[Fic] Three Sentence Ficathon 2021 fills, part one
I've gotten in the habit of posting my fills in sets of six, and there's no reason to fix what isn't broken. :)
All prompts drawn from the current iteration of the Three Sentence Ficathon, hosted by the wonderful
rthstewart. Come join the fun!
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1. For
cofax7: Any, any, aunts are the best, written 2/2/21
Aunts and Uncles (165 words)
Fandom = Chronicles of Narnia
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"I have no maternal instinct whatsoever," Letitia Ketterley often told her circle of London friends, "but I daresay I do quite well for myself as an aunt, especially now that Mabel's recovered and Andrew had that useful shock to his nerves; I've no more need to play disciplinarian, I can give Digory back to his parents at the end of an afternoon, and best of all, nobody dreams a middle-aged woman escorting two children on an outing might be up to something peculiar."
Polly, slipping in the kitchen door to meet with Digory for a discussion of whether it might be possible to build wings of wax and feathers if they mixed in a pinch of Uncle Andrew's Atlantean dust, paused upon overhearing this.
"Have you decided to pass on some of Mrs. Lefay's notions, then?" Aunt Letty's friend asked, and Polly's blood and thoughts began to fizz as she realized that she and Digory had been building on the wrong magician's work all along.
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2. For
syrena_of_the_lake: Enchanted Forest Chronicles, any, the unexpected perils of singing swords, written 2/2/21
The Knight's Lament (90 words)
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"I understand that single combat is dramatic and has high stakes! Trust me, I understand -- I'm right out there swinging you around, and it's a bit harder to stitch up a wound than buff out a nick, not to mention I'm the one who has to lug our proof of success back to whoever handed out the quest! But there's no point making the stakes even higher by bursting into an aria when we're trying to sneak up on an ogre from behind, no matter how apropos the lyrics are!"
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3. For
rthstewart: Any fandom, any, citations for health, safety or human rights violations , written 2/2/21
Inevitable as Taxes (220 words)
Fandom = The Magnus Archives
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"I'm fairly sure it's illegal to trap employees in a job you can only leave by dying or gouging your eyes out," Jon remarks to Martin on the train up to Edinburgh, sounding half-drunk from a mix of exhaustion, relief, and something Martin is resolutely trying not to label as the heavy satisfaction of a tiger after a kill, "so why didn't we ever try turning government bureaucracy against Elias? There must be some equivalent of sectioned officers in at least one of the oversight departments, and it would have eaten him alive in a way prison obviously didn't -- being arrested for murder still means people think you have power and are worth fearing, but being arrested for... for tax fraud, or workplace safety violations, or some equivalent is utterly deflating, like how Gertrude made Peter Lukas a laughingstock by having a mundane newspaper spoil his ritual."
"We can ask Basira to look into that, work up a plan for when everything settles down and we head back to London and have to face whatever Elias is plotting now," Martin says, "but for now let's concentrate on being alive and here together."
Jon hums in tired agreement, and Martin combs his fingers through Jon's hair as reverently as he'd comb a lion's mane, until Jon at last relaxes into sleep.
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4. For
jjhunter: The Magnus Archives, Martin, poetry in motion, written 2/2/21
Poetry in Motion (155 words)
-----
It's silly, he knows, but sometimes you need to hold onto little, silly things to make life worth living -- and anyway, there's no harm in deciding what kind of poem best fits the way his coworkers move.
Sasha is free verse, deceptively shapeless until you find the unique structure underlying each new poem and it all clicks into place, nothing wasted; Tim, meanwhile, is a series of limericks, bouncing like he hasn't got a care in the world but a deceptive edge underneath.
Martin puzzles over Jon for a long while -- sonnets don't seem quite right, though there's definitely something structured about Jon's body language, too studied to be quite natural -- before he settles on Old English epic meter, two halves of a line balanced by stress and alliteration, not by syllables or feet, just awkward enough to strike the ear and eye and draw him in to follow the story wherever it may lead.
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5. For
kiraly: The Murderbot Diaries, Murderbot & Amena, "okay, Third Mom," written 2/2/21
What's in a Name? (285 words)
Structural restrictions, what structural restrictions? *surreptitiously kicks ficathon rules behind a sofa*
-----
"Do you mind me calling you Third Mom?" Amena said abruptly, interrupting the not uncomfortable silence in which she, ART and I had been watching a pre-Corporation Rim serial about a hospital on a newly-constructed space station, populated by improbably attractive medical staff and patients with improbably rare complaints.
"Because it's a gendered term, and I know you don't do gender," she continued. "It was mostly a joke because you act a little like First and Second Mom sometimes--"
My buffer held nothing relevant to this situation. I managed to scrape together enough processing power to say, "I what?"
"You know, being intimidatingly competent and worrying about my safety," Amena said with an impatient gesture. "That's not the point. The point is, I'll stop if it bothers you. I wanted to make sure you knew that. And to ask if it bothers you, I guess. Um. Does it?"
It's better to ask for time to consider so you can give an accurate answer than to answer reflexively, ART said privately through the feed. Young humans are generally skilled at identifying rote responses and tend to interpret them as a sign of disrespect.
Contrary to your apparent belief, I have both observed and interacted with humans on multiple occasions, I said, and then turned my attention to Amena. (I didn't actually turn toward her. I did, however, turn a drone. Humans like clear visual signals that you're invested in a conversation.)
"I don't know if being called Third Mom bothers me. I'll tell you when I figure it out."
Amena nodded solemnly. "Thanks. And I won't call you by any other nickname, either, unless you tell me it's okay."
Sometimes it's not terrible being around humans.
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6. For
wingedflight: any, any, superhero au, written 2/3/21
Information Is Never Free (205 words)
Fandom = The Magnus Archives
-----
It's a truism among the powered set that you don't attack the Archives; their basement lair is as close to neutral ground as you can find in a world of heroes and villains, providing information to anyone who can afford to pay their price -- and even if they just helped your sworn nemesis achieve victory, even if you feel inclined to hunt down all accomplices and salt the earth around them, the Archives are off limits.
Most newbies ask why, eventually. What's so scary about information brokers? Why haven't any heroes or villains set up shop as a dedicated source for their own side?
The few who remember when the Archives broke free from their indenture to Mister Magnus -- who have seen the Archivist burn an intruder to ash under his pitiless glare, watched a trusted friend stab an ally in the back and flash the Changeling's quicksilver smile, waded through the carnage left behind by Stoker's axe, fought free of Blackwood's web of friendly, isolating lies -- shake their heads and say only, "Test them if you want; it's your funeral."
Most listen. Those few who don't, who dare to call the Archives' bluff? None are ever seen again.
The Archives always collect their price.
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---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
More to come at some point. :) If you want to comment on this post, you can do so over here on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)
All prompts drawn from the current iteration of the Three Sentence Ficathon, hosted by the wonderful
rthstewart. Come join the fun!
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
1. For
cofax7: Any, any, aunts are the best, written 2/2/21
Aunts and Uncles (165 words)
Fandom = Chronicles of Narnia
-----
"I have no maternal instinct whatsoever," Letitia Ketterley often told her circle of London friends, "but I daresay I do quite well for myself as an aunt, especially now that Mabel's recovered and Andrew had that useful shock to his nerves; I've no more need to play disciplinarian, I can give Digory back to his parents at the end of an afternoon, and best of all, nobody dreams a middle-aged woman escorting two children on an outing might be up to something peculiar."
Polly, slipping in the kitchen door to meet with Digory for a discussion of whether it might be possible to build wings of wax and feathers if they mixed in a pinch of Uncle Andrew's Atlantean dust, paused upon overhearing this.
"Have you decided to pass on some of Mrs. Lefay's notions, then?" Aunt Letty's friend asked, and Polly's blood and thoughts began to fizz as she realized that she and Digory had been building on the wrong magician's work all along.
---------------
---------------
2. For
syrena_of_the_lake: Enchanted Forest Chronicles, any, the unexpected perils of singing swords, written 2/2/21
The Knight's Lament (90 words)
-----
"I understand that single combat is dramatic and has high stakes! Trust me, I understand -- I'm right out there swinging you around, and it's a bit harder to stitch up a wound than buff out a nick, not to mention I'm the one who has to lug our proof of success back to whoever handed out the quest! But there's no point making the stakes even higher by bursting into an aria when we're trying to sneak up on an ogre from behind, no matter how apropos the lyrics are!"
---------------
---------------
3. For
rthstewart: Any fandom, any, citations for health, safety or human rights violations , written 2/2/21
Inevitable as Taxes (220 words)
Fandom = The Magnus Archives
-----
"I'm fairly sure it's illegal to trap employees in a job you can only leave by dying or gouging your eyes out," Jon remarks to Martin on the train up to Edinburgh, sounding half-drunk from a mix of exhaustion, relief, and something Martin is resolutely trying not to label as the heavy satisfaction of a tiger after a kill, "so why didn't we ever try turning government bureaucracy against Elias? There must be some equivalent of sectioned officers in at least one of the oversight departments, and it would have eaten him alive in a way prison obviously didn't -- being arrested for murder still means people think you have power and are worth fearing, but being arrested for... for tax fraud, or workplace safety violations, or some equivalent is utterly deflating, like how Gertrude made Peter Lukas a laughingstock by having a mundane newspaper spoil his ritual."
"We can ask Basira to look into that, work up a plan for when everything settles down and we head back to London and have to face whatever Elias is plotting now," Martin says, "but for now let's concentrate on being alive and here together."
Jon hums in tired agreement, and Martin combs his fingers through Jon's hair as reverently as he'd comb a lion's mane, until Jon at last relaxes into sleep.
---------------
---------------
4. For
jjhunter: The Magnus Archives, Martin, poetry in motion, written 2/2/21
Poetry in Motion (155 words)
-----
It's silly, he knows, but sometimes you need to hold onto little, silly things to make life worth living -- and anyway, there's no harm in deciding what kind of poem best fits the way his coworkers move.
Sasha is free verse, deceptively shapeless until you find the unique structure underlying each new poem and it all clicks into place, nothing wasted; Tim, meanwhile, is a series of limericks, bouncing like he hasn't got a care in the world but a deceptive edge underneath.
Martin puzzles over Jon for a long while -- sonnets don't seem quite right, though there's definitely something structured about Jon's body language, too studied to be quite natural -- before he settles on Old English epic meter, two halves of a line balanced by stress and alliteration, not by syllables or feet, just awkward enough to strike the ear and eye and draw him in to follow the story wherever it may lead.
---------------
---------------
5. For
kiraly: The Murderbot Diaries, Murderbot & Amena, "okay, Third Mom," written 2/2/21
What's in a Name? (285 words)
Structural restrictions, what structural restrictions? *surreptitiously kicks ficathon rules behind a sofa*
-----
"Do you mind me calling you Third Mom?" Amena said abruptly, interrupting the not uncomfortable silence in which she, ART and I had been watching a pre-Corporation Rim serial about a hospital on a newly-constructed space station, populated by improbably attractive medical staff and patients with improbably rare complaints.
"Because it's a gendered term, and I know you don't do gender," she continued. "It was mostly a joke because you act a little like First and Second Mom sometimes--"
My buffer held nothing relevant to this situation. I managed to scrape together enough processing power to say, "I what?"
"You know, being intimidatingly competent and worrying about my safety," Amena said with an impatient gesture. "That's not the point. The point is, I'll stop if it bothers you. I wanted to make sure you knew that. And to ask if it bothers you, I guess. Um. Does it?"
It's better to ask for time to consider so you can give an accurate answer than to answer reflexively, ART said privately through the feed. Young humans are generally skilled at identifying rote responses and tend to interpret them as a sign of disrespect.
Contrary to your apparent belief, I have both observed and interacted with humans on multiple occasions, I said, and then turned my attention to Amena. (I didn't actually turn toward her. I did, however, turn a drone. Humans like clear visual signals that you're invested in a conversation.)
"I don't know if being called Third Mom bothers me. I'll tell you when I figure it out."
Amena nodded solemnly. "Thanks. And I won't call you by any other nickname, either, unless you tell me it's okay."
Sometimes it's not terrible being around humans.
---------------
---------------
6. For
wingedflight: any, any, superhero au, written 2/3/21
Information Is Never Free (205 words)
Fandom = The Magnus Archives
-----
It's a truism among the powered set that you don't attack the Archives; their basement lair is as close to neutral ground as you can find in a world of heroes and villains, providing information to anyone who can afford to pay their price -- and even if they just helped your sworn nemesis achieve victory, even if you feel inclined to hunt down all accomplices and salt the earth around them, the Archives are off limits.
Most newbies ask why, eventually. What's so scary about information brokers? Why haven't any heroes or villains set up shop as a dedicated source for their own side?
The few who remember when the Archives broke free from their indenture to Mister Magnus -- who have seen the Archivist burn an intruder to ash under his pitiless glare, watched a trusted friend stab an ally in the back and flash the Changeling's quicksilver smile, waded through the carnage left behind by Stoker's axe, fought free of Blackwood's web of friendly, isolating lies -- shake their heads and say only, "Test them if you want; it's your funeral."
Most listen. Those few who don't, who dare to call the Archives' bluff? None are ever seen again.
The Archives always collect their price.
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
More to come at some point. :) If you want to comment on this post, you can do so over here on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)