SASO Referees (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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sportsanime2016-07-21 08:53 pm
referees) wrote in sportsanime2016-07-21 08:53 pm
Entry tags:
Bonus Round 5: Myth & Lore
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)
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]
| 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.
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!
FILL: Team Nishinoya Yuu/Tanaka Ryuunosuke, T
1218 words, language warning
When he was younger, it happened a lot. Saeko had always joked that he must’ve pissed off some angry spirit by getting bad grades and picking fights after school and that this was its way of punishing him. He always told her to get bent and she’d lightly whack him one for being rude. He’d never tell her, but it secretly scared him enough to keep his act straight, just a little more than usual.
However, as he got older, the sleep paralysis happened less and less until one day it finally just ended altogether. A small victory, he supposed, one that he was infinitely grateful for.
...At least until he’d moved into a new apartment in Tokyo after transferring for his new job, anyway. Tora had suggested the neighborhood (close to the station, even closer to him) and the rent was so cheap that he couldn’t pass it up.
His second month in, he’d awoken suddenly in the middle of the night to that familiar, crushing pressure heavy on his limbs. All he could manage to do was lay there and try his best to breathe, squeezing his eyes shut every time he thought he heard scraping and rustling in the corner of the room or footsteps running along the floorboards above his head (an impossibility considering he lived on the top floor).
Every so often, he’d swear that he felt small, but sturdy hands run their way up his arms and across his shoulders or the light touch of fingertips brushing sweat from his forehead. Other times he’d feel breath against his lips or hear whispering and giggling next to his ear.
It was fucking unsettling.
He’d told Taketora over dinner the next weekend and had been met with stifled laughter and disbelief. “There’s no way you’ve got a ghost, dude. That sorta shit only happens in horror movies,” he’d said. When he’d replied with “then I guess my life is a fuckin’ horror film,” Tora had just laughed again and bought him another drink. Helpful.
For the third time in a week, Tanaka wakes up to the crippling sensation of being trapped where he lay. This time he at least has the ability to move his head slightly, as limited as even that movement is (it’s better than only being able to look around and mumble loudly against slightly parted lips, though, so he’ll take it).
He opens his eyes and is met face-to-face with something he least expected: another fucking person. He’s smaller, probably by nearly half a foot in height, and sitting on his chest with his legs extended over Tanaka’s shoulders.
“Wh-what the fuck!” Tanaka tries to scream, but it doesn’t come out as more than a raspy whisper.
“You can see me this time! I’m surprised!”
“Who are you?! How the fuck did you get into my apartment?!”
The small form sits back, pointing toward itself and grinning wide. “The name’s Nishinoya Yuu, Incubus-in-Training! It’s not that hard to get into places like this. I mean, for someone like me. Anyway, I’ve been watchin’ you for a while now, Ryuu. You’re pretty interesting.”
Tanaka’s head is spinning. Weren’t incubi like...demons or something? What the fuck. Was this dude for real? He didn’t even look like a demon. “You’re tellin’ me I’m ‘sposed to believe that? Where are your horns ‘n shit? If you don’t get outta here, I’m seriously callin’ the police.”
“Oh~? And how’re you gonna do that? You can’t move, right?” Tanaka freezes. How did this guy know?
“How’d you…”
“There’s another spirit in your apartment, y’know. It’s kinda strong, too. It’s no wonder you keeping getting stuck like this.”
“Okay, seriously, what the hell,” he grinds out. Nishinoya just laughs.
“I know, it sounds totally unbelievable, but you’ve gotta trust me.”
“You’re tellin’ me to trust a demon? Isn’t that asking a lot?”
“It sounds like you’re stereotyping me, Ryuu,” Nishinoya says in a tone feigning hurt, placing a hand over where Tanaka figures his heart might be, if he has one; he has no idea if Incubi have the same biology as humans and right now, he doesn’t really care. “Whether you wanna believe it or not, I’m here to help you.”
“You’ve got like, thirty seconds to explain, dude.”
“That’s like nothing!!”
“Twenty-six…”
“Ryuu!!”
“Twenty-two…”
“Fine!! Like I said, there’s a really powerful spirit in your place that’s causin’ your sleep paralysis. As part of my trainin’, I’m here to help you figure out how to break free from it. That way, whenever it happens, you’ll be all set and it’ll get bored and move on.”
There’s a strange feeling of relief washing over him hearing that. He’d finally be rid of this once and for all? There’s gotta be a catch, though.
“There are rules, though,” Nishinoya says with a shrug. Ah. There it is.
“Like what?”
“Like, I can’t tell you exactly how to break the curse and I can only give you real vague hints to direct you. So, basically, you’re gonna have to figure it out on your own.”
“Then how exactly does that help me?”
“I guess it doesn’t,” he leans forward, amused smile tugging at the corners of his lips when Tanaka frowns. “But I think you can do it. You have before, right?”
“You can’t give me anything else to work with?”
“The memories are trapped in there somewhere!” Nishinoya says, tapping Tanaka
Tanaka squints at him as he thinks about it. How did he break it as a kid? It was so long ago that he’s not sure. The only immediate memory he can recall is being terrified and squeezing his eyes shut until he woke up the next morning, not even realizing he’d fallen back asleep - it’s how he’d dealt with it since moving into his place, too.
Tanaka growls in frustration. “This is impossible, man.”
“It’s not, you just gotta find that determination buried in you. We both know if you set your mind to it, you’ll get it.”
“You’ve got a lot of faith in me, Noya.” Nishinoya just smiles back at him.
“Of course I do, you’re awesome. I’ve seen you do some really amazin’ shit over the years, Ryuu!!”
“You’ve been followin’ me around for that long?” Tanaka’s honestly shocked.
“Yeah. Almost fifteen years, can you believe it? We’ve practically grown up together,” he says, smacking Tanaka on the chest. He’s stronger than he looks and the force nearly makes his eyes water.
“Well...what happens if you do tell me?” Tanaka asks.
“Then I lose my certifications and I hafta be boring for the rest of my life. Do you know how long that is? Too long.”
Tanaka can’t help but laugh, then and Nishinoya’s eyes practically sparkle. He can feel him vibrate excitedly on top of him as he bites his lip.
“What is it?” he asks, quirking an eyebrow. It doesn’t take him that long to realize it though. The air suddenly feels loads lighter and when he goes to wiggle his fingers, he does so with ease.
Nishinoya’s beaming when he looks back at him. “See!! I told you!!”
“Laughter?”
“Mmhmm! You can’t be scared if you’re laughin’, right?”
“That’s true.” Nishinoya climbs off of him then, smile still plastered across his face and Tanaka can't help but smile too.
“Ryuu?” Nishinoya calls back, standing at the window. “Can I still come visit?”
“Yeah. Anytime. Thanks, Noya.”