Yuri Shipping Olympics

Overthrowing a monarch

From:

warnings: death, violence, blood. cinder fall kills a man

//

Winter raises her sword, mouth pressed into a hard line. Up on the elevator, Ironwood’s gun is still up, aimed directly at her — and that’s the thing, she thinks; he won’t hesitate to shoot her from up here, he won’t give her a fair fight. The most she can do is keep him away from the kids, because he won’t give them a fair fight either.

Fuck, it’s always the most she can do. It’s always the same, isn’t it? Leave and let Ironwood take that gun into the gate; leave and let her father sink his claws into Weiss and Whitley, leave and leave and leave —

The elevator docks at the bottom of the cavern. Ironwood steps off, towards her, she thinks this is it, I’m not surviving this, and then a spear of fire burns straight through his chest.

He screams, she thinks. Or maybe Winter is screaming; maybe both of them are. She staggers back as he lurches forwards, staggers out of his grip as he reaches for her — he’s walking towards her, blood leaking from his mouth, clutching at his chest, gun forgotten —

A second spear of fire shoots through his neck, sends him toppling forward. Winter catches a glimpse of his eyes going wide with shock, then blank.

“You’re welcome,” a voice says, and Winter discovers that she’s fallen to her knees when a hand tilts up her chin. Cinder Fall locks eyes with her and hums, “Consider the debt repaid.”

Her mouth works; she searches for words and comes up empty. The only thing that surfaces is, “Why?” and again, “Why?”

Cinder smirks down at her, flame licking from her eyes. “For the Academy.”

“The Academy — the —”

“We owe each other nothing,” she says, stepping away. “Not anymore.” She tilts her chin down, looking past Ironwood’s body and the blood pooling on the ground underneath him. “A life for a life.”

“A —” Winter feels for her swords, gasping for air. The world seems very far away all of a sudden. “A — you killed him because — because I was seventeen once? You —”

“A life for a life,” Cinder repeats, eyes narrowing. “Run before I change my mind.”

From:

twyrewolf

Competitive Ski Jumping
Wandering off while waiting for results, climbing the jump towers at night, the friendly rivalry at training camps, etc.
(yes this is based on personal experience :3)

From:

realxeyez

Fellow competitors in the Lazy Olympics.

From:

Rigged/unfair competition

From:

asaphida

Words: 469
Fandom: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Ship: Adora/Catra

(I kind of combined this with your other prompt, forced to compete, because they worked so well together)

By the time Catra's turn comes up, Adora's swaying on her feet. Catra thinks Adora was right to say what she said - Adora can take every last one of these idiots - but as good as she is, sparring everyone in the class back-to-back isn't something any of them trained to do.

Adora swipes at the corner of her mouth, too fast for Catra to confirm that she was catching blood. She has the hard mechanical look in her eyes, the one that means that she's going to plow through whatever stands between her and victory, whether or not she'll be able to move afterwards. It's part of why Adora's the strongest cadet in their unit. It's also why Catra's scraped her off the locker room floor more times than she cares to count.

"Next," the instructor says, sounding bored with his own punishment. Adora rolls her shoulder and gives the smallest frown when she sees it's Catra, the way she does every time they're pit against each other, apologizing for winning before the first punch is thrown.

It's infuriating that Adora still thinks that she can beat Catra when she's clearly favoring her left side. It's breathtaking too.

Catra makes it quick. Adora's focused on guarding the broken ribs or whatever the hell is wrong on her bad side, so Catra goes for the spot on Adora's calf that Lonnie hit two matches ago. The way the leg buckles confirms that it's bruised or worse. Once Adora's down, Catra pins her while avoiding as many injuries as she can, and Adora's struggling is too exhausted to get out.

"Cool it," Catra mutters under the instructor's count, as Adora tries to twist out and winces hard at whatever that does to her side. "How long did you want to spend with the medics?"

Adora's teeth show blood-streaked in her grimace. Her breath comes quick and shallow. "You just want to win."

This isn't a victory, and it's just like Adora to consider it one. "I want you to get up tomorrow," Catra snaps. The ten seconds are almost up. Adora's sweaty skin burns to the touch. Catra can pretend that her heart rate jumps from physical effort.

The instant the instructor calls the match, Catra lets up, and Adora fights to sit up. "I'll take her to medical," Catra says, and no one argues.

That evening, Adora picks at her bandages and says, "I'll fight the rest of them tomorrow."

"I heard the medics tell you light duty," Catra says immediately. "I'll take you down again. I know your weakness, dummy."

Adora's mouth twitches. "Yeah?" Her eyes are alive now. "And what's that?"

Catra swallows, looks away. "Your giant stupid forehead," she says, mouth dry. "Obviously."

Adora laughs, and that's a better victory than Catra's ever found on the mat.

From:

sapphicam

Top pick x underdog

From:

Cheating vs Also Cheating

From:

Miorine can’t stop glancing to her left. It’s been a habit for a while, really, ever since Suletta sat down next to her for the first time in History she’s been unable to look away — but it’s only presenting a problem now, now that looking away could —

“Miss Rembran,” the teacher says sharply from the front of the classroom, “eyes on your own paper, please.”

She flushes furiously, turns back to glare hard at the essay in front of her. Next to her, Suletta is fidgeting nervously and staring down at the notes scribbled on her palm, and it’s all the more endearing for how unsubtle it is. She’s even muttering under her breath, Miorine thinks; it’s a miracle she hasn’t been caught yet.

Right, okay. Well, if they’re both cheating, she might as well get on with it. She looks up at the clock — one hour left, plenty of time to get through this essay question — and fidgets with her tie, flipping it up so the label on the end is facing her. It’s hardly the most practical way to cheat but it’s worth it; all she really needs is the Jeturk founding date and then she’s set.

Or she would be, if Suletta could stop muttering next to her.

“Shinsei founding date,” she thinks she hears, “1931.”

Miorine stiffens instantly. It takes a great deal of effort not to turn and look at her, curling her fingers into fists over the point of her tie. The Jeturk Heavy Machinery Company was founded in 1932 with the aim of competing with the Shinsei Development Corporation, she writes, and pauses — because Shinsei wasn’t founded in 1931, it was founded in 1928, and Suletta’s mother is the current CEO —

“No, no,” she hears, “no, it’s not, it’s — mom’s plaque. It’s mom’s plaque. Shinsei, S-H-I-N-S-E-I. Founded 1928, Benerit Group ‘n’ all.”

Apt. Miorine turns back to her tie and scribbles down the notes she can read onto the corner of her paper. She’s gotten pretty good at Benerit shorthand since she started cheating on her tests and her father openly refused to get her tested for ADHD. She thinks of it as a form of spite, really. And look at her now.

Suletta’s hand tilts towards her, and out of the corner of her eye, Miorine catches a glimpse of the scribbles on her palm. She thinks she recognises the same Benerit shorthand, admittedly in much more unreadable handwriting — the words and and the and CEO, something that could possibly be drastic action — and then she feels the teacher’s eyes settle on her and has to look away again.

From:

Industrial espionage

From:

sapphicam

Whoever gets a rise out of this very stoic person wins

From:

twyrewolf

Two speedrunners competing for the same record

Edited Date: 2024-07-17 05:08 am (UTC)

From:

"She is my rival. If you lay a hand on her, I'll fucking obliterate you."

From:

The hilt of Neo’s umbrella slams into Winter’s face. She stumbles backwards, clawing for any kind of defense, breath quickening in her ears — and Neo is faster, because of course she is. She disarms Winter easily, pushes her onto her back, raises her weapon high over her head —

— and a column of fire slams her away.

Winter’s ears are ringing too loudly to catch much of what goes on, but she hears a voice snarl something that sounds a lot like mine and my rival. My enemy. You touch her and I’ll obliterate you.

But that can’t be right, because that voice belongs to Cinder, and Cinder couldn’t possibly —

A hand appears in her blurry field of vision, black and snarled and sharp. Winter can’t help herself from recoiling a little.

“Get up,” Cinder says. “I’m not going to fight you today. Get up.”

She shakes her head to clear it, struggling for breath. “Why?”

Cinder snorts, laughing. It’s not a cruel sound. Winter has always thought she has a pretty laugh. “You have a concussion. I said you were mine, and Neo didn’t listen. I’m not fighting you if you’re not mine.”

“That’s —” She blinks hard. Something presses into her hand, something cold and metal and solid — her sword. Cinder isn’t standing over her anymore, she’s crouched beside her, and there’s a strangled kind of familiarity in her eyes. “That’s. What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing’s going on with me.” Her eyes flare bright. Winter, foolishly, childishly, shrinks back. “Consider it a debt repaid.”

“A debt,” Winter echoes. The word isn’t quite making sense. “For — what?”

Cinder smirks at her. There’s a memory there, unwinding. Winter tries to catch onto it, but it slips away before she can find a foothold.

“Atlas,” she says, and then she’s gone.

From:

sapphicam

BRIDE WARS AU

Edited Date: 2024-07-17 05:00 am (UTC)

From:

Superhero vs. Supervillain

From:

At some point recently, Winter has started looking at her with a little more than adoration in her eyes, and this is a problem.

Cinder braces her hands on her knees and inspects the street below, counting heartbeats inbetween steps. She can just about see Emerald’s head moving through the crowd, slow and unsteady — and Mercury behind her, doing a lot better at acting casual. She’s done her best to make sure they aren’t implicated in her next string of crimes. She might be heartless, but she doesn’t want the cops to notice accomplices.

This is what she’s doing when the air stills behind her.

Cinder stands up to her full height, propping her hands on her hips. Winter has never been the most subtle of superheroes. The temperature on the rooftop has already dropped noticeably; even if she wasn’t so dramatic, Cinder would have spotted her anyway.

“Good afternoon,” she says without turning. Taking her eyes off Em and Mercury wouldn’t be the end of the world, but she’d prefer not to leave them to their own devices. They always perform better when they know Cinder’s watching.

The point of Winter’s sword taps against the concrete. It would be immensely stupid of her if it wasn’t reinforced with g-d knows what. “Evening, technically.”

“Voice distorter again?”

“Fuck you.”

Cinder grins at the crowd below, at Emerald stopping and redirecting a family with a pair of twins away from the site. Mercury’s head tips up; he rolls his eyes at Cinder on the roof like the two of them are bonded in exasperation. She would have missed it if not for the scanners on the inside of her helmet. “That’s for later, babe. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

Winter clears her throat. It sounds weird and clipped inside the voice distorter. There’s no point to it, really; Cinder already knows everything about her. “We intercepted your communications with your accomplices.” Ah, shit. “Foolishly, I thought I could come up here and talk you out of it.”

“Mm. Heroic. Would you mind turning the temperature up a little bit? It’s freezing up here.”

“It’s for my own benefit,” Winter says. Cinder turns to look at her, catches the implicit threat in every line of her body: her sword held low over the ground, her head angled up high behind the helmet. The sunlight catches the surface, revealing the sharp blue of her eyes. “I don’t like negotiating hostage deals in thirty degree heat.”

That rankles her pride a little bit. Cinder lets her weapon form in her hand, firing the same threat back. The bowstring rests against the inside of her forearm, hot and familiar, and she catches Winter’s eyes flicking to it as she tilts her head in acknowledgement. “What makes you think there are going to be hostages?”

Winter shrugs. “I know how you work.”

“No you don’t. I’m an enigma. I’m different.”

“Different,” she echoes. If not for the distorter, it could almost be fond. “Well, we’ll see, won’t we?”

The lip of the roof is only a few steps away. The monitors in her suit tell her she could make the fall if she’s quick about it. “We will see,” she says, defiant, “and we can have a nice long chat after you catch me.”

“Oh, after. Interesting.”

Cinder flashes her a grin. “That’s half the point, darling.” She steps backward and springs off the roof, and Winter’s panicked voice disappears into so much smoke and wind behind her.

From:

sapphicam

competing to be the worst at something

From:

Whamageddon

From:

Those people who compete to see who can go the longest without finding out who won the Super Bowl

From:

Competitor for whom winning means everything, huge stakes VS. better competitor with little to lose by losing

From:

Figure out a way to turn this xkcd into yuri

From:

ghostvines

"Why even bother, Gwendolyn dearest?" Alice leans back in her chair, squeaking. "Haven't you heard of XKCD?"

"For God's sake, not everyone is into your little brother's metal bands," Gwen snaps, typing away furiously at her keyboard. If she types any harder the keys will probably evaporate, Alice thinks, and then Colin'll have to replace them. What a grand time they have down in the O.I.A.R.

"Luke doesn't always do metal," Alice defends, because above all else she's a good older sister. "And besides XKCD isn't—"

Gwen slams down the enter button with the force of the Almighty smiting a lesser demon. "Stop distracting me!"

"Case is running," Alice says, pointing to Chester the computer chattering away. "I'm working. On the clock. You know me, real nine-to-five girl. Remind me which of us is trying to come up with an entirely new way of filing cases that go to computer hell and die a quick and agonizing death as soon as we touch them?"

"I am trying," Gwen hisses, "to create a better filing system. The manual's too heavy for some of us to lift—"

"Not my fault Sam has noodle arms—"

"—And if I propose a more efficient way of organizing cases," Gwen says, "we actually have a chance of getting through our backlog."

"I'm sorry, our backlog?"

Gwen grits her teeth. One day Alice'll get her to have an apoplexy and then she'll finally know peace. "Yes. Our backlog. As a department."

"Never took you for a team player, Gwendolyn," Alice says, resting her chin on her fist.

"Why else do you think I'm working on this?" Gwen snaps, and for the first time actually turns to look Alice in the eye.

Oh. Her eyes are bloodshot. That can't be good.

"Are you staying up all night again?" Alice says.

"Obviously," Gwen says. "This is a night job."

Motherfucker. "Staying up all day," Alice corrects.

"Why do you care?"

Oh, this is bad. "Isn't a girl allowed to be concerned about her 'work bestie'?"

"Not when it's us," Gwen says, and turns back to the computer.

That — stings, for some reason. Alice doesn't bother dwelling on why. "You wound me!" She clutches at her heart. The more dramatic the better. "Gwendolyn my love, how cruel your barbs can be—"

Gwen slams the manual down on the desk, then in a single whirl of motion pushes Alice against her desk.

What.

What?

This close Alice is noticing — stupid things, things like how Gwen's eyes are glacier blue and how some strands of hair are escaping her small professional bun and how Gwen's hands are warm and how she can see the way Gwen's breath jumps in her throat and —

"You," Gwen says, and is Alice imagining it or has her voice jumped up an octave? "Should shut the fuck up."

"You want to fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid," Alice says on complete instinct as fast as she can, because she hasn't been on Tumblr for a decade for nothing.

Gwen releases her. Alice sags on the desk.

Gwen's blushing, she notices. Alice would have a zinger for that, except it feels like her own cheeks are on fire. God, biology is so dumb. It's not like she's actually attracted to Gwen whatsoever.

Alice does wonder if Gwen would blush harder if Alice ran her thumb over her mouth, though. Just to mess up her lipstick.

"I'll be working on this for the rest of the night," Gwen announces. She's still just standing there. Alice's heart is still banging out tunes in her chest. "So we can actually have a coherent filing standard. Tell Colin for me."

"I really think you should look at that XKCD," Alice says.

Gwen rolls her eyes and finally, finally, sits back down at her own terminal. Alice sucks in what feels like her first breath in five minutes. "I'm still not interested in metal."

"It's not—"

Re: FILL: TEAM ACE ATTORNEY

From:

static_prevails - Date: 2024-07-18 04:00 am (UTC) - Expand

From:

twyrewolf

Black Hat vs White Hat hackers

From:

thestoryeater

The Pacific Northwest Annual Octopus Wrestling Contest

From:

Two competitors who both need to lose, but both can't afford to get caught deliberately throwing the match

From: