[Fic] Three Sentence Ficathon Fills, part 4 - various fandoms
Here are seven more fills from the just-closed Three Sentence Ficathon, aka "My god, it's full of semicolons!" They are all really, truly, no-fooling three sentences long, no exceptions. You have no idea how much of a triumph this is for me! (Three are also strict-form drabbles, because I just like drabbles. And one's in iambic pentameter, because apparently I like to drive myself mad now and then.)
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20. For
transposable_element: Oz books/Narnia, any, flying monkeys, written 3/6/15.
Nasty, Disturbing, Uncomfortable Things (150 words) [AO3 version]
"Mr. Tumnus says there were winged horses in Narnia once, before the White Witch sealed the borders, but nobody knows what became of them during the Winter; do you suppose some of them fled to Oz and gave this Western Witch ideas?" Lucy shouted to Susan, her words torn and blurred by the rushing wind. "Maybe they're her captives -- if we could find them and bring them home, wouldn't that be a wonderful end to this adventure?"
Susan, wincing at the painful tug of hair trapped and tangled around the paws and sword belts of her simian captors, ignored her sister in favor of another fruitless snatch at her stolen horn, and hoped that Dorothy and her strange companions could track them through the dark woods toward the Western Witch's approaching castle before this latest disaster -- which was what all adventures were, once stripped of romantic nonsense -- got any more unpleasant.
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21. For
heliopausa: Narnia, VDT; any characters; the voyage home, written 3/6/15.
To Breathe Free (150 words) [AO3 version]
As the ship pulled out of New York harbor, Susan waved farewell to the Statue of Liberty and wondered how it was possible that she had only been away from England for eight weeks; surely that wasn't long enough to leave her feeling so different from the sullen, grieving girl she had been at summer's birth. Time seemed to have gone soft and malleable around her, as if she had once again crossed the boundaries of the world, only this journey needed no magic to work its spell: simply distance, the space to learn the shape of her own thoughts, and a chance to feel in her bones how vast and beautiful this world was in its own right, and how free she was to make her own way through it without the burden of prophecy or crown.
In Narnia she had been a queen, but now, at last, she could learn to be herself.
-----
Because there was more than one voyage going on during VDT! Also, timeline note: a sixteen week lecture tour would have Mr. Pevensie returning to England around the start of November, which is the middle of a typical boarding school autumn term. I am therefore assuming that Susan (and possibly Mrs. Pevensie) came home halfway through that time, around the end of August/start of September.
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22. For
rthstewart: Any, any, candlestick as weapon, written 3/7/15.
[Homestuck, Terezi & Dave]
classic detective games (100 words exactly) [AO3 version]
"Investerrogator Peacock, tired of these foolish shenanigans and blatant obstructions of justice, suggests Mister Scarlet in the library with the candlestick, and proceeds to mercilessly drub the suspect until he confesses everything he knows!"
"What the fuckin' -- ow! -- hey, not the cape, you know I don't -- ow! -- what are you even -- ow! -- Jesus Christ on a spring-loaded novelty crutch, T-Z, will you lay off with the damn cane and stop trying to steal my cards, that's not how the game works!"
"It is now," Terezi said, and hurled herself gleefully across the Clue board, scattering the pieces in her wake.
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23. For
heliopausa: Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth/Macbeth, "I have given suck, and know how tender 'tis to love the babe who milks me" vs "he has no children", written 3/8/15.
Such a heart in my bosom (125 words) [AO3 version]
I am never writing iambic pentameter again, argh!
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LADY MACBETH
Thrice now my womb hath quicken'd, and in time
Brought forth with much travail a tiny babe
That squall'd, and suck'd, and rested in my arms
As trusting as a lamb; with eyes milk blue
As if a piece of heav'n had come to earth
And stitch'd me new, the gnawing of my heart
For once made still, as seas after a storm
seem limpid clear, deceptive in their calm.
MACBETH
Yet none survive.
LADY MACBETH
And so I count me bless'd
That cough and pox and hunger stole them home
Ere I could name them, for tenderness is false
And foreign to my nature, which delights
To strive ever beyond this womanish heart
That lingers in the hope and fear of love.
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24. For
elviella: Discworld, Polly Perks/Mal, "hold my flower"/"don't worry babe i got your flower", maybe not with actual flowers, written 3/8/15.
Maybe not with actual flowers (100 words exactly) [AO3 version]
Polly looked at the ranting shopkeeper and his truculent sons, looked at the spittle on what had been nicely polished uniform boots -- headquarters had been quite firm about putting Borogravia's best face forward at the latest regional diplomatic conference -- looked at the overly innocent passersby gathering in the street to watch the show, and sighed.
She reached sideways and rescued Mal's coffee mug before it could shatter in her hands. "We're here to make peace; don't mangle them too much," she said, and leaned against the doorframe to keep an eye on the crowd while her corporal got to work.
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25. For
transposable_element: Oz books, Glinda, not such a good witch after all, written 3/9/15.
Usurpation (150 words) [AO3 version]
Set near the end of "The Land of Oz" and paraphrased extensively from that book, because why not!
-----
No respectable Sorceress liked to make things appear to be what they are not, but Glinda had not always been respectable and in her youth she had, in truth, dabbled in witchcraft; not to mention since the Wizard's day she had grown quite accustomed to ruling Quadling Country unchallenged, and doubted she could awe and misdirect a princess of fairy blood the way she could work upon the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman; and so it was with little trouble and less guilt that she slipped an extra ingredient or three into Mombi's magical powder and whispered an incantation of her own while the Witch chanted her final spell.
The vapor floated away and a whiff of fresh air filled the tent, but the pink curtains around the couch remained still and Mombi's wrinkled face went pale with fear.
Glinda summoned her most sincere and sorrowful expression as she parted the silken hangings and revealed Princess Ozma's corpse.
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26. For
betony: Hamlet, Gertrude, that gun is loaded/but it's not in my hand, written 3/9/15.
Is that what you really want? (100 words exactly) [AO3 version]
Her husband is dead, her son lost in grief and unready to face the world, and Denmark cannot stand divided and unruled. Gertrude will not see her kingdom fall, and Claudius, despite the faults that earned him mock and scorn, has eyes to see, a mind to know, and a will to choose and hold his course; for all that he made jest in turn, her husband stilled his laugh and listened when his brother spoke; and she knows he will not think marriage to her a burden.
Gertrude finds her land a king, and does not count the cost.
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I have vague intentions of writing at least one more of the MCU/Star Trek: AOS crossovers that I inadvertently turned into a series, but that aside, I am done with the Three Sentence Ficathon. While no more prompts are being posted, I do encourage you to see if there are any you want to fill -- fills are still very much allowed and welcomed! -- and to comment on other people's contributions. :-)
(...and now to organize my fic directories...)
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)
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20. For
transposable_element: Oz books/Narnia, any, flying monkeys, written 3/6/15.
Nasty, Disturbing, Uncomfortable Things (150 words) [AO3 version]
"Mr. Tumnus says there were winged horses in Narnia once, before the White Witch sealed the borders, but nobody knows what became of them during the Winter; do you suppose some of them fled to Oz and gave this Western Witch ideas?" Lucy shouted to Susan, her words torn and blurred by the rushing wind. "Maybe they're her captives -- if we could find them and bring them home, wouldn't that be a wonderful end to this adventure?"
Susan, wincing at the painful tug of hair trapped and tangled around the paws and sword belts of her simian captors, ignored her sister in favor of another fruitless snatch at her stolen horn, and hoped that Dorothy and her strange companions could track them through the dark woods toward the Western Witch's approaching castle before this latest disaster -- which was what all adventures were, once stripped of romantic nonsense -- got any more unpleasant.
---------------
---------------
21. For
heliopausa: Narnia, VDT; any characters; the voyage home, written 3/6/15.
To Breathe Free (150 words) [AO3 version]
As the ship pulled out of New York harbor, Susan waved farewell to the Statue of Liberty and wondered how it was possible that she had only been away from England for eight weeks; surely that wasn't long enough to leave her feeling so different from the sullen, grieving girl she had been at summer's birth. Time seemed to have gone soft and malleable around her, as if she had once again crossed the boundaries of the world, only this journey needed no magic to work its spell: simply distance, the space to learn the shape of her own thoughts, and a chance to feel in her bones how vast and beautiful this world was in its own right, and how free she was to make her own way through it without the burden of prophecy or crown.
In Narnia she had been a queen, but now, at last, she could learn to be herself.
-----
Because there was more than one voyage going on during VDT! Also, timeline note: a sixteen week lecture tour would have Mr. Pevensie returning to England around the start of November, which is the middle of a typical boarding school autumn term. I am therefore assuming that Susan (and possibly Mrs. Pevensie) came home halfway through that time, around the end of August/start of September.
---------------
---------------
22. For
rthstewart: Any, any, candlestick as weapon, written 3/7/15.
[Homestuck, Terezi & Dave]
classic detective games (100 words exactly) [AO3 version]
"Investerrogator Peacock, tired of these foolish shenanigans and blatant obstructions of justice, suggests Mister Scarlet in the library with the candlestick, and proceeds to mercilessly drub the suspect until he confesses everything he knows!"
"What the fuckin' -- ow! -- hey, not the cape, you know I don't -- ow! -- what are you even -- ow! -- Jesus Christ on a spring-loaded novelty crutch, T-Z, will you lay off with the damn cane and stop trying to steal my cards, that's not how the game works!"
"It is now," Terezi said, and hurled herself gleefully across the Clue board, scattering the pieces in her wake.
---------------
---------------
23. For
heliopausa: Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth/Macbeth, "I have given suck, and know how tender 'tis to love the babe who milks me" vs "he has no children", written 3/8/15.
Such a heart in my bosom (125 words) [AO3 version]
I am never writing iambic pentameter again, argh!
-----
LADY MACBETH
Thrice now my womb hath quicken'd, and in time
Brought forth with much travail a tiny babe
That squall'd, and suck'd, and rested in my arms
As trusting as a lamb; with eyes milk blue
As if a piece of heav'n had come to earth
And stitch'd me new, the gnawing of my heart
For once made still, as seas after a storm
seem limpid clear, deceptive in their calm.
MACBETH
Yet none survive.
LADY MACBETH
And so I count me bless'd
That cough and pox and hunger stole them home
Ere I could name them, for tenderness is false
And foreign to my nature, which delights
To strive ever beyond this womanish heart
That lingers in the hope and fear of love.
---------------
---------------
24. For
elviella: Discworld, Polly Perks/Mal, "hold my flower"/"don't worry babe i got your flower", maybe not with actual flowers, written 3/8/15.
Maybe not with actual flowers (100 words exactly) [AO3 version]
Polly looked at the ranting shopkeeper and his truculent sons, looked at the spittle on what had been nicely polished uniform boots -- headquarters had been quite firm about putting Borogravia's best face forward at the latest regional diplomatic conference -- looked at the overly innocent passersby gathering in the street to watch the show, and sighed.
She reached sideways and rescued Mal's coffee mug before it could shatter in her hands. "We're here to make peace; don't mangle them too much," she said, and leaned against the doorframe to keep an eye on the crowd while her corporal got to work.
---------------
---------------
25. For
transposable_element: Oz books, Glinda, not such a good witch after all, written 3/9/15.
Usurpation (150 words) [AO3 version]
Set near the end of "The Land of Oz" and paraphrased extensively from that book, because why not!
-----
No respectable Sorceress liked to make things appear to be what they are not, but Glinda had not always been respectable and in her youth she had, in truth, dabbled in witchcraft; not to mention since the Wizard's day she had grown quite accustomed to ruling Quadling Country unchallenged, and doubted she could awe and misdirect a princess of fairy blood the way she could work upon the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman; and so it was with little trouble and less guilt that she slipped an extra ingredient or three into Mombi's magical powder and whispered an incantation of her own while the Witch chanted her final spell.
The vapor floated away and a whiff of fresh air filled the tent, but the pink curtains around the couch remained still and Mombi's wrinkled face went pale with fear.
Glinda summoned her most sincere and sorrowful expression as she parted the silken hangings and revealed Princess Ozma's corpse.
---------------
---------------
26. For
betony: Hamlet, Gertrude, that gun is loaded/but it's not in my hand, written 3/9/15.
Is that what you really want? (100 words exactly) [AO3 version]
Her husband is dead, her son lost in grief and unready to face the world, and Denmark cannot stand divided and unruled. Gertrude will not see her kingdom fall, and Claudius, despite the faults that earned him mock and scorn, has eyes to see, a mind to know, and a will to choose and hold his course; for all that he made jest in turn, her husband stilled his laugh and listened when his brother spoke; and she knows he will not think marriage to her a burden.
Gertrude finds her land a king, and does not count the cost.
---------------
---------------
I have vague intentions of writing at least one more of the MCU/Star Trek: AOS crossovers that I inadvertently turned into a series, but that aside, I am done with the Three Sentence Ficathon. While no more prompts are being posted, I do encourage you to see if there are any you want to fill -- fills are still very much allowed and welcomed! -- and to comment on other people's contributions. :-)
(...and now to organize my fic directories...)
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)