This year, I discovered the 3 Sentence Ficathon over on Dreamwidth. Essentially, someone throws out a prompt, and you "fill" it with a small story of three sentences or so. That's more of a guideline, though, and plenty of people cheerfully smash it to the joy of all.
This format may now be my new favorite thing ever. Here's some highlights from my fills:
"Pretend that the search for another new world was well worth the burning of mine":
Even after Megrez had been convinced that she didn't need to destroy her world to stop its corruption, she discarded all her ties with it: her faith in its people, what friends she had left, and even her real name.
Traveling the universe in the name of redemption and solutions brought her experience and insight, and for a time she thought leaving her old self behind was the best option.
Yet when her younger brother found her and called her Luca for the first time in years, she crumpled, as she realized what she was truly leaving behind.
(Megrez is a key Inner Sphere character and one close to my heart. Essentially, this story is a summary of her arc.)
"Cosmetics":
She'd caught him applying his signature vibrant eyeshadow- only one eye done with the usual blue and silver blend, but he stopped to explain while gathering a different palette.
"Where I'm from, we all wear colors to represent us; the traditional blue and silver indicates pride in our people, some will blend 'their' color with a friend's to show support and strength of bond, and you'd best stay away from someone wearing dark makeup."
Picking up a warm toned palette, he added, "Maybe I should add some red to today's look, for you?"
(These two characters were from a long-shelved project, but their concepts remain. Men wearing makeup is an underrated style element.)
"Nesting Partner:"
Birds and dragons had nesting in common, even when they were alien birds and space leviathan dragons with alternate human forms, and as the latter, Shu appreciated those uniting traits.
He'd gathered Rae's favorite foods and some of his own, mostly breakfast foods from a certain restaurant, and at some point she had "taken a break" only to doze off, backing up against him as she did.
Watching one wing-ear twitch as he stroked along it, he tucked the blankets closer around them both- while there wouldn't be literal eggs in any nest of theirs, if he could keep his partner cared for and comfortable, that would be enough.
(Shu and Rae are Sea of Ink characters, mostly geared for comfy cozy stories.)
"'Anthropomorfic,' Blankets, Providing Comfort"
That dour little woman always said her blankets were her only true friends in the world, but perhaps she didn't know the truth of the matter.
The fluffy comforter would tuck itself ever so subtly closer around her when she slept, and when she wept into it, the damp spots dried themselves quickly. The sheet at her feet strove to remain soft and smooth for chilly nights, and in that way her blankets would work together to grant her a reprieve from the waking world.
(Nothing special here- just a prompt I couldn't pass up.)
"Would you take a break for me? Would you sit down and rest?"
Jeng didn't bother asking Yan if he was alright; even if their people hadn't bothered sending a messenger across the stars to beg him to shake his little brother out of a stupor, one look was all he needed for all the answers- Yan laid there, corpselike, pale, entirely too thin, barely able to keep his eyes open.
"I'm getting you out of here- these people can handle themselves. I won't let them run you into the ground in my place. You'll get food and rest, and we can finally leave this hellhole behind."
Yan reached over, placed one trembling hand closer to his brother, and mouthed, "Thank you."
(The brothers are Sea of Ink characters who I hope to give a proper spotlight someday. Yan's arc of tasting freedom after putting monumental amounts of perfectionist pressure is one of my favorites... in planning, anyway.)
"Farmer's Market"
To look at the bustling farmer's market with heaps of produce both familiar and exotic, you'd never suspect that the fuzzy Gremelon creatures running it learned their agrarian and conservationist ways from fleeing a dying planet.
"We call this one a 'boardroot,' because it has a woody flavor yet is pleasant to chew- like a cucumber, a carrot, and a type of nut came together," the leader with the snaggletooth explained as he held a brown and yellow rod-shaped vegetable out to a customer.
"It's good for settling cravings!" his wife cut in, adding, "Chewing on it makes you feel a bit less anxious, like-"
The look she shares with her husband exchanges memories and meanings that allow her to put that sentiment behind her.
(And then we hit the mascot creatures, my specialty! The Gremelons have a lot of context that's hard to smash into a short format. They often show up with Puffskis, my signature mascot creatures... essentially world-hopping puffball people.)
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