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hs_olympics2012-06-10 01:02 am
hso_mods) wrote in hs_olympics2012-06-10 01:02 am
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BONUS ROUND 1
Bonus Round 1
Genre-Mixing
Hey, shippers! Welcome to your very first bonus round proper--we hope you have lots of fun with it! This time around we're going to be asking you to mix it up a little--each fanwork posted for this round will be a mish-mash of two different genres, blended together in a delightful incestuous slurry to create an UNSTOPPABLE CREATIVE CONCOCTION--er. Or. Something.
Yeah, we're genre-mixing. That's what we're doing this round.
Rules
- Submit prompts! Prompts should consist of two different genres and one ship. This cannot be your team's ship! These are worth 5 points each, for a maximum of 100 points per team.
- Look through the prompts and fill whichever you like!
- You may not fill prompts for your ship, nor may you fill your own team's prompts.
- Fills should be posted as replies to the prompts which they are for, following the format below. They may be any medium.
Title Format
If you are starting a new thread, please use this format in your title.
Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team YOU belong to; please use the characters and quadrant, not whatever portmanteau or nickname you've come up with.
If your team name is not in this format and in the title we cannot guarantee that it will be counted.
If you are filling a prompt, use this format in your title.
Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team YOU belong to; please use the characters and quadrant, not whatever portmanteau or nickname you've come up with.
If your team name is not in this format and in the title we cannot guarantee that it will be counted.
Posts not using this format in the title will be understood to be unofficial discussion posts, no matter what they contain. They, like all comments on the comm, are subject to the Wank Policy.
Scoring
For prompt posts: 5 points each (maximum of 100 per team)
For fills (as stated here):
First 5 entries in each post: 30 (per entry)
Entries 6-10 in each post: 20 (per entry)
Entries 11-15 in each post: 10 (per entry)
Entries 16+ in each post: 5 (per entry)
All scored content must be created/assembled new for this round.
If you have any questions, please ask them at the FAQ post here, or email them to us (homestuck.shipping at gmail). Otherwise, we cannot guarantee that we will see them in a timely fashion!
PROMPT: TEAM JAKE<3 TEREZI
FILL: TEAM JOHN<3VRISKA
----
You feel the wheels of the plane touch the ground, even if you can’t see it, you’re glad to be home. If you’d known getting blinded would get you discharged, you’d have done it yourself the moment you were drafted. At least then you wouldn’t have had to experience ‘Nam firsthand.
A nurse helps you out of your seat, and you lean against her shoulder as she leads you, limping, off of the plane. Your local airport is small – only a few gates for the whole thing – but the second you step into the terminal, you’re disorientated. You hear a cacophony of voices from every direction, with no rhyme or reason or concern for the young, confused soldier who just walked in. You slump against the nurse, who is luckily strong enough to catch you.
“Who will be picking you up?” she asks kindly, keeping a firm hand on your shoulder. It’s the only thing anchoring you to the world right now.
“Not sure,” you admit. “My parents just promised it’d be somebody I’d know.” You relish the S’s as you say them - losing some teeth ended the lisp that got you tormented through highschool. When you think about it, getting critically injured on the battlefield is one of the best things that ever happened to you.
“A girlfriend?” the nurse asks.
“Maybe,” you say. “Assuming she still wants me now that I’m blind and useless.” You smile – useless is a great word.
“So what’s this girl of yours like?” the nurse asks. You don’t know if she’s asking for small talk or if she’s hoping for a general description.
“She’s great. Obsessed with old buried shit and she knows the best ghost stories. And she’s not bad to look at either-”
“Shit, Sollux? Is that you?”
Even if you can’t see him, that is unmistakably the gravelly sound of one Karkat Vantas. Not Aradia. You can’t be too disappointed, however – even if you constantly have to reaffirm it with one another, Karkat is one of your best friends.
“Hey, KK,” you say. There is a bit of silence in which you’re not completely sure what’s happening. You think perhaps the nurse is mouthing something to Karkat, but you can never be sure. Finally, she says.
“Well, I’ll leave you in his hands then, Sergeant Captor,” says the nurse, and you are transferred from her shoulder to Karkat’s. It’s awkward – Karkat’s always been shorter than you – but you try to be grateful nonetheless.
“Come on,” he growls. “Let’s get you to the car.”
----
“So what’s life been like around here since I’ve been gone?” You ask Karkat once the car’s started up. “Exciting?”
He scoffs. “Hardly.”
“Surely something’s happened.”
Karkat takes in a deep breath, and that’s how you know he’s about to give bad news. “Well, Eridan came back in... in a body bag.”
You’re about ready to comment “serves him right” until you remember Karkat and Eridan were sort of friends.
“Tavros is back too, but his legs got messed up a bit, and he doesn’t really seem all that right in the head.”
“Knew a lot of guys who ended up like him from my squad,” you say, like it’s nothing. “I hope AA didn’t take it too hard. She liked digging for treasure with him when they were kids.” There’s a weighted pause. “How is she anyways? She didn’t end up with that muscle-head horse-fetishist did she?”
Karkat takes his time, and you fear the worst, but he finally says, “No. Equius volunteered about a month after you left. He’s enjoying the constant orders, I think.”
“Figures.” There’s a moment of silence again, and you’re waiting for Karkat to answer your first question, about Aradia, but he seems intent on ignoring it. He turns on the radio instead – you don’t recognize the song, but it sounds like something by The Beatles. You decide to push him. “Hey, how about we make one more stop before you take me home? Can’t hurt right?”
He sounds a little dejected when he says, “Guess not.”
“Could we stop by AA’s place?”
Dead silence.
“KK?”
“Yeah. Yeah, OK. Are you sure you’re ready for this, though? You don’t look so good. You just got back and everything.”
“I haven’t seen her in months. Part of the reason being in the army sucks is that there are no girls. I want to end my dry spell ASAP,” you explain. “Besides, she’s seen me worse off.” You feel the car shift as Karkat makes a U-turn.
“Not what I’m worried about.”
----
The moment you step out of the car, you know that this isn’t Aradia’s house. You’re not used to being blind yet, but you could probably drive that route be touch alone, and this isn’t it. You stand there for a moment, wondering where you could possibly be. Did she move?
Karkat walks around the car and grabs you by the wrist, leading you forward. “Watch the curb,” he mutters, but you trip over it anyways. And you walk.
You quickly realize that you are not at a house, because no front yard is this large. No park is this quiet either. This is when you get an inkling, but you don’t say anything.
Karkat stops you suddenly, and turns you ninety degrees. “There,” he says.
You frown. “KK, in case you’ve forgotten, I’m blind. What am I supposed to be looking at?”
“Don’t make me say it,” he begs, and shit you think he’s about to cry. But you follow your inkling, so you shuffle your feet forward until they hit something hard.
Your throat constricts, and you reach down, feeling the edge of smooth stone. And you nearly feel sick, but you need to make sure, and your fingertips brush across the surface.
You can make out letters.
“ARADIA MEGIDO
1948-1966
A loving friend and daughter”
Your knees give out, and you fall against the grave, your elbows placed precariously on top as the rest of you simply melts. Sobs shake your body, but you can’t cry. Not with your eyes.
The war took that away, too.