quietly to the east

[americanleaguer]

For bats_and_balls. The prompt was from cutfastball, who gave me "Send out your skeletons; sing as their bones come marching in - again." (Foo Fighters)

Joe Girardi/Bill Mueller, Joe Girardi/Kyle Farnsworth
PG-13
3549 words

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. It is in no way a reflection on the actual life, behavior, or character of any of the people featured, and

Comments

[littlestclouds]

Damn, why did you post this as I'm about to go to bed?

/reads

[americanleaguer]

lol, refresh it, plz. I've edited like 10 things in the last two minutes.

[littlestclouds]

I really love this Kyle-voice and how Kyle has all these deep thoughts about nothing, pretty much. I also like the "it's just his opinion," "that's what he thinks," etc. sprinkled in, as if his narrative is justifying its point of view or something. I'm not entirely sure how to describe it, but I like the effect it gives the whole piece. It's like these are his long internal, rambling thoughts on things, put to pen and paper (or computer screen, as it were).

Everyone has something to keep to themselves; even the skyscrapers seem to lean in farther, claustrophobic.

Awesome, awesome image. I just absolutely love that.

And I really like how you took the prompt and interpreted it. I kind of figured you'd interpret it more figuratively than literally, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of it! In fact, I think it enhanced it.

Oh look, I found my words! :O

No more Kyle icons, sadly so, here's Zoom and his 100mph fastball.

[americanleaguer]

Kyle has deep thoughts about nothing... that is exactly how to put it.

All I could think about with the prompt was along the lines of 'skeletons in the closet', and then the 'again' made it something that had to be repeated. I don't know, I didn't really think about it for very long, so it seemed to me like I was doing the most obvious interpretation of the prompt. Who knows what happens in my brain?

[pickedoffthird]

Ohhhh. I admit to not liking Farnsworth much (I think I have to turn in my RPF baseball fandom card now right :/), but this is fantastic. I really liked his characterization - like littlestclouds said, how he thinks about nothing and kinda rambles in his head.

Also this made me laugh:
There are a couple of stolen bases in the inning. That's because Posada is catching,
JORGE POSADA IS THE WORST CATCHER - NO, PLAYER - EVER. EVERYTHING THAT GOES WRONG IS HIS FAULT. /like, 99% of Yankee fans'd

[americanleaguer]

Well, Farnsworth-the-actual-baseball-player is very easy to dislike (I've found it's actually easier to enjoy him when he's not pitching for a team I care about, because then I can relish his antics without wanting to kill him for his pitching or clubhouse assholery). But I am an unabashed fan of Farnsworth-the-fic-character. He's a lot of fun to write.

Kyle canonically did have issues with Posada! I just ran with what they give me. ;)

[alowishus812]

Girardi looks at Mueller, and Mueller looks at Girardi. Kyle is standing there off to the side, like, hello, Fastball of Ultimate Death over here, but then the stupid Reds pitcher hits his second batter of the inning, nailing Ricky Gutierrez right in the stomach, and Kyle has to go up to the rail to see if they're going to brawl, because a brawl would be one of the only things that could improve Cincinnati.

... that is when i knew that the rest of it was going to be awesome.

kyle farnsworth is my secret love when it comes to fic. thank you!

[americanleaguer]

Ha ha, that sentence is all over the damn place! Oy.

Somehow a love of Kyle Farnsworth fic doesn't seem like the sort of thing someone would have to keep secret in this fandom... ;)

[cutfastball]

Um, can I just say, that I am like your number one baseball fic fangirl? Seriously, I am. Like, everything you write is just gold.

And this? This is amazing. I love everything about it. I love Farnsworth's sort of wispy (is this bad word choice?) stream of consciousness thinking, how he takes very few things seriously, about how he just sort of goes with it, even if he does it in his own way. Big events aren't big to him. That's baseball. Shit happens. Life goes on.

I love how this sort of winds everything together - perfect open Chicago sky, open Wrigley Field, and he learns about keeping secrets and holding your hand to your chest, things get closer, closing in, Everyone has something to keep to themselves; even the skyscrapers seem to lean in farther, claustrophobic..

I love how the story kind of boils down to understanding - how Kyle realizes that secrets have to be kept, that they are, and he eventually sort of understands what's necessary to win, and makes the sacrifices, and goes with it

[americanleaguer]

Wispy... hmm. Maybe 'flighty'? Or, um. Hmmmmm. He's very surface-level, even in his thoughts and inner dialogues; I'm not sure if that's what you're driving at, or if that's something that can be summed up in one word. 'Superficial', kind of, but that has different connotations, so.

Ugh, I wish I'd had more than 48 hours for this (and because of Real Life it ended up being more like... an hour and a half of writing), because I don't think I wrapped up the ~themes of the fic~ as well as I would have liked. But with that much (little) time, I'll settle for no overt typos. :P

[tangleofthorns]

This is what Kyle thinks about. If Cincinnati river water can make him grow a second mutant dick, and if that dick would work like the normal one, or what.

Of COURSE it is.

Lovely to see words from you.

[americanleaguer]

He has a simple mind, ok. It is pure and unsullied by complexities.

It is good to eject words onto the internet!