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sportsanime2017-06-02 10:34 am
referees) wrote in sportsanime2017-06-02 10:34 am
Entry tags:
Bonus Round 1.5: AUs
SASO 2017 is over, but this round is perpetually open to new fills (no new prompts).
Please read this whole post before commenting to ensure that your team gets the most points possible. (There are changes from last year!)
RULES
- Submit prompts by commenting to this post with an alternate universe idea, along with a ship from one of our nominated fandoms. There's a comment template below for your convenience.
- Your prompt MUST include some kind of relationship. (This is not the sports anime gen olympics.) Platonic relationships are indicated by an "&" between the names (e.g., Izumi & Sakaeguchi). Non-platonic relationships use "/" (e.g., Izumi/Sakaeguchi). Please don't say "Any pairing," either!
- An AU can be a canon divergence, e.g. "what if [character] was the Team Captain instead of the canon captain character?", or a completely different setting altogether, e.g., pop idol AU, coffee shop AU, superheroes AU, etc.
- Fill prompts by leaving a responding comment to the prompt with your newly-created work.
- Remember to follow the general bonus round rules, outlined here.
FORMAT
Bonus round shenanigans all happen in the comments below. Brand-new works only, please.Required Work Minimums:
- 400 words (prose)
- 400px by 400px (art)
- 14 lines (poetry)
Format your comment in one of the following ways:
| If PROMPTING: | If FILLING: | If FILLING as a TEAM GRANDSTAND participant: |
PROMPT: TEAM [YOUR SHIP]
| FILL: TEAM [YOUR SHIP], [RATING]
| FILL: TEAM GRANDSTAND, [RATING]
|
Posts not using this format will be understood to be unofficial discussion posts, regardless of what they contain. They, like all comments in this community, are subject to the code of conduct.
If you see anyone breaking the code of conduct (e.g., causing drama, being rude) anywhere (not just DW), please contact the mods immediately.
SCORING
These numbers apply to your team as a whole, not each individual teammate. Make as many prompts/fills as you want!For prompts: 5 points each (maximum of 50 prompt points per team per round)
For fills:First 4 fills by any member of your team: 20 points each
Fills 5-10: 15 points each
Fills 11-20: 5 points each
Fills 21-50: 2 points each
Fills 51+: 1 point each
All scored content must be created new for this round.
Etc.
If you're hunting through the prompts looking for what to fill, a good trick is to view top-level comments only (see the line of links below this post).Have a question? Check The FAQ first. If you still need help, feel free to contact the mods. Happy fanworking!
PROMPT: Team Kanzaki Miki/Miyahara
Series: Ballroom e Youkoso
Major Tags: Body horror
Other Tags: None
Prompt: Wherein Chinatsu is a rose beast and Mako likes gardening.
rose beast is not a reference to anything specific so you do you
Fill: Team Grandstand, G
Other Tags: mild blood, mild body horror, less-than-ideal sibling relationship
Word Count: 1,299
Mako: Do you want to hold hands?
Chinatsu: did you bring protection?
Mako: *holds up heavy-duty gardening gloves*
***
They say the beast is hideous, and that it devours young women whose beauty it could never hope to match.
They say the beast is beautiful beyond compare, and uses its charms to lure young men to their deaths.
They say the beast can be tamed with music, though no one knows where this rumor started, and no one is willing to test it.
One thing is for certain—it is best to be home before dark if you want to be safe from the beast.
Akagi Mako knows all the stories about the beast, and she fears it, as every sweet young girl in this area does. But she ran into the woods anyway, after a fight with her brother, in an attempt to escape his harsh words and complaints.
She should have hidden in her garden the way she usually does, she thinks as she tries to find her way back. She should have lost herself in tending her flowers. The roses are in bloom. But she is so tired of holding her brother back—she needed more space than the garden could provide.
And now she is lost, and everyone knows the beast comes out after dark. If only her phone had reception, she could call Gaju and ask him to find her. He would come, she knows. For all he complains, he’s still her brother.
Mako hears something in the woods, the sound of something heavy making its way through the undergrowth. There’s a pause, and then a huff. It’s loud, and sounds oddly human, and Mako runs. She runs and runs through the woods, as fast as she can, looking for a place to hide, or for home. She can hear the snapping of branches, but she’s not sure if it’s her or the beast behind her. She doesn’t look back to check.
Finally, she spies a large cluster of rocks. There’s a cavity there, small, but it’s off the ground and looks deep. It might protect her from the beast, give her a safe place to stay until morning. She risks a glance behind her and catches a flash of red among the trees. With a small sob, Mako pulls herself up and squeezes into the rock cavity. It’s a tight fit, even though she’s small, and for a moment all she can think is I guess it’s a good thing I’m so small, huh, Gaju?
But then she hears a noise below her, heavy steps and something dragging. A tail? Mako curls in tighter and doesn’t look down to see if the beast is beautiful or hideous. She wonders if she’s far enough in the rocks, or if the beast will drag her out.
No grasping claws rake her legs, though. There is no hot, foul breath. Instead, there is the faint scent of roses, and an eerie humming. It sounds like a waltz.
The beast can be tamed with music, she remembers. It isn’t as though the beast doesn’t know she’s here, so it’s worth a shot. She slides her phone out of her pocket and finds the music app. Mako squeezes her eyes shut, takes a breath, presses ‘Play,’ and hopes.
A lively waltz strikes up. It sounds too loud in her small space, but there’s silence outside. Mako hopes it’s a good silence.
Then she hears a shuffling sound, nearly lost under the waltz. It doesn’t get any closer, nor does it get farther away. To Mako’s ears, it sounds almost as if the beast is dancing.
Somehow, Mako falls asleep.
In the morning, her phone is dead and the ground is covered in rose petals.
Mako doesn’t tell anyone about the beast, but she is no longer frightened. She begins taking late afternoon walks in the woods, hoping to catch a glimpse of the beast before sundown. Her brother thinks she’s being foolish, but she’s dancing better than ever, so he doesn’t stop her.
“Must be the fresh air,” he mutters.
“Must be,” she agrees. She doesn’t point out that she’d been getting plenty of fresh air when she stayed in her garden for hours on end. She’s letting her garden grow a little wild now, partly because she is spending her time in the woods and partly because she wants to try something new. Her plants were beautiful when carefully pruned; they’re still beautiful.
The days are getting shorter when Mako sees the beast for the first time. The sky is turning pink and there’s a chill in the air, but all Mako notices is the riot of roses in the shape of a sleeping woman. She takes a step forward, and another, and kneels to look more closely at the flowers. The scent is faintly familiar, but they’re not a variety she’s familiar with, brick-red and loosely furled, with sharp, curving thorns.
“How lovely,” she murmurs. Mako’s come straight from the garden; there’s a pair of shears in her pocket. She wants a clipping to take home, and is already planning where her new rose bush will go when she makes the first cut.
“What the hell are you doing?” a voice demands. Mako looks behind her, and shrieks as a thorny hand grasps her wrist. Mako turns back, and finds herself face-to-face with the rose woman.
The beast.
“I- I’m sorry!” Mako gasps. She tries to free her wrist, but the thorns only dig deeper into her tender skin. The beast glances down.
“Drop the shears,” it says, “and I will let you go.”
Mako drops them, and as soon as she is free she backs away, staring at the beast in fear and awe as it rises. The beast stretches, mouth opening in a yawn and revealing thorn-teeth. Its eyes are dark and shiny, like beetles, and Mako can see the roses follow the same lines hair would, if the beast were a human woman, and if that human woman had hair so long it dragged behind her. In the center of the beast’s chest is a tangle of thorns, wound tighter than anything else in the beast’s rose-bush body.
“I know you,” the beast says. “You’re the dancing girl. You played music for me.”
“Yes,” says Mako. She doesn’t contradict the beast.
“Why did you cut me?” the beast asks. She sounds calm, but Mako thinks the wrong answer might send it into a rage. Mako knows about masks.
“I’m sorry. Your roses are so beautiful, I wanted one for my own,” she answers. “I didn’t realize it was you.”
The beast considers her. Mako stares back, then drops her eyes back to that curious tangle.
“Does it hurt?”
“What?” The beast sounds surprised. Mako gestures at its chest.
“Does your chest hurt? It looks like it needs pruning.” Mako smiles shyly. “I know a little about gardening; I could help you.”
“You want to cut out my heart?” The rose beast growls. Its thorns seem to grow longer.
“No!” Mako shakes her head furiously. “No. But I think it’s dying. If I cut out the dead parts, then it might flourish again. There can be new growth.”
“It doesn’t hurt,” the beast replies. “It doesn’t feel like anything.”
“Would you let me prune it?” Mako asks. “I want to help.”
The beast considers her once more.
“Very well,” it says finally. “But if you try anything else, I’ll eat you.”
Mako nods, and reaches carefully for her shears. Her wrist aches and stings, but she ignores it. She has the chance to help something beautiful.
“Wait.” The beast holds up a hand. “Do you- do you have any music?”
Mako smiles and reaches for her phone, selecting a tango. Music fills the clearing as she leans in close to the rose beast and begins to cut the dead branches from its heart.