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sportsfest2018-07-01 12:02 am
Bonus Round 2: Quotes
Bonus Round 2: Quotes
Sometimes you just have to keep with tradition! Keeping with the SASO roots that SportsFest was born from, Bonus Round 2 is all about quotes.
This bonus round will close on July 13th, 2018 11:59PM PT. [COUNTDOWN]
This Round is CLOSED, but is perpetually open for new FILLS.
Rules
The Rule of Thumb for this round is prominence - did a published author or poet write this line you’d like to quote? Great. Is it from a speech or a historical document? Cool. Did your friend say something funny on twitter the other day? Not so much.
Please DO NOT prompt screenshots of private conversations, Discord convos, or conversations between you and your friends. This can easily and unintentionally bring the prompts into inside joke territory, and can create an exclusionary environment.
Quotes from other SportsFest participants (or yourself) are NOT allowed in this round (for similar reasons to above, and the fact that you could just make anything a quote).
Please give credit to the original speaker of your quote whenever possible.
If prompting with a screenshot, it is polite to post a transcription of the text below the image for accessibility.
Please use your best judgement, and if you’re unsure if something qualifies - ask! The mods are here to help.
And to reiterate, Your prompt MUST include one or more specific nominated fandoms. Please do not prompt "Fandom: Any".
A Few Examples:
“Today is far from Childhood -
But up and down the hills
I held her hand the tighter -
Which shortened all the miles-
- Emily Dickinson, ‘One Sister Have I In Our House’
“Til this moment I never knew myself”
- Elizabeth Bennett, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
“SHE DOESN’T EVEN GO HERE!
- Damian, Mean Girls
“It's a quarter past midnight
As we cut through the city”
- Quarter Past Midnight, Bastille
If Prompting
Please use the following subject line for prompt:
Prompt: [Your Team]
Replace [Your Team] with the name of the team you belong to. Nickname or Official Name are both acceptable
Copy/Paste the following into the body of your comment. Delete all instructional text in parentheses.
NSFW Prompts
EXPLICITLY NSFW PROMPTS must be posted to the after-hours comm. “Explicitly NSFW” means that the prompt includes outright sexual content (whether in a photograph, drawing, or in words), and prompts that in the additional requests are asking for explicit fills. Prompts are posted with the same HTML format, in the same manner as a SFW prompt, just under the designated post for that Bonus Round in the after-hours comm. See ‘Filling’ for the procedures for NSFW Fills.
Once you have joined the Afterhours community, you can find the corresponding post HERE.
If Filling
Minimums
Required Work Minimums:
400 words (prose)
400px by 400px (art)
14 lines (poetry)
There is no max work cap.
Format
FILL: [Your Team], [Rating]
Replace [Your Team] with the name of the team you belong to. Nickname or Official Name are both acceptable
Replace [Rating] with the rating of your fill (G-E).
Copy/Paste the following into the body of your comment. Delete all instructional text in parentheses.
NSFW Fills
All NSFW fills must be posted in the corresponding Bonus Round post in the After Hours community. If filling a prompt that has been posted on the after-hours comm, simply reply to that prompt. If filling a SFW prompt, let the prompter know by replying to the original prompt on the main comm with a link to your fill on the corresponding after-hours Bonus Round Post. Please do not use the Fill subject line or Fill header when cross-linking. This will cause the BR scorer to count your fill twice.
Once you have joined the Afterhours community, you can find the corresponding post HERE.
Scoring
The scoring for bonus rounds depends on the number of people (n) on your team. You’re welcome to make as many prompts and fills as you like!
For prompts: 5 points per prompt, limited to 5 times the number of team members (5n)
For fills, where (n) = number of members on you team:
First 5n fills: 20 points each
Fills 5n to 10n: 10 points each
Fills 10n to 15n: 5 points each
All fills after 15n: 2 points each
Confused? Don’t worry; math is hard. Check out the Bonus Round Point Widget to help you figure out the point scale for your team.
All scored content must be created new for this round.
FILL: Team Daiya, G
Fandom: Daiya no Ace
Major Tags: None
Other Tags: Inspired by your Arrival quote <3
Word Count: 1606
Remix Permission: Yes
I tried to get it closer to the quote but the story, and Miyuki's thoughts, took on their own life.
***
Miyuki stood on the field in shock, holding his catcher’s mask. Their summer was over.
****
He stood in the lineup next to Sawamura and Furuya who were the only ones not crying besides himself. They bowed and made their way across the field. Shouts of support and applause came from Seidou’s supporters, some of who were also crying. Sawamura’s teeth were gritted but he kept looking straight ahead. When they reached the dugout, tears began streaming down Furuya’s face. Sawamura gave him a towel and turned away.
“Don’t…forget to ice your shoulders,” said Miyuki. It hurt to push the words out. Packing up was quiet, no one spoke. When they went out into the hallway, the entire Yakushi High team was waiting for them.
“We wanted to thank you for a great game, and a great season,” said Sanada coming forward to shake Miyuki’s hand.
Miyuki managed a small smile. “It was a great game, and you’re going to Koshien. Congratulations.”
“I’m sorry it’s over for you. Seidou is a great team.” Sanada glanced over at all the third years. “I wish you luck with whatever you’re going to do next.”
“Thanks.” The others murmured their thanks as well. Raichi stood silent behind Sanada, frowning.
“Good luck,” said Miyuki. He looked up to see their coach speaking quietly to Coach Todoroki. Without waiting, he turned and made his down the dark hallway to the bus, the rest of the team following.
****
Less than a week later, he and Kimura were packing up in their dorm room. Okumura was sitting at his desk.
“You’ll have the room to yourself for a time. Enjoy it,” said Miyuki to Okumura.
“I’m pretty much done here, cap. I’ll see you in the Greenhorn Dorm,” said Kimura. He was holding a large box and pushed his way out of the room, the door slamming shut.
Miyuki was trying to put all his videotapes in some kind of order when Okumura approached his desk. He hovered awkwardly.
Miyuki continued what he was doing. If the Wolf Boy wanted to say something, it was best to let him do it in his own time.
“I…wanted to apologize to you for being a little shit,” he said.
Miyuki stopped what he was doing.
“I came here with a bad attitude and thought you couldn’t possibly be a serious baseball player and be captain, catcher, and cleanup.”
“Serious player? What made you think I wasn’t a serious player?”
Okumura gulped. “You were…you have way too much fun.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
Okumura nodded.
“Well, I hope you noticed that it’s possible to have fun and be a serious player. Look at Todoroki Raichi or even Sawamura.”
“Todoroki is a strange anomaly and Sawamura is…an idiot though I admit he’s really grown as a pitcher.”
Miyuki laughed. His laughter bubbled from deep inside his belly, spreading out past his pain and regrets. He laughed so hard that his sides began to hurt and tears welled up. When he finally stopped, he wiped his eyes. Okumura was smiling, just slightly.
Miyuki grew serious. “I’m going to need you to take care of Sawamura when I’m gone. You know how to do it. Just…let yourself trust him, trust his heart.”
“Is that what you did?”
“It was all I could do,” said Miyuki.
****
Miyuki was dressed in his school uniform, watching practice. It felt strange not to be on the field and wearing his baseball uniform. He could feel the rest of his life reaching out to him but he wanted to keep it bay for just a little while longer.
“Yo, captain. How are you doing?” said Kuramochi. The Coach had insisted that Miyuki and Kuramochi be given their own room. Miyuki was grateful for the gesture.
“Okay, I guess.” He watched Furuya, Sawamura, Haruichi run past them on the field. “I can’t believe we won’t be playing with them again.”
“Never say never,” said Kuramochi. “You’ll think you’re finally free of them but one day you’ll turn around and see them walking onto your field, never to leave again.”
Kuramochi’s words seemed to echo and then something happened. He had a flash of being with some of his old teammates again but they were older. He couldn’t tell who was there with him but they were on the same team and at a bar, drinking beer and laughing. He was even enjoying himself.
“You shouldn’t call me captain anymore,” he heard himself say. He felt like he was in a daze. He blinked a couple of times to pull himself out of it.
“Why not? You’ll always be my captain. I’ll just call you that from now on, you know, like a pet name or term of endearment.”
Miyuki smiled. Kuramochi grabbed his arm. “Come on, staring at everyone while they practice isn’t going to lift your spirits.” He let himself be led away.
****
He hadn’t thought much about the flash he’d gotten until it happened again. And again. Each time he was sitting in class or reading a book or watching TV. Each time it was the same though he tried to figure out who was there but couldn’t. It must have been some serious wishful thinking on his part. It had to be.
****
They went to some of the games. Sawamura was still Seidou’s Ace though the coaches had done something unprecedented: they gave his number to Furuya, effectively making him the second Ace for the team. Losing at the semi-finals had lit a fire under everyone and they were on a winning streak. He was glad to see everyone progressing so rapidly but it made him wistful at the same time.
“I know you don’t like it here,” said Kuramochi.
“What do you mean?"
“Sitting here, watching. I don’t like it either. I just want…” He looked at Miyuki. “You know.”
“Yeah.”
During the bottom of the 7th inning, another flash came. This one was different. In the blur of people at the bar, he heard a distinctive hyena-like laugh. “‘Mochi,” he murmured.
“What?”
Miyuki turned to his best friend. “Sorry, I was just muttering.” He kept staring straight ahead but felt flushed with happiness. He’d never thought of Kuramochi as his best friend, or anyone for that matter. He knew it was right and true, though. They were best friends for sure.
****
That night, he had a vivid dream. Instead of the being at the bar with his teammates, this time he dreamed he was walking with Kuramochi back to their apartment.
“You know, none of them would have come to this school to play with us if we’d beat Yakushi, right?” Kuramochi was saying.
“What makes you think that?”
“If we’d won and gone to Koshien, regardless of the outcome, everyone would have felt like we’d accomplished our goals. With the loss to Yakushi, everyone had the feeling that it wasn’t over for us.”
“Is that true?”
“Yeah, we talk about it sometimes when you’re not around. No one wants to talk to you about it directly since you were the captain.”
“I’m still the captain.”
Kuramochi did an exaggerated bow. “Captain, oh my captain,” Kuramochi said in broken English. “Come on, Kazuya, you say it now. In English.”
He’d laughed in this dream, having never heard Kuramochi speak English before. And attempted to say the phrase, failing miserably.
****
He woke up laughing.
“Yo, captain, what’s that about? Having a good dream?” Kuramochi called down from the top bunk.
Miyuki reached under his eye mask and wiped his eyes, still chuckling. “Yeah, it’s a really good dream.
****
He found himself studying more and more, along with the other third years. Miyuki had thought not playing baseball everyday would free up his time but he had to get through exams and the all important decision about where to go after he graduated. The coaches and Rei-chan had spent lots of time helping him figure out his next steps. It took a while but he finally decided to go to university so he could play college ball. He wanted more time before going into the majors.
The night before the exams, he and Kuramochi were walking back to the dorm after studying all day in the library with Kawakami and Shirasu.
“Feeling pretty good about your school choice, Kazuya?” asked Kuramochi.
“I am. I weighed the pros and cons, we talked about it so, yeah, I’m feeling like it’s the right choice.” He smiled a little. Kuramochi, no Yoichi, had been using his first name more and more though usually when they were alone.
“That’s good.” He stopped and grinned broadly.
“What?” said Miyuki. He felt it, the moment, the fork in the road which was going to determine what was going to happen in the future and whether the party at the bar when they were older would really happen.
“I’m coming to college with you, Kazuya. We’re going to keep playing ball together. I just got accepted."
He felt a huge flood of relief. “You are?? That’s…that’s great! I didn't realize you were even thinking about going there.” He smiled, a big broad Miyuki smile, maybe for the first time since they lost the semi-finals.
"I wasn't sure they wanted me to be honest but the recruiter contacted me. I asked them to keep it a secret so I could surprise you if everything worked out. I said you would always be my captain, remember?" Kuramochi bowed. "Captain, oh my Captain!” The familiar broken English filled Miyuki with life and hope and everything else. It really wasn’t going to end.