Bonus Round 4: Quotes

[referees]

A shipping olympics favorite, this round uses quotes of all sorts to fuel your creative endeavors.


This round is CLOSED as of 7PM on July 21 EDT. Late fills may be posted, but they will not receive points.

RULES

• Submit prompts by commenting to this post with a quote attributed to a specific person or character, along with any ship/ot3/etc. from one of our nominated fandoms.
  • Example: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - M. Gandhi
  • The quote can come from anywhere. Famous people, poetry, songs, books, movies, your neighbor, etc.
  • Your prompt MUST include some kind of relationship. (This is not the sports anime gen olympics.) Platonic relationships are indicated by an "&" between the names (e.g., Makoto & Rin). Non-platonic relationships use "/" (e.g., Makoto/Rin). Please don't say "Any pairing," either!
• Fill prompts by replying to the prompt with your quote-inspired fanwork.
• 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.

Format your comment in one of the following ways:

If PROMPTING:	If FILLING:	If FILLING as a TEAM GRANDSTAND participant:
PROMPT: TEAM [YOUR SHIP] Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team you belong to, including Grandstand or Sports Teams Write it exactly as it appears on the team roster or your team will not receive points Place the prompt's relationship in the first bolded line of the comment. Including the canon isn't required, but it's nice. Below that, place applicable major content tags (when applicable; otherwise write "no tags" or "none") Visual example	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 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) 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 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 prompts/fills as you want!

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

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 CHIHAYAFURU, G

[rosebrook]

No tags 803 words.

(I have no idea if this is what you wanted at all.)

Kanemaru had lost track of how many times he was a stand in batter for Sawamura’s pitching practice. It had almost become a routine activity for the two of them and whichever catcher was free. At first, Sawamura had to beg the other boy for his help as Kanemaru was convinced that Sawamura’s pitch would go wild and lead to an injury even though he had protective gear. His high school baseball career had barely even begun and he didn’t want it to end without even having the chance to make the first string.

“Sawamura are you crazy?!” Kanemaru shouted in the middle of their first practice. He ripped off his protective arm bands and threw them down angrily. “That last pitch was way too close to hitting me. I almost had to jump back to avoid it.”

“Oh come on Kanemaru! You’re overreacting! The gear is supposed to protect you anyway!” Eijun shouted while still standing on the mound. “I swear I’m super close to getting this pitch. The next one is going to be perfect.

Kanemaru turned to Chris, who was still squatting down in the catcher’s box. “Are there any practices the two of you can do that don’t involve a batter? Because I’m really close to just walking away right now and not dealing with any of Sawamu-” Kanemaru’s statement was then interrupted when he felt a slight pressure on his foot. He looked down and noticed that Sawamura had just run over from the mound, dropped to his knees and was now clutching Kanemaru’s shoe in desperation.

“Please, you can’t give up on me. I know I have the ability to pitch amazingly for this team. Kanemaru, I just really need your help to get to that point.” Eijun looked up and stared directly into Kanemaru’s eyes. “I want to make myself useful for the team. I want to help us win.”

Despite his reckless behavior and attitude, Sawamura made it clear to Kanemaru that he had a burning desire to improve. Kanemaru picked up his discarded gear and looked down at Sawamura who was still firmly grasping his foot. “Fine Sawamura. I’ll get back in the batter’s box, but I’m only doing this because the team needs you. Now please let go of my shoe so I can actually move.”

Sawamura jumped up, patted Kanemaru on the back, and then ran back to the mound. “Alright Chris-senpai. Tell me what pitch I should work on next! And Kanemaru, don’t worry. You won’t get injured on my watch.”

Kanemaru sighed and settled back into a batting stance.



With repeated practices over the next few months, Kanemaru could see major changes with Sawamura’s pitching ability and some more subtle ones with his attitude.

Eventually, Sawamura stopped asking him for help. He didn’t need to. Sawamura would simply walk in the direction of the dugout after dinner and Kanemaru would follow him, put on the protective gear, wait for the catcher to get set, and then they would begin.

Sawamura would always cheer and jump up and down on the mound when his pitches went well and Kanemaru had become accustomed to this action; however, during one particular practice Kanemaru found himself smiling at Sawamura’s usual antics and felt his own heart begin to heat up.

This warm feeling remained even after the practice had finished and it was just the two of them cleaning up the dugout since Chris had a late night meeting with the captain. Nothing about this scenario was abnormal. Sawamura was running around the dugout making sure all of the balls had been found when he tripped and all of the baseballs that he held in his arms went flying everywhere. Kanemaru wasn’t sure if he wanted to yell or laugh at him. Sawamura was such an idiot. Such an idiot. But even so, he felt his heart get even warmer watching Sawamura scramble around trying to recollect all of the dropped balls.

“Kanemaru! Stop just staring at me and help!”
“Well, I’m not the idiot that decided it would be a good idea to try and carry everything at once.”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time!”
“That line of thinking is why you’re still an idiot.”
“Just help me please!”
“…Fine I’m coming.”

After all of the balls were finally cleaned up, Kanemaru began to make his way to exit, but felt himself held back my Sawamura’s hand on his arm.

“Thanks for sticking with me all this time. It really means a lot to me.” Sawamura let go of his arm and began to walk back to the dorm.

When had Kanemaru stopped coming here just for the team and actually found enjoyment in being around Sawamura?

And when had his heart started beating faster during normal conversations like this?