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 IMAIZUMI SHUNSUKE/NARUKO SHOUKICHI, G

[chiharu]

Shirofuda Yukie/Akaashi Keiji Haikyuu
No tags, 454 Words, G

Yukie looks up from her cauldron just in time to find a boy climbing in through the window. Her tower is a significant distance off the ground, and the intruder must have scaled the walls by himself because his dark hair looks soft and windblown.

At the sight of Yukie, the boy sets a hand on his sword and goes into defensive position.

"Hello," Yukie says. "Can I help you?"

"My name is Akaashi Keiji. I'm here to challenge the Strigiformes Witch."

Yukie sets a fallen jar of cumin upright on her workbench and nods. "Ah, that's me, but I'm not accepting any challenges. Would you like to stay for some food?"

"Food?" Akaashi's face is neutral save for the quirk of his brows. His gaze travels to the cauldron, just as Yukie extinguishes her cooking fire. "I'm not interested in potions."

"Potions?" Yukie blinks once, then twice. "This is my dinner. I'm making beef stew!" She had been in the middle of plating when Akaashi broke in. Yukie pulls a second bowl out of her cabinets, knocking over a bin of worm powder in the process. With a wave of her hand, Yukie returns the powder back into its container.

When Akaashi does not respond, Yukie turns to him. "Exactly why do you want to challenge me?"

"You've cast a curse on my friend," Akaashi says, voice soft but unrelenting. "He says it's because he owes you coins that he has no method of repaying. I am here to challenge you on the condition you remove the curse if I win."

Yukie leans back against her counter. "And your friend is...?"

"The blacksmith, Bokuto."

At the sound of Bokuto's name, Yukie's barn owl begins to hoot loudly. It flies out of its cage by Yukie's ceiling and circles around the room, wings flapping loudly.

"Konoha, behave."

Konoha responds by landing on Akaashi's shoulder. To Akaashi's credit, he does not flinch or try to shake the owl off.

"Bokuto does indeed owe me money, but I did not cast any spells on him," Yukie says, grinning when Akaashi's gaze snaps back to her. "I reckon he is just being melodramatic again. I'm guessing the misfortunes he's encountered so far are everyday phenomena?"

Several expressions flash across Akaashi's face before settling on resigned disbelief.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Yukie asks again. Two bowls of stew are already floating towards the table by her window, and Yukie watches as Konoha nudges Akaashi's ear with its beak. Cute, Yukie thinks.

Akaashi sighs and drops his hand from his sword. Personally, Yukie has always been fond of boys with a sense of tact. "Yes,” Akaashi says eventually. “If you will still have me."