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threesentenceficathon2023-01-11 11:19 pm
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2023 Three Sentence Ficathon - Post #1
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.
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.
Prompts should be one prompt per comment, formatted in this way: fandom, character(s), prompt word/sentence
Prompts may also be open ended, unspecific, or anthropomorphic, such as:
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:
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.
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.
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.
no subject
no subject
…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.
no subject
And man, do you make this hurt so good. Her ruthless practicality, even when it means wounding herself in the process, was one of the things that made me love Bao Qin so much, so I'm overjoyed to see this here. Also this sense of her having "won"... and yet her win comes at a time when it no longer is what she wants. The painful irony of it! And even more ouch that she is doing it out of this very practical awareness that they - that Cui Xi - needs the protection that her being official wife can give them. Bao Qin can't afford to be a dreamer, yet she still dreams and yearns and she loves so fiercely... I love the intimacy, the tenderness between them, and also that moment of vulnerability for Cui Xi in wondering if Bao Qin's love for her will last.