Bonus Round 5: Myth & Lore

[referees]

Summer's a time for swapping stories around the campfire. With that in mind, this round draws inspiration from the stories humanity have told each other over the centuries.

This round is CLOSED as of 7PM on August 4 EDT. Late fills may be posted, but they will not receive points.

RULES

• This round does not have prompts. Instead, we ask you to draw inspiration from the wide pool of mythology, fantasy, folklore, and fable. An urban fantasy or supernatural AU? A re-imagining of your favorite folk tale? Characters swapping ghost stories or playing D&D? As long as your fill in some way incorporates the fantastical and/or supernatural, it's welcome here.
• Your fill still has to be about a ship from one of our nominated fandoms. What ships you create work for is up to you, though.
• To submit your fill, simply leave it as a comment as a reply to this post.
• 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)

There is no max work cap.

Remember, this is a NO-PROMPT round. Format your fill comment in one of the following ways:

If FILLING:

If FILLING as a TEAM GRANDSTAND participant:

FILL: TEAM [YOUR SHIP], [RATING] Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team you belong to Write it exactly as it appears on the team roster (without brackets) or your team will not receive points Replace RATING with the rating of your fill (G - E) Place applicable major content tags and word count before your fill (when applicable) If no major content tags are applicable, make sure to state this-- even if including other additional tags NSFW FILLS: Please cross-link these fills and use clear tags in your comment. Written/text fills should be hosted at AO3 ONLY as a new, unchaptered work. Art/visual fills can be hosted anywhere. You may include a small safe-for-work preview of the fill in your comment. To place an image in your comment, use this code: <img src="LINK TO YOUR IMAGE" alt="DESCRIPTION OF YOUR IMAGE"/> Visual example

FILL: TEAM GRANDSTAND, [RATING] Replace RATING with the rating of your fill, G - E, as explained in the rules Place applicable major content tags and word count before the fill, where applicable If no major content tags are applicable, make sure to state this-- even if including other additional tags NSFW FILLS: Please cross-link these fills and use clear tags in your comment. Written/text fills should be hosted at AO3 ONLY as a new, unchaptered work. Art/visual fills can be hosted anywhere. You may include a small safe-for-work preview of your work in your comment. To place an image in your comment, use this code: <img src="LINK TO YOUR IMAGE" /> Visual example

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.

SCORING

These numbers apply to your team as a whole, not each individual teammate. Make as many fills as you want!

For fills:

First 3 fills by any member of your team: 20 points each
Fills 4-10: 10 points each
Fills 11-20: 5 points each
Fills 21+: 2 points 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.

Have a question? Check The FAQ first. If you still need help, feel free to contact the mods. Happy fanworking!

Comments

FILL: TEAM Miyuki Kazuya/Sawamura Eijun, G

[sawakise]

Nanase Haruka/Yamazaki Sousuke, free!

supernatural
412 words.

“Sousuke,” Haruka says and Sousuke tilts his head up, eyes still closed from sleep. He spent the night sleeping on a spare futon, the storm outside too heavy for him to travel back to his own home. “I have something to tell you.”

“Okay,” Sousuke responds, “what is it, Haruka?”

Haruka is staring at him, in the way that he casually demands full attention without verbally asking for it. Either that or he’s conflicted. Sousuke can feel it, so he rolls over and cracks an eye open. Even after all that effort that he put, Haruka’s still just staring at him, as if appraising him, so it must be something that he’s really struggling with.

Sousuke lifts his hand in a wave. Haruka opens his mouth to respond.

“There are no eggs left in the fridge.”

It looks like it physically hurt Haruka to say that; the lengthy pause doing nothing to make Sousuke believe that’s what he wanted to say in the first place.

“Okay,” Sousuke sighs, “I wasn’t in the mood for an omelet this morning but I can go get them from the store if you want.”

Haruka just leaves. Sousuke sighs and puts on clothes, standing up and heading out to the kitchen. He grabs his wallet off of the table and heads out.

**

“Got the eggs,” Sousuke calls out when he returns, clenching a plastic bag in his free hand while placing his shoes neatly to the side with his other.

The house is very quiet—too quiet.

“Haruka?” He calls out, placing the eggs in the fridge. Then, without waiting for a response, he walks to the bathroom.

“Sousuke,” Haruka calls from inside. “I’m in the bath.”

“I figured,” Sousuke snorts and slides the door open.

Haruka’s eyes stare back at him. Sousuke’s first instinct is that Haruka’s naked and he would normally turn his eyes away if not for the unusual end to Haruka’s body. His lower half consists of blue scales instead of legs, a shimmering tail with gorgeous fins instead of, well, human.

“Are you serious,” Sousuke says as he peers into the bathtub. “Did you buy a mermaid tail?”

Haruka’s brow wrinkles.

“No,” he replies and that is final.

“So what,” Sousuke says before he can regret it, “you’re a mermaid?”

Haruka stares at him. What do you think, Haruka’s gaze seems to ask. What do you think.

It’s too early for this, Sousuke decides. It’s way too early for this.

Re: FILL: TEAM Miyuki Kazuya/Sawamura Eijun, G

[horchata]

Haruka stares at him. What do you think, Haruka’s gaze seems to ask. What do you think.

I just. I giggled so much. Thank you for writing this fill!!!