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 Kobayakawa Sena/Shin Seijuro, G

[amisgurumis]

Hiruma Youichi & Kobayakawa Sena, mentioned Shin Seijuri & Kurita Ryoukan Eyeshield 21
Demon AU; tags: references to life altering injury
words: 707

The demon Sena summons doesn’t look anything like he is expecting. He’d been picturing something barely humanoid, hulking and terrifying, maybe with tattered wings and a tail. Instead he gets someone who looks like a highschool boy, complete with a uniform and leather satchel slung over one shoulder.

That is until it cracks its lips, revealing a shark’s smile full of pointed teeth and his eyes glint red for just a second. Sena cowers back despite the all the warnings he’s read to not show them fear.

He hasn’t been not afraid of what he’s doing since the first time he considered the idea.

“Well. Well well well well. What’s this?” The demon saunters closer to Sena, who straightens his back but can’t stop the shaking of his knees. “It’s been a long time since someone’s been desperate enough to ask for my help around here. I’ve been getting bored.”

It leans in close, close enough that its blonde hair tickles the tip of Sena’s nose. Sena is too terrified to sneeze when the scent of sulphur floods his nose, instead distracts himself by counting the piercings in each of the demon’s ears.

“So what I’ve got so far from you--boyfriend is injured, doctors told you guys it’s irreparable. But even though he won’t show it he’s devastated. And as a good little boyfriend, you’d do anything to give his future back to him, wouldn’t you?” The demon lays a hand on Sena’s cheek, disturbingly gentle even though he can feel the points of the demon’s fingernails applying five tiny pinpricks of pressure.

“W-why are you asking if you already know all of that?” Sena forces out. He snaps his mouth shut and his teeth start chattering together. The demon frowns.

Suddenly it stands up straight, letting out a loud laugh that echoes away between the high rise buildings. There’s an unnatural stillness in the air as the sound floats away.

“I like you kiddo. Got some balls on you after all, don’t you?” The demon crosses its arms, shifts its weight, snaps some gum that Sena is sure it wasn’t chewing on a moment ago. “Since you summoned me you must know the deal. To save Shin Seijuro’s future you have to give up yours.”

Sena nods quickly before he can think better of it and talk himself out of it at the last moment.

The demon snaps the gum again. “Great! That makes this easy then, just need ya to sign this.” It pulls a black notebook out of his back pocket and flips through it for a minute, finally flipping it around and offering a blank page to Sena.

“But--”

“Contracts with us don’t need words, just a signature. Blood is traditional,” the demon adds.

Sena feels a sharp prick at his thumb, and when he lifts it to look, there’s a rivulet of blood running down. He bites the inside of his cheek and presses it to the notebook page, smearing it slightly as he pulls back.

The demon turns the notebook back to look at it, teeth gnashing slightly as it blows a gentle breath across the page to dry it.

“Well, Kobayakawa Sena, I am the demon Hiruma and we have a deal.” He snaps his fingers and a noise like a gunshot echoes around them.

Sena’s world goes dark.

*

The demon Hiruma Youichi watches as the man disappears from the street in front of him as reality shifts to accommodate the parameters of their contract.

Kurita pops out of the air beside him as Hiruma watches reality bend and reform.

“Hiruma, are you sure you should have done that?” He worries his hand together as the ground underneath them shifts.

Hiruma laughs and shoves the notebook into his back pocket. “Humans don’t follows tradition these days, so what should I? Ten year contracts that end with a soul are so boring to keep track of and hell is already full to bursting. This is going to be way more interesting.”

He cackles again and turns around. “Now, c’mon Kurita, we’ve got an american football team to form.”

*

Kobayakawa Sena wakes up on his first day of high school, looks across the room at his brand new school uniform, and smiles.