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

[syrena_of_the_lake]

Little Mermaid dark AU, Ursula, stealing the voice of a siren for the public good

[chronologicalimplosion]

(This was a fun prompt! And targeted!)

More and more strange human detritus and waterlogged wood had been sinking into her grotto, lately. It was annoying, that's all--cluttering her workspace and her home with petty mundane tasks getting in the way of her magic-making time.

Wailing sirens always wanted something, so she took a gamble and beached herself the next time she could hear the singing, to ask in as sympathetic purr as she could muster, "Hey, sweetheart, let me guess: broken heart?"

[elementalraven]

ooohhhh love this!!

[scytale]

Ohhh, lovely. :D

[wintersday]

I love this, especially Ursula acting out of annoyance, or at least telling herself that’s what she’s doing.

[swirlsngirls]

Oooh i love this

[raisedbymoogles]

She doesn't know why she is drawn to humans, the witch thinks, calm in the center of the saltwater storm. She still won't know, when this handsome prince's heart is between her teeth - just swallow, and forget, and the cycle will begin again.

She reaches out a hand, and the golden glow of the siren's voice flows obediently into it; it won't make the siren much less dangerous, she knows, but at least now that prince of hers will stand a chance.

[elementalraven]

ooooohhh, love this!!

[raisedbymoogles]

if i had a nickel for every time i've written a disney princess as an eldritch abomination, i'd have two nickels. which isn't a lot, but (exit, pursued by a meme)

[kalira]

Oooh, I love this; the siren not only following instinct but that same deep-down bones of her being keeping her from remembering, repeating the cycle every time. . .

[raisedbymoogles]

i enjoy stories where innocence is malicious :D

[wintersday]

Oh, brrrr. That is beautifully creepy.

[hamsterwoman]

Oh, this is really neat!

[scytale]

Ooooh, this is so lovely and evocative, and I love the idea of the cycle and the heart-eating!

Storm of Song (Little Mermaid; Ursula)

[kalira]

Ursula felt the storm build - like any sea witch, the sea roared in her blood, in her heart . . . the only beat there, now - and this time, she sought the surface, allowing the storm to rage through her.

The siren circles a ship, her eyes lit with what she probably feels is infatuation, is love, and Ursula can see the golden spill of her song building in her throat, waiting to flow out into the air - waiting to seduce another mortal to his death.

Once, long ago, there was another beat in Ursula's heart, and another voice - and another mortal who had fallen to the golden song of a siren's song. Ursula opened her clawed hands and opened her mouth, weaving a spell of rage and lightning and the surge of the sea herself to call the siren's voice away.

Re: Storm of Song (Little Mermaid; Ursula)

[theseatheseatheopensea]

I love this!

Re: Storm of Song (Little Mermaid; Ursula)

[elementalraven]

amazing!!

Re: Storm of Song (Little Mermaid; Ursula)

[wintersday]

Ooh, very cool, especially the touch of personal history.

Re: Storm of Song (Little Mermaid; Ursula)

[peaked]

The queen stealing a voice yet again. I love the melancholy and power in this.

[violsva]

When the first harpoon slices the water beside her, the witch sighs and thrusts herself up, letting the waves surge around her to ensure she has space as she surfaces, reaching for the shell pendant at her neck.

She holds it before her and takes the thin brittle calcite of the shell between her fingers, bends it, turns it back on itself, twists it and yanks and at last flips the nautilus inside out. The song is released, launching into the air around, driving all who come seeking wonders backwards, away from here, leaving them unmolested.

[elementalraven]

oooohhh love it!!

[kalira]

Ooo, intriguing and lovely!

[wintersday]

This is such a neat interpretation of the prompt, and I love the image of the song released from the nautilus shell in reverse.

[dragonofeternal]

"I want him," she says, her teeth like needles and her voice like longing. Urusla watches the Siren pick at her nails, eyes flitting about the room. "He's so handsome. So strong. So human. I want him."

"Is singing for him not enough?" Ursula knows that what the Siren wants, she takes, dashing ships to splinters and taking every last breath from men's throats. Her song is the sweetest dirge, and the men who follow it don't even realize they've become their own pallbearers.

"He fears the sea. He longs for me, but he still won't come! I want him, Sea Witch."

Selfish child. The Siren has lived a thousand years and she could live a thousand more, and still she would be a selfish little brat. Ursula leans forward, combing the Siren's pretty hair from her face with her gnarled old fingers.

"You give people what they want," the Siren whines. "Give him to me!"

Ursula makes a good show of thinking it over. "I could give you legs," she says, "and I'd even throw in proper lungs, too. You could go on land, where he is, and then-."

The Siren clapps, gnashing her teeth, "And then I would sing and make him mine!"

"Ah-ah-ah~ We haven't yet discussed the topic of payment."

"I have baubles-"

Ursula waves her off. "I don't want your baubles-"

"Whosits! Whatzats!"

"Keep your detritus." Ursula yawns, as though she were bored of their conversation.

"I could bring you a man too, a strong one from the land who would know nothing of the sea, and-"

"Enough!" Ursula booms. "I don't want some drowned man, I could wander three feet from here and find a dozen of them! What I want from you... is your voice."

The Siren startles. "My- my voice? But without that, how could I..."

Ursula turns away. "Then we're done here. I thought you always got what you wanted, but if you're really too weak to win him without your silly songs-"

"You can have it!" the Siren grabs frantically at her arm. "I want him! I want him! You can take my voice!"

Ursula sits back, smug, and begins to draw up their contract. What's one more dead boy if it means her seas will know peace?

[wintersday]

Very nice! I love her ruthless pragmatism.