the deep moans round with many voices

Time for more Three Sentence Ficathon fills!

Here is the old ficathon post (still open for fills and comments! just not new prompts), and here is the new ficathon post (open for everything).

Also, look! Five of these actually fit the structural restrictions, and the last is only over by one sentence instead of who even knows how many. ;)

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( 49. ) For rokosourobouros: Homestuck, Rose, Umbrella Academy AU , written 2/19/20

I Know a Secret (200 words)

Four sentences.

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Number Three's gift is illumination; her code name, Seer, strikes her as fairly self-explanatory: she can look at a person, a place, or a situation and simply know their secrets. It's not a combat gift, but the Baroness deploys her for reconnaissance before and during missions, and for public relations management whenever a bit of blackmail might come in handy; her fighting skills she earned through painful trial and error, self-crafted thorns to protect the fragile blossoms of her gift and her heart.

The one person whose secrets she can't read is the Baroness herself; when she's a child, this is a comfort, a bastion of silence in a world that constantly screams data into her mind, but the older she grows, the more Number Three -- or Rose, she should learn to say, now that Mother has given them all names -- grows paranoid of that gaping chasm where a person with a thousand thoughts and wishes ought to be.

When she blackmails her way free of that oppressive house and its deadly secrets, it's with information she learned the hard way, and her hedge of thorns has grown so tall and sharp not even her siblings can touch her anymore.

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( 50. ) For sideways: Books of the Raksura, Consolation & Jade, role models, written 2/19/20

Echoes and Reflections (180 words)

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"I know they look to me, that I need to have answers -- or at least know how to find answers -- but it's hard when all I have is the old consort's stories to say what's good and what the flight was like under the progenitor to say what's bad," Consolation said, kicking furrows in the rough bark of a mountain thorn's branch with her disemboweling claw.

"You've learned to ask instead of just taking," Jade said, all her spines held carefully neutral; "That's a good first step, and I'm sure your flight can feel that you care and want them to be safe and happy."

"Asking only helps if someone answers," Consolation said, kicking free another slab of bark, and it struck Jade suddenly that this must be an echo of how Pearl had felt when Jade was young and first stretching her wings into her role as daughter-queen, though at least she'd never tried to steal anyone else's consort; she flicked one spine in acknowledgment and said, "You're right; so ask me, and today I'll do what I can."

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( 51. ) For mad_madam_m: Any, any, "The world is filled with crazy men in love", written 2/19/20

Solve the Right Problem (70 words)

Original fiction, because reasons.

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"So what if he's sick with love -- the world is full of crazy men who think they're in love, or maybe even really are in love, but none of their suffering obligates the targets of their obsessions to do one single thing they don't wish to."

"But he said he'll kill himself unless you--"

"That's a problem for a suicide hotline, not for me," she said, and shut the door.

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( 52. ) For anonymous: Harry Potter, any, justice delayed is justice denied, written 2/19/20

And for All the Wrong Reasons (55 words)

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After the war's end, Sirius is pardoned -- or rather, Sirius finally, posthumously, receives the trial he was denied. The decision, naturally, is innocent of all charges: even aside from the overwhelming evidence of Pettigrew's guilt, nobody wants to go on record thwarting their savior Harry Potter.

Harry burns the verdict over his godfather's empty grave.

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( 53. ) For kalira: Girl Genius, any Heterodyne, out of balance, written 2/20/20

Weights and Measures (130 words)

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"Mathematics is about balance, each side of an equation set exactly against the other until they line up like perfectly chosen weights on a scale, so naturally I thought a kinesthetic aid might be a useful teaching tool," Saturnus said.

"Mmm," Teodora said, as she eyed the gaping hole in her kitchen floor (and several levels of cellar and "secret" tunnels beneath); the twisted, broken levers and trays hanging empty above it; and her two sons playing happily in the corner with no notion of how close they'd come to death were it not for their unofficial Jaeger bodyguards' quick reflexes. "I can see the logic, but perhaps the next iteration should be at one tenth scale and shut down automatically if our children start experimenting with imaginary numbers."

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( 54. ) For last_haven: Sailor Moon, any, I will never believe in anything again, written 2/20/20

That's What Friends Are For (70 words)

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"That implies that you believe that you won't ever believe in anything again, which renders the entire idea self-contradictory," Ami said, carefully deadpan.

Minako groaned and flopped sideways onto her friend, making sure to sprawl her arms across Ami's textbook. "I love you forever, you're one of the people I trust most in all the world, and I would die for you, but please stop spoiling my drama with logic."

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The question at this point is not whether I'll make it to sixty fills; it's whether I'll make it to seventy-two (6 x 12). It's going to be a multiple of six either way, because I have a Thing about patterns, but the Ficathon seems to be slowing down a bit, new prompts have leaned toward fandom-specific prompts for canons I don't know, and I really should be focusing on some of my other projects. But hey, I have the rest of the year for those other stories, and there are still nine days left in February. I'm sure I can keep knocking off a couple-three fills per day. *wry*

The ficathon itself seems to have petered out, as these things do, but I bookmarked a bouquet of prompts while I was busy with other things and have been filling some now that I have a little breathing space. Only one of these six breaks the three-sentence limit -- yay progress? -- and another is also a double drabble because why not.

As ever, here is the link to the ficathon if you want to play too. :D

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( 19. ) For anonymous: Sailor Moon, Rei Hino, A favorite gemstone of hers had been ruby, written 12/31/15 [AO3 version]

more precious than rubies (125 words)

Rei wondered sometimes, in the quiet watches of the night when she tended the fire and tried to empty her mind of both fear and fury, if any of her childhood likes and dislikes had truly been her own. Rubies, for instance -- her mother had owned a set of ruby teardrop earrings, blood-red stones that flashed with splintered light as if fire burned in their hearts, which Rei had loved to hold up to her own ears and pretend she was a princess; had her love for their color been spontaneous or simply a shadow of lives long lost and yet to come?

She wore her own rubies now, but the gem to which she gave her heart was silver; and that choice, she knew, was real.

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( 20. ) For anonymous: BtVS, Buffy Summers, coloring with a box of crayons and coloring books, written 1/13/16 [AO3 version]

no friend like a sister (300 words)

Buffy buys a coloring book one month after they move to Cleveland, one month after it becomes obvious that she hasn't escaped her unwanted and ill-fitting role as general and president of this slapdash whatever that swallowed her friendships and turned them into a bureaucracy, and starts hiding it inside the notebook she uses to look like she's being productive during meetings; instead, she brings smiling Disney princesses to life with highlighters, watching bright colors bloom into emptiness while she pays just enough attention to ask a question now and then, smile at Xander's jokes, and remind Willow to breathe.

Dawn's the one who catches her -- sneaks behind Buffy's chair on her way back from the kitchen and raises her eyebrows when Buffy doesn't shuffle pages fast enough -- and Buffy winds herself tighter and tighter through the rest of the day until her whole body feels like an electric guitar string, ready to scream at the slightest touch; but nobody comes to confront her and ask if she's feeling all right, if she's lost it, if she truly understands her responsibility she has to help make a better world for all the Slayers called at her orders.

The next day, Dawn breaks into a discussion of real estate and says, "Listen, we've been arguing about all this for weeks and it's stupid; I say if we want to start a school, we should hire people who know how the charter school business works and let the rest of us split up and do what we're actually good at, whether that's magic or translation or, you know, killing vampires and assorted other menaces; and on that note, Buffy and I are moving to Rome as of next Tuesday," and Buffy doesn't think she's ever loved her sister more.

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( 21. ) For samueljames: Star Trek AOS, Gaila/Jim Kirk, she likes making him blush, written 1/14/16 [AO3 version]

but compliments leave us baffled (250 words)

Gaila doesn't make Jim blush for the same reason she embarrasses most other Terrans -- that's a pointed quid pro quo for their blatant species chauvinism, and while Jim's far from perfect, he at least understands that humans are more than the crude stereotypes that other species have enlisted them to play in their own deep-brain livewire taboos -- but she still adores the ipoltu-petal flush that seeps over his cheeks and ears and the way he tries so hard to pretend he's not affected by her words, that other people's opinions can't touch him for ill or for good.

And all she has to do is point out when he's been kind.

Gaila tucks her chin over Jim's shoulder while he and his doctor roommate sit bickering amiably at a dive bar just outside Academy grounds and drawls, in one of the intonations Terrans use to imply sexual gossip, "I heard the most interesting rumor this morning..." -- a calibrated pause, just long enough for his mind to race through all the things she might bring up, both welcome and otherwise -- "that you stayed late to help Ahch Ngirzha clean up his lab space and redo his whole experiment after that sulfuric acid spill yesterday; that was very considerate of you!" she finishes in a completely different tone of voice, and drops a kiss on the tip of Jim's nose to keep herself from laughing as an echo of her favorite flower blooms across his face.

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( 22. ) For betonyb: Hamilton, Eliza/Alexander, Genderswap AU, written 1/15/16 [AO3 version]

thank you for all your service (175 words)

"Elijah Schuyler; it's a pleasure to meet you at last," he says, and, spurred to uncharacteristic daring by the sparkling challenge in the most enchanting eyes he's ever see, drops a kiss to the hand of his elder sister's newest and dearest friend, who has become such a comfort and fixture in Angelica's letters since the evacuation of New York.

"I am sorry it has taken a most grievous and costly war to bring us into the same circles, Lieutenant Schuyler," Alexandra Hamilton says, the gleam in her eyes belying the sober cadence of her voice, "but I confess that in person you live up to all your sister's praise and I must therefore count our meeting nearly as great a blessing for myself as the liberty you are helping to win for our country will be for us all."

Elijah fights down a blush at such an extravagant compliment, and thinks he could happily spend the rest of his life helping this woman receive the respect and admiration that she (like Angelica) self-evidently deserves.

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Note: I have no idea how a female Hamilton ends up in America, let alone in a position to mix socially with the Schuyler family and get invited to one of Washington's winter balls. Let's just call it fate. *handwaves briskly*

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( 23. ) For anonymous: Any, any, There are no cities, no cities to love; It's not the city, it's the weather we love!, written 1/16/16 [AO3 version]

walk off the edge of my own life (275 words)

"Okay, okay, truth," Karen said, shoving herself upright on Foggy's couch and slashing her hand through the air in a barely controlled gesture he had to remind himself not to flinch at; "So, imagine a city -- any city, really, but let's go with Manhattan -- and then, you take all the people and move them to, I don't know, California, and you build them a new city; and at the same time you move a million and a half different people into Manhattan so it's not empty anymore, right, and here's the question: which one do you think is the original city?"

"Oh, boo hiss, don't answer her -- we're too drunk for philosophy, and how is that even meant to be embarrassing?" Foggy complained from the depths of his armchair.

"It's a fair question," Matt said slowly, imagining all the people he tried so hard to protect uprooted and adrift in a strange land, trying to recreate New York, and then imagining a sea of strangers equally adrift in the maze of concrete and steel he'd engraved into his bones, learning to love their new home, "and I think... I think a city isn't only the people or only the buildings and streets, so the answer is neither; but both new cities will carry the ideals and mistakes of the old city into the future, just like we carry our pasts with us no matter how hard we try to escape."

He knocked back his shot of whiskey even though the rules didn't require him to, and pretended he couldn't hear the sudden hitch in Karen's breath or Foggy's aborted attempt to stand and give him a hug.

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( 24. ) For anonymous: Sailor Moon, Makoto Kino, A favorite couple of animals of hers had been horses and tropical fish, written 1/17/16 [AO3 version]

habitat (200 words exactly)

"Thanks for coming with me this afternoon, Mako-chan, even though weird ice cream isn't your thing," Usagi said in a slightly guilty tone as she and Makoto exited Namjatown (Usagi with several takeout orders of gyoza stuffed into her shopping bag) -- and then, brightening, added, "Oh wait, I remember you said once that you used to keep tropical fish; we should visit the aquarium and see what kinds they have, since we're already here and it's only fair to do something you like as well as something I like!"

Makoto glanced reflexively upward toward the roof of the mall, thought about the difference between the untamed ocean and tiny glass tanks made to isolate and display their inhabitants, thought about her frantic efforts to create a balanced ecology in the artificial coral reef she'd had to sell when her parents died (and how many fish had perished from her ignorance), and shook her head.

"Let's go to my place instead, so I can show you one of my nature documentary collection and make you something to go with your gyoza," she said, and thanked fate once again for sending Usagi to rescue her from the tank of her own isolation.

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More to follow, possibly...

Here are six more fills from the current Three Sentence Ficathon, aka "My god, it's full of semicolons!" One of them is five sentences, but shush, at least I'm trying. (Two are also strict-form drabbles, because I just like drabbles, okay.)

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12. For jjhunter: Charlotte's Web, Charlotte A. Cavatica, PWC (penmanship to webmanship conversion), written 2/16/15.

( Needs Must )

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13. For samueljames: White Collar, El/Neal/Peter, Neal wants to submit but a previous Dom(me) ignored his safeword so he is understandably nervous, written 2/18/15.

( Twice Shy )

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14. For rthstewart: Narnia/LotR, Galadriel, Jadis, the price of peace, written 2/20/15.

( Negative Example )

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15. For snickfic: BtVS, Faith/Giles, daggers and sheaths, written 2/21/15.

( Missed Connections )

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16. For alexseanchai: Sailor Moon Classic, Chibiusa, crown, written 2/21/15.

( Rosebuds While Ye May )

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17. For isabelquinn: Narnia, any, Bism, written 2/21/15.

( Further Down and Further In )

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I have one more (much longer) fill that I'm going to post separately because of Reasons. Technically it should be #15, but I'm calling it #18 to keep this post's numbering internally consistent.

Like I said in my previous post, caramelsilver's Three Sentence Ficathon is still open. Why not leave some new prompts and fill some others?

Anyway, here are the six fills I have written so far. I actually kept five of them within the structural limits! (This is very exciting for me, because I am terrible about structural limits.)

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( 1 ) silvr_dagger, Homestuck, Rose, sesquipedalian prose

persuasion (150 words)

The trick is in the rhythm, of course. Any imbecile with a thesaurus can string syllables together like misshapen pearls on a string, but that merely dulls the reader's mind, sends them drifting off to drown in the choppy oceans lurking under conscious thought, where the Baroness seeds her monsters and her nets; when they wake, they close the book, set it aside unfinished, and go about their days always a little less interested in aught beyond the tidal pulse of consumption and desire. But get the rhythm right and the ponderous sonority of her phrases, the tintinnabulation of every lithe and well-turned word, creates instead a limpid pool into which she may toss stones of truth that spread their ripples to the farthest reaches of the yearning soul, and wait, and gather, and return to wash away lies and make the mind a mirror filled with light.

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( 2 ) silvr_dagger, Star Trek 2009, Spock/Uhura/Gaila, the scientific method

Suspect Methodology (150 words)

"You know, I never believed the rumors about Vulcans, but if you do that thing with your fingers and my face again I think I might actually die of endorphin overload," Gaila said as she flopped backward onto Nyota's bed, her arms sprawling carelessly over Nyota's breasts and Spock's collarbone.

"It hasn't killed me yet, but interspecies differences in physiology and neurochemistry are often unpredictable, so if you'd like to test that hypothesis..." Nyota said, with that wicked little tease tucked away in the corners of her voice that poured over Gaila like sunlight and made her skin feel warm and tight with potential.

Gaila ran her hand down Nyota's belly and dug her fingers into the thatch of sweat-damp hair, then turned to Spock and met his eyebrow with a challenge in her teeth: "I think that's up to the ethics committee, but if the chair is willing, we can get started right away."

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( 3 ) betony, arthurian mythology, nimue (& or / merlin), if i had a heart, i could love you

Unweaving (225 words)

Nimue has never met anyone else who sees the whole pattern of the world, the threads and currents that weave everything from the smallest speck of dust to the thoughts of men, and the knots and grains where a steady, patient hand can reach just so and nudge a leaf or a life onto a new path. The simple reassurance that she is not mad, that she has a gift and a path (for no one can see their own thread in the tapestry without aid, just as no one can see their own face except reversed and in a mirror), would have won her to Merlin's side... and then he was kind, and took the time to listen, and teach, and ask her aid in his own spells as he sought to bring Arthur's dreams to life.

But he was not content with asking.

And so when she reached just so to undo the knot he tied in her soul, to bind her eyes and heart from seeking Arthur's harm, her fingers trembled as she worked and she tore her heart entire. And for that, she will never forgive him, until he sees all his dreams decay and feels her pain returned, redoubled, to nestle in his bones and eat him hollow, as she is hollow now.

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( 4 ) lizzie_marie_23, Narnia/Harry Potter, Edmund and Ginny, walk softly and carry a big stick

By Its Cover (150 words)

"I think we've had a miscommunication about measurements," Edmund said to the girl who'd entered Narnia through a cabinet that had promptly vanished behind her, and had somehow argued her way into joining the party headed for a diplomatic summit in Harfang on the absurd pretext of being his new bodyguard; how she expected to manage that without any visible weapon was beyond him.

"If your giants are anything like the giants in my world, your Majesty, there's no way I could carry a big enough stick," the girl -- Jenny? Gina? no, Ginny -- said as she twirled the slender, polished twig between her fingers, "so I figured I'd go with one that's actually dangerous." The stick halted, its suddenly sparking tip aimed straight at Edmund's forehead, and only the laughter in her eyes kept him from drawing his sword in reflexive reaction to a witch.

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( 5 ) runespoor7, Sailor Moon, Haruka/Michiru, mermaid AU.

Whither Thou Goest (125 words)

Sailboats aren't like cars or motorcycles, don't rumble and growl like restive beasts, no engines burning like hearts caught in metal ribs, but Haruka can still race, still hurl herself arrow-swift against the sky and lose herself in speed. She is learning to love the sea for her own sake, not merely for what it holds.

But still, sometimes when her craft bobs lazy on the waves, lost in the endless sweep of water, she wonders at her choice -- smells the phantom scent of petrol, hears the drone of wheels on asphalt, feels the accelerator give beneath her foot -- until Michiru rises from the deep to greet her with a sharp-toothed kiss, and wash her half-formed regrets away.

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( 6 ) vialethe, Narnia, Edmund/Susan, well the snow may have melted/but it covered all kinds of dirt

Hierogamy (150 words)

There is only ever one human family allowed to live in Narnia, though others of that race may visit from time to time; as only humans may rule Narnia, the logic is obvious. Susan's stomach turns when Mrs. Beaver asks, with cheerful curiosity, when the country may expect a wedding and an heir, but she covers with pretty words about youth, patience, and the need to rebuild in the wake of the winter, and persuades Mrs. Beaver to keep the "happy news" from Peter and Lucy.

That night, she slips into Edmund's chambers and sees in his eyes that he already knows, and is horrified, and agrees; and as they lie sleepless together, young and scared, neither daring to touch beneath the blankets though they know anything more than hands held against the dark is still far in the future, Susan cannot quite decide whether she would rather have died in the snow than live to find this poison in the thaw.

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These things are always such fun to write. :-)