Bonus Round 1: Quotes

[referees]

Bonus Round 1: Quotes

SASO 2015 is over, but this round is perpetually open to new fills (no new prompts).

PLAY BALL! For this round, we'd like you to take inspiration from songs, sayings, poems, and other kinds of famous words.

Because this is our first full round, please read this post carefully before proceeding!

This round ends at 7PM on June 13 EDT. Countdown Timer.

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: "Hi-ho, Kermit the Frog here!" -Kermit the Frog
  • 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., Yachi & Kiyoko). Non-platonic relationships use "/" (e.g., Yachi/Kiyoko). 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.
• You cannot fill your team's prompts or your own prompts.

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. 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: Post written/text fills directly to the round with clear tags. Please link to art/visual fills. You can include a small safe-for-work preview if you'd like. To place an image in your comment, use this code: <img src="LINK TO 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: Post written/text fills directly to the round with clear tags. Please link to art/visual fills. You can include a small safe-for-work preview if you'd like. 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 Haikyuu!!, PG-13

[bisharp]

Warning for character death, 1777w, this is kinda rough I'm sorry I'll def polish it up when I post it to AO3 orz;;

Takahiro can feel Issei's laugh against his stomach. "What's another one," Takahiro says, staring at the patterns on Issei's walls. "Tell me another one."

He likes to imagine that Issei is smiling. Maybe they're looking at the same spot on the ceiling. "Okay, okay, uh," says Issei. "Animals. Except... only one of us is the animal."

"And the other one of us is a human?" Takahiro leans to the side and tries to meet Issei's eyes. It's hard with the angle at they're at, and Issei's bed isn't even very big. Takahiro's legs are dangling off the side.

"Yeah," says Issei. He rests his hand in Takahiro's hair. "I'm the pet dog and you're the human. You, like, find me one day, or something."

Takahiro giggles, rolls over and presses his face into Issei's shirt. "How do you think up stuff like this?" he says. "You as a dog. That'd be cute."

"Why are you calling me cute all of a sudden?" Issei's fingers tighten in his hair.

"Cuz it is! You're the one who said that you're a dog in this situation." Takahiro sticks his head up out from Issei's shirt and beams. "You have so many of these. Anymore?"

"Hm." Issei gazes up. It takes Takahiro a second to realize that Issei's teasing him--of course he has more, Takahiro doesn't know why he knows, but he just does.

Takahiro lifts Issei's shirt up and blows a raspberry on his stomach. Issei jumps from his fake thinking to glare down at him.

"What was that for?"

"C'mon," Takahiro whines, and climbs up to kiss Issei on the cheek. "I know you have another."

"Okay, okay." Issei laughs as Takahiro begins kissing him on the jaw, on the chin, on the corner of his mouth. Issei holds Takahiro's upper arms and says, "A universe where we--where we're doing something, like, Battle Royale, and--"

"Hey!" Takahiro pulls back to glower at him.

Issei blinks. "What?"

"You ruined the mood," says Takahiro. "Battle Royale--one of us would die, wouldn't we? You'd make it tragic!"

"Is that what you think of me?" asks Issei.

But Takahiro crosses his arms. "Well, then, what happens?"

*

When Issei looks back, he wonders why it started when they were teenagers, donned in blue and white, in a gym playing volleyball. He's in his first year and the only others are two kids who seem to be arguing all the time, and a fourth, staring at the gym, but looking more like he's staring into space.

Issei decides not to bother with the two that are arguing - they already know each other. He hadn't really joined the club to make friends, but to join a club; but since he's here and the other guy looks bored too, it wouldn't hurt to talk.

He sits next to him. The other guy looks at him with surprise, but Issei just says, "I'm Matsukawa," and waits. He swings his legs on the bench.

"Oh," says the other guy, and glances at the two who are arguing. After a beat, he says, "I'm Hanamaki."

"See Iwa-chan?" says one of the guys who are arguing. "Those two are already introducing themselves to each other! Let's go join them."

"Stop trying to change the subject, Oikawa," says the other one, presumably Iwa-chan.

Oikawa hops up from the bench. The Iwa-chan guy growls, but Oikawa merely goes up to them and says, "I'm Oikawa, nice to meet you!"

Matsukawa looks him up and down. He can feel Hanamaki doing the same next to him.

"You just interrupted our conversation," Hanamaki says.

Oikawa pouts. "Mean," he says, but the Iwa-chan guy goes, "You deserved it," and Oikawa whines, "Why is everyone like this?" and they go back to arguing again.

Matsukawa glances at Hanamaki from the corner of his eye. Hanamaki's looking at Oikawa and the Iwa-chan guy, with his eyebrows raised.

Matsukawa says, "Good one."

Hanamaki turns to him. "You think?" he asks, and smiles.

Issei spends twenty years looking for him in this one. It doesn't feel like it, the way the years past by him like wind on his skin, and he tries to do things normally, like he does, eyes scanning crowds constantly, trying to find the way his mouth quirks up when he doesn't want to smile, the way he tugs at the hem of his shirt when he thinks no one's looking.

When he does, he's forty and sitting on a bench when a frisbee flies over his head and nearly scrapes his hair off. Issei fixes it and grumbles, returning to his phone until he hears someone laugh and running over to him.

"Yeah, I'm getting it!" calls the voice, and Issei peeks up to see him, running, looking fresh out of undergrad--or maybe still in it. It's hard to tell how old someone is when Issei is like this.

He stands up before Takahiro can reach him, goes behind the bench and picks up the frisbee. He turns back around to see Takahiro looking at him with surprise.

"Er," says Takahiro, as Issei hands it to him. "Thanks."

"You nearly hit me in the head with this thing," says Issei, but he's smiling.

Takahiro's eyebrows fly up, but he's grinning. "Sorry, dude," he says. "My aim's kinda bad."

"Obviously," says Issei.

Takahiro's lips do the twitching thing now. It's definitely him, and Issei probably won't ever see him again in this time, but this is enough.

Takahiro says, "So you think you're better than me?" and Issei says, "You're the one who said your aim's bad."

"So you think you're better than me," Takahiro says.

Issei shrugs, and puts his book in his pocket. "That's a polite way of saying it."

Takahiro barks out in laughter. "Hey!" he calls to his friends, who are on the other side of the park. "I found someone who wants to challenge us!"

"I only want to challenge you," says Issei. "I'll take your friends as backup."

Takahiro turns to shoot a grin at him. "Challenge me," he revises. "By this guy who thinks he's funny."

"You said it, not me," says Issei, and watches the way Takahiro's eyes glisten, familiar, like maybe, he recognizes this as well.

*

Issei likes to think he's loyal in every life, but this one especially, and he paws at the ground, looking at his reflection in the pond. Dogs aren't supposed to be really intelligent, according to all the lives he's been a human--but, really, Issei's not exactly normal.

He splashes his paw in the puddle and starts along the street. It's a cold winter day and he shivers; but at least, like this, it's easier for him to maneuver through crowds, since he's not interrupted by the dog community. Occasionally he gets interrupted by other humans, but he just has to growl or shit on their shoes for them to scrunch their nose and walk away.

It's not exactly a smart idea, walking through the city in this sort of weather. But Takahiro might be walking in opposite direction, and run into him, and then that would be Issei's chance. That's what he's been telling himself, anyway, for months since he recollected everything. That'd been harder in this body. He'd been wondering why all the dogs seemed so much more stupider and only repeated words rather than using proper sentences.

Issei shivers again and closes his eyes. Maybe if he rests on the side, Takahiro will find him. Maybe he can take a nap before getting back up to look for him. Maybe if--

Something hits him--or rather, he hits something, and Issei shoots his eyes back open and barks. He'd walked into a fire hydrant, and barks at it again--damn that hydrant for being in the way when he's trying to think.

"Funny little guy, aren't you?"

Issei's ears perk up at the sound of the voice. He looks up to see--oh god, it's him, in a dark green jacket and carrying a bundle of baked goods, grinning down at him.

"Cute fella," Takahiro says, before continuing on.

Issei shouts, "No!" but it comes out as a bark. He chases after him--of all dogs, to be reincarnated as a small one--and manages to bite at the hem of Takahiro's pants.

Takahiro looks down at him. "Hey," he says, frowning. "What are you doing?"

Issei barks again and looks up at him, wags his tail.

Takahiro just stares, before going, "Tsk," and heading off again. "Weird dogs..." he mutters.

But Issei follows him, watches from a respectable distance as Takahiro walks home. He doesn't live too far from here, and Issei wags his tail more--of course, it'd just been a matter of time. He watches the way Takahiro struggles with his bread and groceries, fumbles to get his keys out of his pocket, and gets the door open.

He glances behind him before going inside.

"I know you're out there," he says.

Issei looks around. But the driveway is mostly empty, except for--well, him.

Issei pads out and ducks his head down, shyly.

Takahiro sighs. "C'mere," he says, and Issei runs over to him. Takahiro puts his groceries down and opens his arms, and Issei practically jumps into them.

"You're a weird ass dog," he says, and scratches behind his ears. Issei sticks his tongue out and licks at Takahiro's chin.

Takahiro chuckles. "But I guess you're mine now," he says.

*

Takahiro shouts, "Run!" and Issei does, holding off an bullet that flies at them with his knife.

"Nice," says Takahiro, right at his heels.

"Thanks," says Issei. "You know I have good--look out!"

He ducks as another bullet flies at them, and turns around to see it miss Takahiro, just barely. Takahiro glares at him. "Keep your eyes straight ahead," he shouts.

"I am, I am, I just wanted to make sure you're--"

Something rustles from the bushes.

"What was that?" he says.

"What was wh--"

Issei spots him before Takahiro does, and jumps as the knife flies out from the bushes, feels it sink between his shoulder blades and in his chest--

*

"Well?" Takahiro asks.

Issei blinks.

"Well what?"

"Don't pull that on me." Takahiro shoves at him with his palm. "You can't just leave me hanging like that. Okay, so Battle Royale us. It's your story, so how does it end?"

Iseei stares at him. Takahiro watches the way his eyes flicker down from Takahiro's forehead to his chin, and Takahiro's smile fades--was that the wrong thing to say?

But Issei smiles and drags Takahiro by the sleeve, pulling him down for another kiss.

Against his mouth, he says, "We live happily ever after."