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 Kyoutani Kentarou/Yahaba Shigeru, G

[kiyala]

Himuro Tatsuya/Kagami Taiga; Kuroko no Basuke
no tags; soul vampire au
word count: 456

Tatsuya is young and foolish, and he's still new to this hunger when he meets Taiga. All he knows is that there's a boy sitting on his own, with so much energy that he's a beacon for creatures like Tatsuya. Just looking at him is enough to have Tatsuya hungering.

It helps that they both speak the same language, and Tatsuya can feel the flame of Taiga's spirit burning brightly as they introduce themselves to each other and just as easy as that, they get along. Tatsuya isn't yet sure if he wants a friend of prey, so he does what his parents have taught him; he errs on the side of caution.

His parents call themselves soul vampires, but Tatsuya doesn't know if that's quite the right term for it. They can leave their prey soulless, if they want, but that's not necessarily how they feed. Tatsuya finds that being around people with strong spirits is enough. He can drink his fill of their presence, and the stronger the person's spirit, the less likely they are to notice that some of it is being drained away.

Tatsuya doesn't think that Taiga noices, as they play basketball together and grow up together.

It's not until their early teens that Taiga clears his throat one afternoon, as they walk together, and says, "You're not… human, are you?"

Tatsuya is careful not to let his expression give him away. "That's a weird question to ask."

"But I'm right," Taiga says, turning to him. "Aren't I? Look, I don't care if you're… whatever. We're friends. We've known each other for so long, if you were dangerous and wanted to hurt me, you would've taken your chance a long time ago."

With a quiet laugh, Tatsuya tilts his head to the side. "It sounds like you've been thinking hard about this."

"Maybe," Taiga mumbles, sounding a little embarrassed. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"I live off energy," Tatsuya explains. "Emotions. Your spirit. You're absolutely brimming with it, so maybe you haven't noticed—"

"I have," Taiga tells him. "I'm always a little tired after we hang out. I tohught it was just because we were playing basketball, but…"

"I'm sorry," Tatsuya says softly.

"Nah. Don't be." Taiga reaches over, taking Tatsuya's hand and squeezing. "When I'm with you, I kind of… feel a lot. Do you notice that too?"

"I do," Tatsuya murmurs, looking down at their joined hands. "Taiga, when we touch, it's easier for me to drain from you."

"I don't mind," Taiga tells him, squeezing his hand tighter. "It's worth it."

Taiga's words come with a rush of affection and energy that flows directly into Tatsuya.

Smiling, Tatsuya just squeezes his hand in reply.