County Fair Week One - Bull Riding

[Kingston Cesaire D3A [Tom]]

BULL RIDING EVENT

On a bright and sunny day, the Bull Riding Event begins preparations to start. Two broadcasters have taken place in booths high above the stands looking in on a field of dirt and grass with fencing surrounding the entirety of the place. On one end of the field are stands full of people from Nine, Ten, and Eleven, talking loudly and excitedly about the exciting event that was about to occur. On the other end, stalls have been made with the fencing to line bulls and riders up together. As preparations are completed, a booming voice comes across the field and the stands. ”Welcome District Nine, Ten, and Eleven to the County Fair. I am your host for today’s Bull Riding Event, Kennedy Fowley with my co-host,” Another voice comes from the same system of machines out to the audience and competitors. ”Lorenzo Emberstatt!” The first voice continues. ”and we’ll be covering all of the fun to be had. You’ll see our staff beginning to get competitors and the bulls themselves ready! During this event, One rider will go at a time, whichever rider has the longest time will be the winner! Remember competitors, have fun and good luck!” There is a short squeal from the microphone, before a second ”and good luck!” is repeated from the co-host. As the dirt covered field is watered down, competitors will have a second to prepare themselves mentally and physically for an event all based on strength and endurance.

---

The Bull-Riding event is a 2-part endurance dice roll challenge. You start the challenge by mounting your bull in a contest roll, rolling [*roll range="1-20"] to represent your strength (1st roll) vs your bull’s (2nd). Rolling above a 10 keeps you mounted, rolling beneath a 10 is an auto-out. After mounting your bull, you’ll continue to roll [*roll range="1-20"] to bull ride, each roll represents 1 additional second to your time score. The DC for bull riding begins at 13 and increases +1 to an 8th and final DC 20. If 2 or more riders beat the 1d20 score, a winner will be decided through a millisecond tie breaker score [*roll range="1-59"]. Good luck, and don’t forget your protective vest!

Example: Caine Winchester starts by rolling a 12, which beats a 10, so he manages to get on the bull. The second round, he rolls a 14, which beats the 13. The third round, the new DC is 14, so Caine rolls a 15. The fourth round, the DC is now a 15, but Caine rolls a 14 so he falls off.

Participants:
Arrows - Colt Winchester
Python - Wanda Lovejoy
Kaplan - Eurytion
Kiah - Joe Cavanah
Arx - Crispin Wedgwood
Cato - Manwe Rhodes
Birdie - Sofia Izar

Please note that an IC post with a minimum of 100 words must be included or you will be disqualified!

If there's any questions, feel free to message Kingston Cesaire D3A [Tom] or @fabulousraven

[kap]

Eurytion

The first step of all of this was to mount the bull. Eurytion was pretty confident in himself, which was the whole reason he entered the event. He literally wrestled cattle for a living. So, when it was time for the event to begin, he silently got himself hyped up for it all. He was excited for the whole thing, and was beyond ready to show off.

Eurytion had always thought of himself as an impressive individual to begin with. His family runs a rodeo show that brings in a lot of money, and overall they're quite popular in Ten. He's strong, agile and does most of the work on his family's ranch, so he figures that there's really nothing he can't do.

That, and he genuinely believes that his father is the deity by the name of Ares. Obviously, he has no way to actually prove this, but it's what drives him through life, and it's why he believes that he's so good at just about anything he tries.

Ares would guide him through this competition, surely. He just had to show him that he deserved it.

Mounting the bull:
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[kap]

Eurytion

So far, things were going as planned. Eurytion had managed to mount the bull, and was holding on to it in the way he knew how. This was what he did for a living, so surely he wasn't going to fail. He had the confidence of a god. He wasn't afraid that he was going to fail, and he had assured himself quite sufficiently that Ares had his back.

He let out a yell of joy as he made it on top of the bull.

"Woohoo!" his voice let out. He was having the time of his life, just like he did doing this every day. Now, he just had to keep holding on and not get distracted. He kept his focus the best that he could, and didn't pay any attention to the people around him. Now wasn't the time to focus on him. Instead, it was just he and the bull as one, just like it would be any other day.

Number to beat is 13:
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[Deleted]

I normally wouldn't consider myself to be an impulsive person, I just don't always think things through like I should. I definitely didn't think through signing up for bull riding. I've never met a bull in-person, let alone ridden one. I just thought it sounded fun, exciting, adventurous. But now that the time has come and the bull is standing in front of me? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little bit nervous.

Izars don't get nervous in front of crowds, or we aren't supposed to anyway. Papa speaks in front of the people of Eleven like he has been doing it his whole life. Countless Izars had spoken in front of the entire nation before being sent to their death in the arena. Raquel stood before the crowd, so why can't I?

I needed to get my nerves out, that was it. So what if I couldn't even mount the bull? I was trying something new, something exciting. Plus, I might not be the only one. Everyone here was just here for some cross-district unity. And maybe the unity of something as simply as a county fair could evolve over time, spreading like wildfire. Or maybe I'm just too much like papa.

The first guy who went seemed so sure, so confident. I let out a small, polite clap when he managed to mount the bull. But, less then a second later he was thrown off. That made me feel a little bit better about the chance of not even getting on it. Even the most confident people can fall in a single moment. So, swallowing my fears I let out a quiet, "Joder!" And tried mounting it. Fuck it.

mounted the bull? no lmao
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[Python]

W A N D A

Wanda was truthfully, completely, totally, immeasurably out of her league. Bull riding? - her friends had asked her in exclamation. What was she, crazy? Why couldn't she stick with the corn maze and be happy?

Because that was boring.

She did not feel the same fear everybody else did. She scaled rooftops for a living, after all. The skies were her blanket, the clouds were her scarf, and it didn't take long for a bird to realize that the ground wasn't so scary if you knew how to get away from it. She wasn't afraid of heights, nor the idea of being violently thrown off of a bull. That idea should scare her - or the idea of being impaled by horns - but it didn't.

As her friends watched her with large saucer-eyes, Wanda blew them a kiss and strutted in to the Bull's den. Her confidence was a façade. She didn't feel a drop of fear, but she didn't taste an ounce of self-assurance either. In fact, she was fully prepared to be knocked backwards onto her overall-wearing ass. She was doing this to have fun and say she did it.

Without further ado, she smiled at the creature, muttering a soft "Hey there, big guy," she positioned her feet to secure herself onto its back.

elegant

mounting
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[Python]

W A N D A

Despite the desperate scrambling, Wanda climbed onto its back with no major issues. She laughed in delight, pleased that the bull had not immediately decided to kick her in the shins. She caught her friends staring in awe - or was that concern? - in her peripheral vision. It was tempting to wave at them, especially as a giddy buzz filled her head, but she knew she didn't have time.

This joy was probably short-lived.

Focusing, she pursed her lips and gripped whatever she could. Soon, the bull would become displeased with her weight on its back, and buck her off like she was a flea. At the very least, she wanted to last longer than her two previous competitors.

Be gentle, please?

In her dreams.

elegant

must beat 13
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[k!ah]

J O E

Ma had reluctantly agreed to giving me the week off. Though the struggle had been real, the pleading pathetic! You should have seen it, on my knees I had clasped sweaty hands and begged to the sky above that Ma let me spread my wings and attend the hottest event of the year. Though I don't know if it will be worth it, considering she doubled my chores as payment. You better believe I pouted, giving her my best version of puppy dog eyes in an attempt to get her to fold before I jumped to my feet, shaking her hand in a victory that I wasn't quite sure I had really won.

But as I stared at the bull, my heart in my throat, and I stare at it with a wide goofy grin. I would practically hear Ma's voice "Don't you DARE, Joe!" she would be yelling, cheeks roses and fists balled. "Don't you dare sit your ass on that bull!" Oh man, I was gonna sit my ass on this bull, and I was gonna show it who was boss.

Or maybe I would eat dirt, either way, shit was about to get hectic.

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[Deleted]

a n n o u n c e r    c o v e r a g e

---

Kennedy: "Looks like we're starting off with 24 year old Eurytion from District 10 and he's looking confident to start. If I'm not mistaken, his family owns a cattle farm so this is right up his alley."

Lorenzo: "Oh definitely! I'd say the hardest part is stayin' on, but just getting on the bull is hard enough. Eurytion's also going first, so he doesn't even get a clue of what the bulls are like to start off with."

Kennedy: "We'll just have to see, looks like he's already in position to start and... he sticks the landing! Solid at that too, you can tell this ain't his first rodeo and-"

Lorenzo: "Oooh, that wasn't pretty, everything alright down there?"

Kennedy: "He's walking, he's good! Hard to go first, especially getting caught off guard by these Winchester bulls. Looks like he wrapped up in 02:02."

Lorenzo: "Alright, next up to bat is going to be 22 year old Sofia Izar. 11, if you hadn't guessed, never would guessed she'd be on this event so I'm excited to see what she does, Fowley!"

Kennedy: "You know what they say, never underestimate an Izar! It's about time to see her mount let's see..."

Lorenzo: "You got this, Sofia!"

Kennedy: "Ahh, good attempt from Miss Sofia but she didn't quite stick it. That's a'okay, these bulls must got some fight in them!"

Lorenzo: "That's lookin' about right, Fowley."

Kennedy: "Who next but one of our own, it's 18 year old Wanda Lovejoy. To our neighbors, there should be a Lovejoy woodcraft booth near the Bonfire this year if you're interested. And look at that, she sticks the mount!"

Lorenzo: "Whew, look at that! Clean as it comes, all she's gotta do is hang on and she'll be- damn."

Kennedy: "Tell us the time on that one, Enzo.

Lorenzo: "It's gonna be close, we're looking at... 02:43 seconds!"

Kennedy: "Good effort from Wanda."

Lorenzo: "Sure was, and now we're going to be looking at 17 year old Joe Cavanah, from right here in D10. These bulls ain't here to play around, so it's hard to say how even the experienced riders'll do."

Kennedy: "Cavanah's up to post and- hold on, there's some interference from looks like ... his mom? Pissing off ma, you better make it worth it, Joe! He's up to mount and-"

Lorenzo: "Aaaaaaand..."

Kennedy: "Aye, bull gets the best of him in under 2 seconds."

Lorenzo: "Maybe his mama was on to something!"

Kennedy: "Right now it's looking like Wanda Lovejoy's holding the winning time at 02:43, but it ain't over yet. Let's see how our next rider does."

---

[brad bradford ★ d5b [arx]]

crispin wedgwood.

I'm cheering alongside the crowd in the stands as I fuss with the tape keeping my hat in place.  I grumble as I twist a few errant curls tactfully behind my ear, beneath the brim of my hat, wherever they fit.

I wave excitedly to Estella and Bailey, beaming so that even they can see my smile from beneath the brim of my hat. Ceres says the hat makes me look ridiculous, but I've always worn one—it would definitely be bad luck not to wear it at this point, right?

Plus she's wrong anyway. It looks great on me.

But then I start to listen a little more closely to the locals I've seen at some of the underground rodeo circles that I absolutely have never been to say something about how it's bad luck to eat before getting on a bull, but I've had two bags of honeycomb toffee already so when I look at the bull I'm supposed to be climbing onto kicking up dust and blowing snot all I can think about is how my Mom mentioned a great great uncle of hers losing his testicles during one of these things.

I'm glad she sent me with a helmet.

I swallow back the bit of fear holding me in place as I hand my hat off, forcing the adrenaline to keep me moving as I chuckle breathlessly. "Okayyyy, okay, heh.  You ready for this big guy?" Then I knock the jitters from behind my face mask, climb atop the fence and wave the crowd on, begging for encouragement with a nervous, crooked smile on my face.

Let's do this.

"life's a losing game when you don't play."

♪

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[brad bradford ★ d5b [arx]]

crispin wedgwood.

I grab at the collar of my vest, readjusting it on my chest and gasping when I realize I hadn't been breathing. Ha! I give a fist pump to the crowd and Sir Bones Winchester IV makes sure that I know I'm not in charge with a meanasssonofabitch lean, pinning my leg to the gate and staring up at me with eyes all lit up and crazed.

I have to grab hold with both hands to keep myself upright for a moment, but when he settles down and rolls away from the gate, I lift my hand to the crowd again and let out a shaky- "Yeehaw!"

Okay, just- don't die. Really. All I need to do.

"life's a losing game when you don't play."

♪

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[Noah Vau - D2 (Cato)]

Manwe Rhodes

Part of me wonders what dad and mom will think when they know I've tried riding a bull, but the other part of me doesn't care. This is my chance to live a little. I've always lived a little on the edge. I might be a little afraid of the bull, but I can't let it know that. I stand watching a couple of others trying to get a good idea of what to do, and then I quickly calculate how easy or hard this will be, and I realize that I probably don't stand a chance against this thing. I have to try though. When it's my turn, I take a deep breath, and I have to focus. I'm just a thirteen year old, but I can do this. I want to prove to everyone that age doesn't make a difference. I reach my hand to the bull, and I start to pull myself up. Let's show everyone how this is done.

District Eleven

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Mounting the bull
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