to help with a bath

[ruanchunxian]

…uh, the bath is mostly implied. And of course my first fill of 3SF is definitely not 3SF. Also, this might be fuzzy on canon-compliance because I can’t remember if we actually saw Xue Tang and Bao Qin get officially married in the drama after Cui Xi left or not but anyway. 

~*~

“You don’t have to do this,” Cui Xi said as she ran the comb through Bao Qin’s wet hair. “If I, as his official wife, could leave, then so could you.”

Bao Qin leaned back against the edge of the tub and let the morning sun shining through the window warm her cheeks. She wished she could stay here with Cui Xi like this, forever. But it was not to be. Today, she was to become Ren Xue Tang’s official wife. 

Ten years ago, she would have wept in happiness at this day, and laugh at Cui Xi’s regrets. 

Today, she could not weep. Nor laugh. 

Sometimes, she hated it, this ever practical nature of hers. It had forbidden her from taking her own life all those years in prison. It had carried her through the humiliating years in the flower house. It allowed her to swallow her pride and follow Xue Tang into bitter conflict with Cui Xi, until they, both exhausted, realised there was little to truly love in the man that they ostensibly shared, beyond the fantasies of girlhood. 

Now, it was that very practicality that was telling Bao Qin she needed to marry Xue Tang, officially and once and for all. Not for herself now. Now, she was marrying Ren Xue Tang, for herself and Cui Xi. Because no matter how capable Cui Xi was, whatever praises they might have gained from the Empress Dowager, this world was still full of injustice, cruelty and caprice for women who wished to make something of herself, not satisfied with four suffocating worlds around her. 

Cui Xi was capable, but she still needed the support of the Ren name. Bao Qin did not have so much faith in Xue Tang to fully trust that his current support of his former wife would continue unconditionally. Xue Tang needed a constant reminder of what he owed Shen Cui Xi. 

So now, Bao Qin turned and took Cui Xi’s hand in hers, lifting it to her lips for a kiss. “We need him, still,” she said determinedly. “I will be able to help you more as his wife. But it will not change things between us. I promise.”

“Can you?” Cui Xi asked. As ever, she looked calm. Only Bao Qin would be able to see the storm of fear and uncertainty behind her eyes. Only Bao Qin heard the question Cui Xi could not ask. 

Can you protect your heart? 

Bao Qin supposed she couldn’t entirely blame Cui Xi for fearing. After all, Bao Qin had been in love with Xue Tang once. But that was before she saw through all the faithless charms that her lovestruck maiden eyes never saw, and what her desperate bruised flower desperate for escape from the brothel willfully overlooked. 

“I can,” Bao Qin said without hesitation. “I see him now. As I see you. And I know who I want. And he is the means for me to preserve and protect who I want.”

And that person is you. 

[artemis1000]

Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace, Hailan, outward appearances

[ruanchunxian]

There was some dark, twisted evil to it, Hailan thought, to lose her child, a piece of her heart, to the machinations of a wisp of a girl who looked so unassuming and whom the last thing anyone looking at her could see was a threat. The same as Hailan had been, unassuming, overlooked, left in the shadows to carry out her vengeance and smile in the darkness at everyone who had ever tried to hurt her and Jiejie.

This must be karma, Hailan thought, as her heart felt like it was being ripped from her chest afresh with every new breath, but even if it was karma, Hailan found herself wondering into the darkness if, given the chance, she would even do anything differently.

[artemis1000]

Vikings: Valhalla, Harald, the difference between what is right and what is easy

[vindoletta]

Any, any, a kiss for good luck

The Magnus Archives, Elias/Peter, a kiss for good luck

[anysin]

"How about a kiss of good luck to seal our bet?" Elias asks.

Elias is smiling, which is always an ill omen; it should be Peter's signal to walk to the door and not look back.

He grasps Elias by his jaw and kisses him, swallowing his questions about who the good luck kiss is for.

[whynot]

Mass Effect, Grunt, better noodles elsewhere

[vindoletta]

Anthropomorphic, Twitter/Tumblr, any.

[rockinlibrarian]

Neurodivergent attracts neurodivergent, no matter how diverse. When one speaks in short, disconnected bursts, scattered in a stream of consciousness riot, and the other in long meandering rambles that circle over and over and back again, gathering more thoughts like cat hair on a lint roller as they go-- or even just in images-- an outside observer might wonder what they have in common.

But screenshots between the two prove the truth: they are both geeks, and geek brains get each other, no matter the format.

[betony]

(I’m so excited! This is one of my favorite times of year ♥)
Historical RPF, Any, genderbend/genderswap

Fate Holds Her Firm in its Cradle (Richard III/Anne Neville)

[vialethe]

He sulks when confronted by his father, the so-called Kingmaker with that look on his face that is not angry so much as disappointed, and cannot resist pointing it out, the unfairness sitting ill on his bones. “You allowed Isabelle’s marriage, and god knows George is an utter ass.”

“Anne of York is a different story altogether,” Warwick says, all too firm, “and that was before her brother stole her away across the Channel - you cannot hope to recover her now,” and though Richard knows what his father means - Anne’s tiny frame twisted off kilter, her sweet swaying back betraying her - and knows the logic in it, his love a stretch of water and a stretch of war away now, still, his heart burns; still, I will have her back, he vows, come what may.

(Mine too!! Hello again.)

[betony]

Greek Mythology, Hektor/Andromache, red-handed

[be_themoon]

No mattter how he scrubs his hands, discards his armor, no matter how he makes his efforts to shed the battle ground he strives to leave behind, he comes to her bloodied and bruised.

She meets him as always, back unbowed, spirit unbroken, Andromache of Troy, perhaps almost mother, wife, princess.

"You have been missed," she says, and he sinks into her arms as if all the bones have left his body.

[betony]

Greek Mythology, Andromeda, And when my prayers to God were met with indifference/[…]I wrote my own deliverance

I Didn’t Want to Come Here Anyway

[vialethe]

She does not bother to pray to the gods, for when has their love ever been any aid to her?

To anyone, perhaps, she thinks, watching a monster from nightmares cresting the waves, a hideous abomination Poisiden has suffered to live, if not created by his own loins.

“Come and have me then, you hideous sack of putrescence, and may you choke on my bones while my flesh rots your insides,” she snaps, tired of it all, the beast’s fangs glinting as it opens its terrible mouth wide - and then, laughter from above, a voice entirely new saying, “I think we can spare the poor creature that, at least,” and her deliverance, winging down, charmed by her insults, caught as neat as in a net.

[betony]

Greek Mythology, Psyche, These are the scars that silence carved/on me

[last_haven]

She is damaged goods, they say now--her suitors who abandon her, scrambling to have a reason for their distaste of her, or the servants who avoid her, who cannot bring themselves to look upon her, or her parents who rage at her for ruining their plans for her.

She is damaged goods, they say now--her sisters who have looked upon the glorious house of her husband and called it a cage, pressing a dagger into her hands. They say it is for her husband the monster, but there is something tempting about the cruel edge of the blade that makes her think that they want her to use it on herself.

She is damaged goods, they say now--Aphrodite who scoffs at her as she is run ragged, her clothes and hair torn as she struggled to complete her tasks, and the goddess is all too happy to see her like this now, jealousy finally abated for the moment.

Psyche sits under a tree, the box of beauty from Dread Persephone in her hands, and can only hope that maybe the contents inside might finally erase whatever invisible damage that so many have claimed to see in her. Maybe then she will be whole once more.

[betony]

Shadow and Bone, Darklina, role reversal

[wingedflight]

Aleksander’s knees are sore from kneeling on the deck for so long, his wrists are rubbed raw from fighting against the manacles, but the real pain comes from the grotesque fusion of antlers to his clavicle. He shuts his eyes, trying not to think of the scorching heat of the Fold’s unnaturally everlasting sunlight, nor the vulture-like flame monsters that have been spotted on the horizon. Most especially, he tries to ignore the betrayal that has brought him here, deep in the Fold, chained and collared, lover-turned-tool all because he dared to stand up to the Sunling.

oh no, this is such a fun idea, i might need more Lightsander prompts lolol

[betony]

Shadow and Bone, Kaz/Inej, crow’s feet

Anyone Would Drown

[vialethe]

Almost, he touches the spray of fine lines at the corner of her eyes, pulling back with the heat of her skin scorching his fingertips.

“Those didn’t used to be there,” he says; when she smiles, they click neatly into place, like picks in a lock, and she laughs, a little sound like she can’t quite catch her breath.

“Things change, Kaz,” she says, and sometimes, they stay the same, he thinks, as her bare skin brushes his wrist, his heartbeat racing under her touch.