Bonus Round 6: Remixes

[referees]

The goal is in sight, participants! Let's finish strong by drawing upon the thousands of fanworks you've created this summer and putting them in new lights.

SASO 2017 is over, but this round is perpetually open to new fills (no new prompts).

Please read this whole post before commenting to ensure that your team gets the most points possible.

RULES

• Choose a fanwork created by other participants in a previous main or bonus round of SASO 2017 and create a new piece based on it. You could create a fanart of another work, an FST inspired by a piece’s style, a podfic of someone else's work, retell another person’s fanfic from another point of view, create a new fanfic inspired by a great piece of art... go wild! Sequels do count as remixes, with limits: "And then the same thing happened again" is not ok, but "And then some totally new thing happened" is fine, and please don't create only sequels.
• You cannot remix your teammates' works. You cannot remix your own works. You can remix fills that were created to your own prompts.
• You can remix a remix, but if we see any remix chains we'll be upset, so do this with moderation and restraint.
• You must have permission from the original creator. There's a blanket permissions post here (feel free to add yourself to it!), or you can leave a comment on their original post asking for permission.
• You must include the dreamwidth link to the original work in your post.
• Since all fills are based on previous works, there will be no prompts for this round. Simply post your fill as a comment in response 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)
• 8 tracks (fanmixes)

There is no max work cap.

Format your 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. Any way you format it is fine. Replace RATING with the rating of your fill (G - E) Copy/paste/fill out the following form into your comment box. Delete the guidance text that's in parentheses. (Please delete all text in parentheses as you go. LEAVE THE HEADER HTML ALONE or the bonus round scoring program can't parse your comment. Don't forget a comment subject!) <strong>Ship:</strong> <strong>Fandom:</strong> <strong>Major Tags:</strong> (https://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/1609.html, when applicable; otherwise write "None".) <strong>Other Tags:</strong> (anything else that you feel requires tagging; can include jokey tumblr-style tags here; may also pull from the "Additional Tags" list from the URL above, if applicable; otherwise, write "None" here.) <strong>Original Work:</strong> <a href="url">link</a> (place the DW link here) <strong>Word Count:</strong> (if applicable; otherwise write "None") (Place any author/artist's notes BEFORE the asterisks. Leave the asterisks alone or you may not get points!) *** (Place your fill here. You can use HTML. FOR NSFW FILLS, please cross-link these fills and use clear tags. Refer to the body of the post above for more information. To place an image in your comment, use this code: <img src="LINK TO YOUR IMAGE" alt="DESCRIPTION OF YOUR IMAGE"/>. Thumbnails only, please; more info @ http://referees.dreamwidth.org/5647.html#images ) NSFW FILLS: Please cross-link these fills and tag them clearly. saso_afterhours is open to all NSFW fills. Written/text fills can be hosted on AO3 or saso_afterhours ONLY. Art/visual fills can be hosted anywhere; you may include a small safe-for-work thumbnail of the fill in your comment.

FILL: TEAM GRANDSTAND, [RATING] Replace RATING with the rating of your fill (G - E) Copy/paste/fill out the following form into your comment box. Delete the guidance text that's in parentheses. (Please delete all text in parentheses as you go. LEAVE THE HEADER HTML ALONE or the bonus round scoring program can't parse your comment. Don't forget a comment subject!) <strong>Ship:</strong> <strong>Fandom:</strong> <strong>Major Tags:</strong> (https://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/1609.html, when applicable; otherwise write "None".) <strong>Other Tags:</strong> (anything else that you feel requires tagging; can include jokey tumblr-style tags here; may also pull from the "Additional Tags" list from the URL above, if applicable; otherwise, write "None" here.) <strong>Original Work:</strong> <a href="url">link</a>(place the DW link here) <strong>Word Count:</strong> (if applicable; otherwise write "None") (Place any author/artist's notes BEFORE the asterisks. Leave the asterisks alone or you may not get points!) *** (Place your fill here. You can use HTML. FOR NSFW FILLS, please cross-link these fills and use clear tags. Refer to the body of the post above for more information. To place an image in your comment, use this code: <img src="LINK TO YOUR IMAGE" alt="DESCRIPTION OF YOUR IMAGE"/>. Thumbnails only, please; more info @ http://referees.dreamwidth.org/5647.html#images ) NSFW FILLS: Please cross-link these fills and tag them clearly. saso_afterhours is open to all NSFW fills. Written/text fills can be hosted on AO3 or saso_afterhours ONLY. Art/visual fills can be hosted anywhere; you may include a small safe-for-work thumbnail of the fill in your comment.

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.

If you see anyone breaking the code of conduct (e.g., causing drama, being rude) anywhere (not just DW), please contact the mods immediately.

SCORING

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

For prompts: 5 points each (maximum of 50 prompt points per team per round)

For fills:
First 4 fills by any member of your team: 20 points each
Fills 5-10: 15 points each
Fills 11-20: 5 points each
Fills 21-50: 2 points each
Fills 51+: 1 point 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 (see the line of links below this post).

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

Comments

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, G

[wino]

Ship: ushijima/oikawa
Fandom: haikyuu
Major Tags: gore imagery
Other Tags: none
Original Work: link by kiyala
Word Count: 500

***

Ushijima Wakatoshi is many things, but one thing he is not is prone to exaggeration. He prefers to speak plainly, in simple and understandable terms, and he hasn't an inkling of why anyone would want to do otherwise. His speech is blunt, his demeanor serious, and he comes across as someone who does not tolerate nonsense. At least, not in himself. The sort of person that tends to occupy his thoughts, that he seems drawn to despite his better judgement, tends to be the exact opposite of this.

It's not the first time he thinks that Oikawa has made him into something he's not, though that is not entirely accurate. Oikawa simply makes him learn things about himself he did not previously know, or refused to entertain, until it becomes impossible to. It's impossible to ignore Oikawa (though it's not as if Ushijima has tried.)

Ushijima is not prone to exaggeration, which is why there it can only be true when he says that he would have turned out differently if he had not met Oikawa. Without him, Ushijima would not have known that such tenacity existed in someone else; he would not have known that he is capable of so much wanting in himself.

There was no shortage of glances exchanged between them in their first match against each other, but it's the one Oikawa shoots his way when the match has ended that sticks in Ushijima's mind, a gaze that he sees behind his eyelids when he tries to sleep. It was vicious, and it promised vengeance.

Ushijima almost regretted not giving him the opportunity to claim it, though somehow he knows that if he had relented at all in the duration of their six-year rivalry, it would have been a greater slight, one that Oikawa would not forgive.

So he took the dagger in Oikawa's eyes and plunged it into his heart, trying to reconcile his desire to play alongside Oikawa with the reality that Oikawa does not share it. Oikawa had never needed his help to grow, a fact that made him realize he was wrong.

And Oikawa had foretold his loss, forcing him to acknowledge that he wasn't as strong as he thought.

Without it, he might have continued believing he was invincible. Without it, he would not have been so inclined to apologize to Oikawa when they find themselves in the same university, on the same team. Without it, he would not have been witness to Oikawa pulling the dagger out of his chest, sliding it cleanly from between his ribs, Oikawa's smile no longer as sharp as its edge when he says, "I suppose even someone as obstinate as you could change, Ushiwaka-chan."

Ushijima considers holding his tongue, because Oikawa might accuse him of lying, but he's confident that in all the time they've known each other, Oikawa has grown to know him too, enough to know that there are no theatrics in Ushijima's reply, just pure, unadulterated truth:

"Only because of you."

Fill: Team Grandstand, G

[babster]

Ship: Yamamoto Taketora/Kozume Kenma
Fandom: Haikyuu
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: none
Original Work: link
Word Count: 595

that picture was so soft; i wanted to write something soft for it

***

Tora’s loud. It’s a fact, one that permeates most everything he does, so that even things that are supposed to be quiet, like whispering, or pulling faces, or being unable to talk to girls, are somehow loud when he does them. It can be exhausting, on those days Kenma wakes up with his patience already frayed, but he’s grown used to it. And Tora’s good at redirecting that loudness and energy into his spikes on the court. Sometimes, Kenma finds himself encouraging him.

I think you need to make a little more noise, Tora.

But Kenma has a secret. Tora, for all his loudness, can be quiet and still for hours on end, fast asleep. It’s not something he does regularly, or it wouldn’t be a secret—they had all shared rooms during training camps before, and Tora snores and tosses and turns his way through the nights in a way they all learned to tune out for their own sanity.

No, this quietness comes only when Tora is sleeping next to someone. Sleeping with them.

Kenma remembers how he discovered this, back when they were still treading around the edges of the thing they have now.


He’d been at Tora’s house, invited over to study and play games and to pretend he didn’t notice when Tora brushed his hand “accidentally,” or Tora’s blushes when he leaned in close to point something out. After a few hours, they wound up playing games on the futon Tora had set up next to his bed. Kenma, lost in his game, barely noticed when Tora grew quiet. He did, however, notice when Tora slumped against his shoulder, fast asleep. He froze for a moment, unsure, but his game beeped quietly at him and he dove back in on reflex. Tora didn’t stir.

Tora’s weight made playing a bit trickier, but it was comfortable, too. He smelled clean from the bath, and he was so warm. Kenma felt sleep tugging at him, and it seemed like too much effort to get out of the futon and into Tora’s bed, so he pushed Tora to the side and lay down. If Tora kicked him awake, he’d change beds.

Instead, he woke up at dawn, cuddled up to Tora’s side. To his surprise, Tora was in almost the exact same position he’d been before Kenma fell asleep. Tora’s face was turned Kenma’s way, and he’d caught his hand in the bottom of Kenma’s shirt somehow, but otherwise, he was still and quiet in a way he’d never been.

Kenma was fascinated. Tora was a sharp sort of handsome, with his strong jaw and animated face, but here and now, his mouth and eyelashes looked so soft. He’d never seen Tora like this. He hadn’t known it was possible for Tora to look like this.

Kenma watched him a little longer, then let himself drift off back to sleep. He didn’t move; either Tora would say something or he wouldn’t, but either way, he was comfortable where he was.

(Tora didn’t say anything that day. Or rather, he said a lot, but nothing Kenma was interested in. The next time they studied together, though, Tora made his move.)


That was the first time Kenma had seen Tora like that; thankfully, it wasn’t the last. It’s Kenma’s secret, one he feels unusually possessive of. Tora is loud, and fun, and sometimes irritating, easy to rile. He’s bright smiles and awful faces and wild movements. And sometimes, at night or first thing in the morning, he’s soft and quiet and still in Kenma’s arms.

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, G

[wino]

Ship: ushijima/oikawa
Fandom: haikyuu
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: none
Original Work: link by avioletqueen
Word Count: 689

***

He did not have any sort of expectation regarding Oikawa's subsequent reaction, mostly because he had not known in advance either. If he had, though, he still would have tried not to have any such expectations because Oikawa would have turned them on their heads anyway, rendering the entire thought exercise moot.

So when Oikawa does not exclaim profanities or point accusingly in his direction when he enters the dorm room they are apparently sharing, Ushijima is not surprised. Relief is closer to what he's feeling, though that is short-lived, because Oikawa presses his mouth into a thin line and says, acidly, "if you expect me to make a fuss, you'll be sorely disappointed, Ushiwaka-chan. How presumptuous."

He returns to unpacking his things, having already claimed one side of the room. Ushijima sets his own bag down on the unoccupied bed, ignoring how Oikawa seems intent on ignoring him.

-

True to his word, Oikawa does not make a fuss, not in his usual fashion. He does not request a room transfer, nor does he make snide remarks about Ushijima following him wherever he goes. What he does commit to are mild displays of spite—keeping the lights on when Ushijima is trying to sleep, or talking loudly on his mobile phone when Ushijima is trying to study—as if to remind Ushijima that he might be welcome in their room, but not Oikawa's life.

Ushijima has no counterattack, nor does he plan on putting one together. One does not fight fire with fire, especially not when that fire was started by a certain Oikawa Tooru.

-

Their stalemate begins to shift with a gesture that seems inconsequential in the grand scheme of things: Ushijima stocking their mini fridge with Oikawa's favorite brand of soy milk. He had noticed its absence, and thoughtlessly picked up a few cartons on his own grocery run.

He walks in on Oikawa reading on his bed, with a glass of it on the bedside table. Upon his entrance, Oikawa looks up, stricken, for a moment, as if he is so accustomed to Ushijima's candor that it did not occur to him that Ushijima could be kind.

"Uh," says Oikawa, once he has recovered enough of his composure, "thanks for this, Ushiwaka-chan."

There's no bite to it, unlike all the other times he has used the nickname. Ushijima considers it a small victory.

-

It all changes for good, one day, when Ushijima finds four potted plants at their windowsill instead of the three he owns. He waits for Oikawa to get home, and get settled in, before asking, with a tilt of his head towards the plants, "did you buy one for yourself?"

Oikawa blinks, his eyes flicking over to the windowsill before meeting Ushijima's again. "Ah, no. That's for you." He sighs, face twisted in consternation. "Surprise, surprise, Oikawa-san's not very well-versed in apologies."

It's Ushijima's turn to blink in surprise. "Apologies?"

"For being a dick."

"I did not think you were—"

"Don't fight me on this." Oikawa's mouth curves up at a corner. "You know, I considered not watering them that one weekend you were away. I did, obviously, but. You wouldn't have forgiven me if I just let them die. Not even you have that much patience."

Ushijima turns the words over in his mind, and decides, "you're right, I wouldn't have. I'm glad you didn't."

"Yeah," says Oikawa, holding his gaze. "Me too."

-

Later into the future, after four years of university, Oikawa presses a key into his palm after they have both packed up their things.

"That opens the door to a 2LDK in Shibuya. It's yours, if you want it."

Ushijima glances at the walls of their room, empty and bare without all the things that used to make it home, a stark contrast to the vast world of possibilities that the key in his hand offers. He looks into Oikawa's waiting eyes and seals what he hopes are the next four years of their lives, and maybe even more after that, with his next words.

"Yes, I do," he says, unable to help a smile. "I do want it."

FILL: Team Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, G

[mousapelli]

Ship: Bokuto/Akaashi, Bokuto/Akaashi/Kuroo
Fandom: Haikyuu
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: domestic dragon fluff, Bokuto is a gem, Akaashi picked up some humans unexpectedly
Original Work: here
Word Count: 662

Bokuto accidentally hatching a dragon egg was one of the cutest fills that I got last round, aawww.

***

Akaashi didn't have the world's biggest affection for humans, and it wasn't hard to figure out why. Despite the depth of the dark woods and the rumors that any band of hunters who went after the dragons there were never heard from again, every year or two a party rode in to try their luck, the prestige of taking down a dragon just too much to resist. And to make everything worse, although Akaashi didn't like to stereotype, it always seemed like the head of the hunting group was some prince or some such thing, someone any dragon would have more sense than to kill if they didn't want the King of Whereversville coming back to burn the whole place to the ground in revenge. Best bet was to show yourself and scare them off if at all possible, or else they'd hang around in the woods for days, scaring all the tasty deer away.

It was a little embarrassing that Akaashi had been caught by just such a group, but he'd been napping. He'd found a nice sun warm rock and been out entirely cold when the group stumbled over him, bugles blaring, dogs howling, horses stomping, and Akaashi had been jarred awake with a snort of fire that took out a whole stand of lilac bushes. Which he was unfortunately allergic to. Unable to see through the sneezing, Akaashi launched himself in a random direction over the trees, but not before he'd take a few spears in the side and a very unlucky crossbow bolt to the wing joint. The crash landing did more damage to Akaashi than the hunters could have hoped to, and in the end there was no choice but to gather his energy into his smaller, egglike form and just wait it out.

He hadn't counted on Bokuto. Akaashi gets the feeling that nobody ever quite counts on Bokuto, his shouting and warmth and the way he sings first thing in the morning.

"You're scaring the rabbits," Akaashi murmurs, opening one eye just enough to look Bokuto over. He's teasing; the rabbits are out of earshot, calmly nibbling clover in the lightening dawn, the black kind from the base of the mountain that are worth a dragon's time if he's not particularly hungry.

"Oh! Sorry?" Bokuto is kneeling beside the campfire he and Kuroo had cooked dinner over last night, stirring the ashes to try to bring it back to life. Kuroo is still fast asleep on the other side of the fire, chest rising and falling steadily. "I guess rabbits don't like singing." Bokuto bites his lip, sneaking a shy glance at Akaashi. "Do dragons like singing?"

"We prefer the whistle of the wind over the mountain, or when it moans through caves." Akaashi picks up his head to nudge Bokuto's shoulder. "But some of what you sang to me when I was resting wasn't…intolerable."

"You heard that?" Bokuto turns bright red, and Akaashi understands why because a lot of it was obviously made up on the spot and quite ridiculous. "Akaaaashi!"

"I did." Akaashi heaves himself to his feet, shaking off the leaves that have fallen onto his back overnight. "Particularly the one about the cat and the owl. Would you sing me that one again later? For now, if you can contain yourself, I might be able to catch us breakfast."

Bokuto grins at him, eyes lit up with adoration that hasn't waned in the slightest despite sleeping on the ground and getting rained on more than once. "You're amazing."

"Yes, and I suppose you'll do as well." Dragon's don't smile, but Akaashi puffs air to make Bokuto's hair blow back. "Wake up Kuroo while I'm gone, hm?"

Akaashi takes off with a thump of his tail pushing off against the ground and the whoosh of his wings dragging air. Behind him he hears an exasperated groan from Bokuto. "That's totally the harder chore, and you know it!"

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, T

[hatchbacks]

Ship: Kagami/Himuro
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Other Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Original Work: link by kiyala
Word Count: 403

***

It hurts more when he thinks about his fist connecting with Taiga’s face when he thinks about his lips connecting with Taiga’s before, back when he could at least pretend things were better even though they’d both been keeping up the farce of brothers (and Taiga had still really believed). He’d sullied their bond with this long before any of his stupid incompetence as a role model on the court had taken foot outside of his head, before Taiga had noticed (even if it had only been a matter of time).

He closes his eyes and sees Taiga stumble back and clutch his face; he squeezes them shut and sees Taiga, halfway confused but his lips parted with pleasure; he knows how soft they are and that they look like they’ve just been kissed because they have, because he’s been the one kissing them. It hurts more; it hurts like his mouth has just been punched, like his lips are about to swell up from an allergic reaction, because he’s not good enough to kiss Taiga without his nature showing itself. But when he reaches up a hand, his lips are the same as ever, normal sized. Taiga’s the one bearing the bruise; Tatsuya’s got nothing to show for it, not even the hurt open on his face. And does he even deserve to be hurt? After all he’d done to Tatsuya, he doesn’t deserve to pretend he’s the most affected. He’d got what was coming to him, for acting like that, for thinking like that, for not being good enough in the first place.

He closes his eyes and Taiga’s kissing him back, like the way he’d just kissed Taiga, learning quickly, this just like basketball, holding him and pulling him closer. He’d burned with the dishonesty, even then; this is the closest he’ll ever get to the real thing. He hadn’t said then, that hey, we’re not actually brothers, I like you in a different way. What would Taiga have done? Tatsuya doesn’t want to think about it; any possibility would have been the worst. Rejection, acceptance, two blades of the same sword, nothing he’d been prepared for. Only to just stay in that liminal state where he could pretend to fool himself, except even that had stopped working. He’s not good at anything, and he’s especially no good at that, what kind of worthless man? What kind of worthless brother?

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, T

[hatchbacks]

Ship: Kagami/Himuro
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Other Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Original Work: link by kiyala
Word Count: 428

idk what a metahuman is but i did my best for kagahimu

***

“You take,” says the man leaning over him, trying to look intimidating but really looking like some kind of fake punk juvenile delinquent (Tatsuya’s seen the real thing; they’re not that scarier but more of a threat than this person).

“I take,” Tatsuya repeats.

The words seem to reverberate in the bubble he’s in, and he feels even more isolated but maybe that’s the point. He wouldn’t want to use his ability; he never does; it’s just the nasty part of him, crawling under his skin. If he escapes he’ll still be inside it but at least people will be safe. They beat questions down at him but he’s seen fists; he’s seen abilities that vanish and fall to the ground between himself and someone else, and he’s trying hard but he’d always saved his hardest trying for Taiga. Because Taiga’s ability was the most beautiful, the reason he’d gone to that lab and said make me that, turn me into a monster. Be careful what you wish for, twenty-twenty hindsight; he’s not the kind of monster good people want to work with (he could, if only; he could be the type of person who steals evil people’s powers except who is he to decide what’s good and evil, and once they’re gone they don’t go anywhere tangible; he doesn’t get them). The questions stop; they sense he’s no longer listening.

He’d seen Taiga on the way in; he’d known it would come to this, but if there’s anything Tatsuya’s always been good at it’s lying. Lying that he’s alright, lying that he’s not in pain when it’s taking every bit of effort for his body not to suck away and siphon of Taiga’s powers. Lying about why he’d left, making Taiga blame him (if he’d said it was to protect Taiga, he’d be on Tatsuya’s tail in a minute flat claiming that powers don’t matter when they’re nearly everything that does; Taiga would make him crumble and that’s all it would take). Taiga closes the door behind him; it’s the first time in years that Tatsuya hasn’t had to concentrate on his abilities just to stay in the same room with him. A relief. He can think clearer than he has in a long time with Taiga.

"Hello, Taiga. You know why I did it, don't you?"

“Yeah,” says Taiga, and it hurts a little more because Tatsuya knows it’s working, that Taiga thinks Tatsuya thinks a certain way, a way that wouldn’t be true even from the most twisted points of view. “It’s my fault.”

FILL: TEAM miyuki kazuya/sawamura eijun, G

[hilaryfun]

Ship: Takigawa Chris Yuu/Miyuki Kazuya
Fandom: Daiya no Ace
Major Tags: None
Other Tags: None
Original Work: link
Word Count: None

It's a few years later - Father Chris has been promoted to Bishop when he spots a face he thought he'd never see again. The demon looks a bit different, but it's still him all the same.

***

FILL: TEAM miyuki kazuya/sawamura eijun, E

[hilaryfun]

Ship: Miyuki Kazuya/Sawamura Eijun
Fandom: Daiya no Ace
Major Tags: Sexual content
Other Tags: None
Original Work: link
Word Count: None

A few weeks later Sawamura returns the favor in the laundry room.

***
Art Link

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, E

[hatchbacks]

Ship: Murasakibara/Himuro
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Other Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Original Work: link by kiyala
Word Count: 417

***

http://saso-afterhours.dreamwidth.org/91239.html

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, E

[hatchbacks]

Ship: Murasakibara/Himuro
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Other Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Original Work: link by kiyala
Word Count: 456

***

http://saso-afterhours.dreamwidth.org/91439.html

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, T

[hatchbacks]

Ship: Alex/Masako
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Other Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Original Work: link by kiyala
Word Count: 438

***

It’s the day before her birthday; Alex is too old for foolish wishes made because she’s too stubborn to take care of something herself but she makes one anyway. It’s already the eighth in Akita, the land Alex always pictures in perpetual snowfall even though Masako’s always complaining about the humidity when it hits August. Alex had missed that this year; there’s a lot she’s missed. (Not enough to call her and apologize, the more vindictive part of her mind says, but.)

She’s tired, but calling Masako on her own birthday would put Masako in an unfair position, even if she'd ignore whatever bait Alex tried to float in front of her. They both know that, and so Alex lets the phone fall into her lap. Even months after their fight, she misses it; the loneliness is like a hole that she refuses to fill, even with empty air. She’s holding a place for Masako, in the hopes of what?

The phone vibrates; it’s probably an email alert, another drugstore coupon. It vibrates again; her dad must have gotten the date of her birthday wrong and she looks at the face. It’s Masako, because of course it is. It rings; this is her fucking chance, and when she picks it up, finally, she’s afraid she’s missed it. But the face of her phone is green.

“Masako?”

“Alex. It’s still the seventh for you; I should have realized.”

“It’s the eighth where you are. Is this a birthday call?”

She hears Masako breathe on the other line, comfortable and familiar but with the space between them so clear and apparent, space for their fight to settle around them like a poisonous snake around both of their necks, ready to squeeze and bite. She hears the sound of the faucet in the background, probably Masako getting the kettle ready for the sea; her routine’s the same and Alex resists the temptation to assume it means that everything is the same, that she can still slide back in.

But Masako had called her on her birthday, and even if that means she's not about to tackle anything serious it also means she hadn’t called to break up with Alex for good, to suggest they should make the chill of this fight permanent. A peace offering, if they’re both feeling enerous, and Alex is. So she listens to the water, from pipes half a world away, the sound of Masako breathing, clicking her tongue and snapping down the cap on the spout, and thinks of what exactly she should say to extend her own hand back and show Masako she means it.

Re: FILL: Team Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, G

[babster]

this is so cute! it feels like a natural continuation of the first story, and i love your dragon thoughts (Akaashi didn't like to stereotype!). an adorable story

Re: FILL: Team Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, G

[chromatic_coma]

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!! I have to apologize that I'm only getting to this now, I have been kind of overwhelmed with life the past few days but I FINALLY got to read this and it's perfect. I love that you showed this phone conversation from the other end and fleshed out the little Tsukishima gen 2 family so, so much with so few words and actions. You added so much depth to them all and especially to Akiteru than even I had considered with my focus on Kei's POV. I love that using Hayato is Saeko's evil plan, I love that she's studying and encouraging her son's playfulness at the same time, I love that Akiteru is trying to be the "man of the house", Hayato seems so encouraged and loved between them, all of this is exactly my favorite flavor of kidfic ♥♥♥ Thank you!!

Re: FILL: Team Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, G

[mousapelli]

Thank you so much! I actually think Saeko and Akiteru would be a killer combination even if it started out earlier than planned XD

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, T

[hatchbacks]

Ship: Kise/Himuro
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Other Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Original Work: link by kiyala
Word Count: 402

***

There’s a lot of familiar territory that they’re treading with each other, a little bit like a mirror but not in the usual way Ryouta adapts to fit into a reflection. They’re both pretty; they both know how to lie; they both lie in the same kind of way, so there’s a lot that stays unspoken between them (except Ryouta likes to talk until Tatsuya takes it as a challenge to meet him and matches his wit, his sword lighter and jabbing with little pricks but forcing back Ryouta’s heavier weapon just as well). There are things they don’t have to say, words that pass between them like fish in a pond, visible from above the water in bright patterns of white and flashing gold.

Ryouta tries to fake him out, and he’s not used to being on level ground, but Tatsuya takes it for the advantage it is. After all, Ryouta’s got the advantage on the court, the advantage that he shouldn’t have but wields and presses down because he knows exactly what it means to Tatsuya. So this time Tatsuya doesn’t say he’s too familiar with lies to let Ryouta slip this one by him; it’s obvious enough.

“I’d tell you to try harder, but it won’t work.” (Bait, if Ryouta sees fit to take it.)

“No fair, Himuro-san. I don’t have anything on you at all. Where’s the fun in that?”

Tatsuya grins halfway, just enough to twist his face and twist the rubber knife in Ryouta’s side. “I don’t know. It’s pretty fun for me.”

“Rude,” Ryouta says, a huff and a pout on his lips, the pretty sort of whiny that everyone thinks they are but nobody is, except for him, somehow (and oh, Tatsuya cannot resist spoiling him; it’s another thing that’s entirely too much fun when the reward is Ryouta’s pretty smile, a kiss he’d have given anyway but that feels earned).

This kiss is to prove a point, though, when he leans over the back of the couch and pushes his mouth against Tatsuya’s, his tongue between Tatsuya’s lips, hard and fast and without breath, in a way he knows Tatsuya can’t meet him physically, but if this is what Tatsuya’s got to give up—a brief dazed expression, another kiss returned, his lips swelling from being kissed so much, so hard, well. Better this than something he holds a little bit closer.

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, T

[hatchbacks]

Ship: Nijimura/Himuro
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Other Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Original Work: link by kiyala
Word Count: 543

***

It’s a few days before Shuuzou starts to feel like something’s not right, a few weeks before he begins to remember. It’s like the spires of buildings through the fog, only he’s not quite sure where he’d seen that before; the memories slip away like rain down the side of floor to ceiling windows all over again. Like a dream, maybe, only everything is so wrong here, as wrong as it is right.

“You want to leave,” Tatsuya says after a time. “I won’t stop you.”

The thing is, he’s happy here, with Tatsuya. There is some part of him that feels at peace, like this is the right thing, that this is where he should be. Of course Tatsuya is beautiful—leagues beyond anyone Shuuzou’s ever seen, though everyone here is beautiful and he can’t quite remember anyone else even though he must have had a family. A place to belong, a home. He thinks, quite suddenly, of a bridge he’d crossed, only he hadn’t crossed it; he’d stopped halfway and jumped off, safe in Tatsuya’s arms.

The spires back in Tokyo, the home that he cannot go back to. His parents, stuck in Los Angeles, the path that leads back from the bridge to the hospital; he thinks of it, step over step, hands on the rope in his mind that ties everything to that memory. He doesn’t want to go; he thinks of how kind Tatsuya’s been to him. He thinks of how happy Tatsuya looks when he thinks Shuuzou’s not looking. He thinks of Tatsuya’s ethereal beauty, how clearly he’s not exactly human, how his skin glows in the dark with a lunar luminescence.

It seems like a trap, but Tatsuya’s word is as it’s given, a priceless prize. Shuuzou wonders how many other people he’s had to let go, how many he didn’t, and decides it's not worth thinking about. He wonders how many years it’s been; he stares at his reflection in the water only he doesn’t quite remember what he’s supposed to look like. And he leaves, out of the lush meadows, down the hill until it becomes too steep and he skids, tumbling down, eyes closed, arms over his head, until—

“Jesus Christ, kid, why are you trying to pull a stunt like that? Falling into a ditch?”

Shuuzou looks up; above him the sun is harsh and the skyline is dotted with mountains and buildings. And right in front of him there’s a bridge, a middle-aged man smoking a cigarette.

“I fell,” says Shuuzou.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t see you jump but—never mind.”

There’s a creek here in the spring, Shuuzou thinks, and maybe the weather would say it’s the spring but it must be the fall. When had he left? He can’t remember; his head hurts; where had he gone? He thinks about rain on glass buildings, like the times he’d cut school and hung out downtown.

“Need help?”

Shuuzou shakes his head, gets to his feet. Some part of his mind says he’d best avoid the route that uses this bridge in the future, and it’s probably superstition, avoiding some nasty fall, however he’d ended up there. He’s not sure where he’d been going, but he has to get home.

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, T

[hatchbacks]

Ship: Nijimura/Himuro
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Other Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Original Work: link by kiyala
Word Count: 504

***

The biggest mistake Shuuzou had made with Tatsuya was assuming he could be satisfied with himself, assuming he could ever find himself enough, assuming he wouldn’t arbitrarily keep moving the goalposts. He’s gotten better and worse in bits after going away, more better but still in some ways more critical. A precise definition of the ways he doesn’t measure up, no longer directed at phantom long ago rivals but a list of traits, a list of things he’s decided he ought to be able to do, talents he can’t have but will continue to chase as they’re held just beyond his reach.

“Tatsuya,” Shuuzou says. “This is enough.”

Tatsuya looks at him, face hardening up as if to make itself impenetrable but not before the tiniest bit of hopelessness escapes, like he wants to believe but he can’t believe, that it would be nice but just look at what he’s comparing himself to—and, yeah, to an extent Shuuzou gets it. It’s more about one unreachable person than anyone else, someone he’d give his right arm for whose level to ascend to, something he wants so badly to share, something that person would be willing to share with him if he could. But Tatsuya, as much as he’d improved, is still within Shuuzou’s reach as a player (not that Shuuzou hasn’t improved, too); that’s not nothing. At least, it doesn’t feel like nothing to Shuuzou, the one time out of every ten he beats or ties Tatsuya, the next time Tatsuya comes back and trashes him, pulling out every reserve he can. Tatsuya is enough, more than enough, like this, even if it’s impossible to make him see that.

He’d thought, once, that it’s that Tatsuya wants to be the best. That’s not quite it; Tatsuya does want to be the best and he wants to win every game, every quarter, every one on one, but there’s layers and layers of reason behind it, the things that had seemed tangential at the start (if only because Tatsuya had pretended they were that way and Shuuzou hadn’t known him well enough to see through the lie) that are integral. Tatsuya’s brother, the disparity between the two of them, the growing gulf, the Generation of Miracles—people who are on Tatsuya’s brother’s level with half the effort Tatsuya makes in clawing all the way up to his own, the fact that there are people out there, enough others to get there that Tatsuya should be able to, and yet. It’s more than that; Shuuzou’s just scratched through to the next level as even more are being built on top of that. And maybe Tatsuya will never let him all the way in, but does he need to when the answer is this simple?

“You are enough," Shuuzou says, as their lips meet, and this is not the time he will believe it, but perhaps it will build the foundation on which to put the battering ram that will finally get through to Tatsuya that he is.

FILL: TEAM HIMURO TATSUYA/NIJIMURA SHUUZOU, T

[hatchbacks]

Ship: Mayuzumi/Himuro
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Major Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Other Tags: TAGS OMITTED
Original Work: link by kiyala
Word Count: 417

***

God, Chihiro had had the weirdest fucking dream and it’s not even good enough to write any of it down for a book. Talking snowmen, ice palaces, sounds like that Disney movie that Tatsuya’s little cousin had forced them to sit through (“You talk like it’s prison, Chihiro,” Tatsuya had said, and Chihiro had had things to write, intellectual conversations to have with Tatsuya; kids that age should nap and television is not good for their brains, but Tatsuya’s the one with the patience to deal with the kid, on the other hand) but on the other hand, what the fuck. That’s the last time Chihiro’s staying up fifty hours straight to get to some deadline (he’d said that last time, but there had been considerably less in the way of energy drinks, Tatsuya worrying, and shitty dreams). He looks at the clock; he could have been asleep ten or twenty-two hours, not that it really matters. Tatsuya should be home, regardless of the time.

He’s sitting on the couch, reading the paper.

“I had a dream you literally froze me out because I forgot our anniversary,” says Chihiro. “Also, you made a talking snowman. It was fucking hideous.”

“Sounds like a great book,” says Tatsuya. “You should write it down.”

“Ha, ha,” says Chihiro. “Not my demographic.”

“Do we even have an anniversary?” says Tatsuya.

“All couples do,” says Chihiro.

“You mean you don’t remember?”

“You don’t, either; you’d better not plunge the world into an ice age after you pick some arbitrary date and I don’t, like, psychically know it.”

“Go back to bed,” says Tatsuya. “You need at least fifteen more hours of sleep if you’re going to be like this.”

Chihiro ignores him and flops down on the couch, stealing Tatsuya’s mug of coffee (gross, but Tatsuya never drinks tea and at least it’s warm because for some reason Tatsuya had left the space heater off and opened the window—maybe that’s why he’d been dreaming about ice, because Tatsuya likes everything so damn drafty and uncomfortable, even if he acts like it’s because he wants to hold Chihiro tighter or some sappy romantic shit). Tatsuya doesn’t glance at it, reading some article (or pretending to) about some business shit that he’s not actually interested in. He can fake ignoring Chihiro all he wants; Chihiro knows when he’s noticed and when he’s not. And if Tatsuya’s got to pretend to ignore him, he’s going to chalk up another tally in his favor.

FILL: TEAM KAGEYAMA TOBIO/OIKAWA TOORU, G

[dynamite]

Ship: kominato ryousuke / kuramochi youichi
Fandom: daiya no ace
Major Tags: tags omitted
Other Tags: graphics fill
Original Work: link by kitaiichis
Word Count: none

***

linked here!

FILL: TEAM KAGEYAMA TOBIO/OIKAWA TOORU, G

[dynamite]

Ship: kominato ryousuke / kuramochi youichi
Fandom: daiya no ace
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: graphics fill
Original Work: link by multilinear
Word Count: none

***

linked here!

FILL: TEAM KAGEYAMA TOBIO/OIKAWA TOORU, G

[dynamite]

Ship: arakita yasutomo / toudou jinpachi
Fandom: yowapeda
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: graphics fill
Original Work: link by garciraki
Word Count: none

***

FILL: TEAM KAGEYAMA TOBIO/OIKAWA TOORU, G

[dynamite]

Ship: kuramochi youichi / miyuki kazuya
Fandom: daiya no ace
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: graphics fill
Original Work: link by sotongsotong
Word Count: none

***

linked here!

FILL: TEAM KAGEYAMA TOBIO/OIKAWA TOORU, T

[dynamite]

Ship: furuya satoru / kominato ryousuke
Fandom: daiya no ace
Major Tags: tags omitted
Other Tags: tags omitted; graphics fill
Original Work: link by snowysatoru
Word Count: none

***

linked here!

FILL: TEAM KAGEYAMA TOBIO/OIKAWA TOORU, G

[dynamite]

Ship: kuramochi youichi / miyuki kazuya
Fandom: daiya no ace
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: anatomical drawing of lungs, graphics fill
Original Work: link by sotongsotong
Word Count: none

***

linked here!

FILL: TEAM KAGEYAMA TOBIO/OIKAWA TOORU, G

[dynamite]

Ship: miyuki kazuya / takigawa chris yuu
Fandom: daiya no ace
Major Tags: none
Other Tags: original: pining, drifting apart; graphics fill
Original Work: link by sotongsotong
Word Count: none

***

linked here!