hs_olympics | 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You are Dirk Strider, you are 16 years old and you are the captain of the school cheerleading team. Your team is the best in the state and has flied through the regionals without breaking a sweat. You plan on tackling the nationals with even more skill, tenacity, and thrilling stunts.

The same cannot be said for your school football team. Cheering for them is, to put it simply, an insult to your squad. Over the years you have watched their performance deteriorate rapidly despite your best efforts to intervene.

At first you figured they just had a lack of Strider discipline and planted your brother into the team at an early age to lend them a hand, but he sits on the bench most games and the last time you watched him practice he was trying to dribble the ball. He may not have the same aptitude for sports as you.

When that plan failed, you went through the trouble of scouting the opponent team to see if they had any weaknesses that could be exploited. You even wrote up a game plan for the coach and considerately slipped it under her door, but she ended up throwing it in the trash (you know because you checked.) Apparently those meatheads don't need advice from a 'mere cheerleader'. Hah.

You obviously need to change tactics.

You have to go straight to the heart of the team.

==> Sink your claws into the quarterback.

Kanaya Maryam. A six foot five powerhouse with the throwing skill of a malfunctioning pitching machine. The ball would probably go farther if she stopped trying to spike it like a volleyball. She transferred in from Alternia High last semester and every sports team on campus was falling over each other trying to recruit her.

"You know they only picked you because you're the tallest person on campus, right?" You catch her as she's leaving the locker room after practice. She shoulders her gym bag and looks around for a second before finally looking down at you. You try not to let it bother you.

"Is That So?" She smiles toothily, a hint of fang pressed against her lower lip. "Well, They Still Chose Me, Did They Not?" Oh, so she's a cocky one. You can work with that.

"Have you ever even completed a pass since the season started?" you ask pointedly, taking a step closer. "Or do you just stand around looking pretty?" That wipes the smirk right off her face. You press on while you still have her attention. "Aren't you tired of losing yet? Or are you content with being second best?"

"Why Are You Here, Strider?" The fact that she knows your name fills your chest with a smug sense of satisfaction.

"I'm here to make you a star." It's not an offer, it's a promise. You hold out your hand to her and she regards it carefully for a moment before reaching out to take it. Her grasp is firm and her hands are cold and sweaty.

"I Hope You Are Not Just All Talk, Because You Do Seem To Talk Quite An Awful Lot." She shakes your hand and you take that as a yes.

==> Training montage.

You don't have time for training montages, the Big Game is tomorrow! Besides, Kanaya is in top physical condition. It's her technique that could use some work. You ask your friend Roxy to take over your captain duties for the day and monopolize every spare moment of Kanaya's time that you can. You have flashcards full of plays to quiz her on between classes and always make sure to keep her on her toes by hiding behind doors and inside closets. You commandeer the anime club's TV during lunch to show her the footage you recorded of the enemy last time you went out scouting. After school, you make her show you her stance and correct her grip on the ball.

"Don't palm that shit. And loosen your grip." You slap the back of her hand lightly and move the ball higher up so that she's gripping it between her long fingers. She bares her teeth at you warningly and you snort. "Save that for tomorrow, sweetheart. Now show me what you got."

You hop off your stool and jog over to the other side of the field, looking over your shoulder to watch. She winds her arm back and waits for you to gain some distance, like a cobra poised to strike, and when she lets it fly it's like poetry in motion. You catch it neatly and cradle it to your chest, stopping in your tracks. Even from this distance you can see the yellow of Kanaya's eyes as they widen in surprise.

You smirk and hold the ball up triumphantly before letting it drop to the ground.

"Touchdown."

You have got this in the fucking bag.

==> Win the Big Game.

You do not win the Big Game. In fact, the exact opposite of winning occurs. Your team loses miserably yet again, just like all the other years you had to witness this trainwreck play. You shouldn't be surprised but you somehow are, so much that you lose focus and end up dropping one of your cheerleaders when Maryam's pass doesn't connect.

Her throw was flawless, of course. What you had forgotten was that the rest of the team couldn't catch a football to save their life. Not to mention some dingus had put Dave Strider on the field as a runningback. The astroturf could have caught on fire and it wouldn't have made this game any worse than it already was. You can barely feel the shame through the numb shock flooding your body.

It's all over.

==> Wallow in your own misery.

You are not sure what happened between the end of the game and sunset, but when you come to you find yourself laying in the middle of the field underneath the stadium lights. You're still in your cheer uniform so you estimate that you must have been wallowing here for more than a few hours. The artificial grass smells like sweaty cleats and body odor and you wonder if you lay here long enough you will just become one with the bits of rubber digging into your arms.

A shadow passes over you, something tall and skinny blocking out the stark white light.

"I Figured You Would Still Be Here." You squint up at the obstruction through your shades and can just barely make out a pair of thin horns.

"Maryam," you address her flatly. "What are you doing out this late?"

"I Could Ask You The Same Thing." She kneels down beside you and you can see that she's already changed out of her uniform, unlike your sorry ass. "I Was Looking For You, By The Way."

"For... me?" You frown, eyebrows furrowing tightly. "What, did you want to come rub salt in the wound? Gonna tell me that I'm all talk and no mhmph-" A hand covers your mouth before you can finish your bitter ranting.

"I Came Here To Thank You," she says. You peel her hand away and sit up quickly.

"But you didn't win." Even saying that out loud makes you wince. It doesn't seem to phase her though.

"I Did Not Expect We Would, To Be Completely Truthful With You. We Are A Pretty Terrible Team."

"But then why are you-" She holds up a finger to silence you and you stop abruptly.

"Thank You, Dirk. For Helping Me And Pushing Me To Better Myself. I Never Really Liked Playing Football, So I Never Put Much Of An Effort Into It. But Knowing That Someone Was Watching Me And Wanting Me To Succeed..." She looks up at the stars for a moment, mulling over her words, until a soft smile finally spreads over her face. "I Had A Lot Of Fun Today, So Thank You For That, Too."

She pushes the hair back from your clammy forehead and presses a kiss there. For once in your life, you are completely without words. Thankfully, you don't need any.

"Let Me Pay You Back With An Impromptu Dinner. You Must Be Starving."

"Wait, wha-" She wraps an arm around you under your armpits and slings you up onto her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. When she rises up to her full height you swear you can feel the vertigo.

"Do You Like Hamburgers? Rose Tells Me That The Establishment Down The Street Is Quite Good."

"Uh, I guess, but-"

"Good, Then We Shall Eat There." She starts walking and you are having a hard time processing the situation.

"I didn't agree to this."

"You Did Not Not Agree." She has a point there. You sigh and let yourself hang limply as the two of you leave the field. You figure you deserve a break after the day you've had.

Besides, the view is pretty great. Kanaya has a choice ass.