girlsfest | Round 1: Quotes

Entry tags:

2023,
quotes

Round 1: Quotes

Each prompt should be centered around words that have already been said.

Possibilities include a quote of any kind:

Existing works (books, poetry, TV shows, movie scripts, video game scripts, song lyrics, articles)
Speech (celebrity, netizen, anonymous)
Anything else that fits!

Example:

Characters/Ship: ITZY Ryujin/Chaeryeong
Tags: alternate universe - fantasy, ryujin is marceline chaeryeong is pb!!
Prompt:

Marceline: I dreamed about you while I was in my poison coma. I was all old and withered, and you were still nice and pink.

Princess Bubblegum: You think I'm nice?

-- Adventure Time 7x12, "Stakes Part 7: Checkmate"

Click here to view the fest rules.

RULES

You are not required to have a Dreamwidth account to participate. There are no signups necessary. You may post anonymously if you want.
There will be 4 rounds of this fest and 1 round will be opened each week of the fest. Rounds will be left open for fills and comments, so there is no deadline for participating.
Prompts do not have to be claimed before you write them, and they can be filled by more than one person.
There is no minimum or maximum word count for fills. In the spirit of the fest, we encourage you to write shorter works!
Users are allowed to crosspost their fic on any other site, such as AO3. However, we ask that when possible, writers post the text of their fills as a reply to the prompt and include a link to an AO3 post if they choose to do so, instead of just linking to an AO3 post in their comment. This helps keep discussion in our community!
Feel free to subscribe and join the comm to keep track of updates and view them on your reading page.

CONTENT
Prompts and fills have to center around K-pop girl group member(s). This includes:

All active and former girl group members
Female soloists
Female members in co-ed groups
Any female idol or trainee affiliated with K-pop (e.g. GP999 contestants, AKB48 members who featured in Produce48)
Slash, gen, het, and trans works are all accepted as long as they involve at least one girl group member

PROMPTING

To prompt, reply to a round post and copy the following template in.

It will look like this when empty:

Characters/Ship:
Tags:
Prompt:

Fill out the form with your prompt. You can also write in "Any" to give the writer freedom to choose their own. For example:

Characters/Ship: Any
Tags: canon compliant, no major character death
Prompt:

Blow all my friendships
To sit in hell with you
But we're the greatest
They'll hang us in the Louvre

- Lorde, The Louvre

FILLING

To post a fill, post a comment reply to the prompt you wrote for and copy the following template in. Title your comment with [FILL] followed by the title of your ficlet.

It will look like this once filled out:

[FILL] still I fall

Characters/Ship: Aespa Winter/Karina
Tags: idolverse, predebut, shared trauma
Permission to Remix: Please ask
-

Content of fill here...

Please provide content warnings for Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, and Underage as well as NSFW/explicit content.

REMIXES

You are welcome to remix fics that the original author has approved for remixing. A remix is a work directly or indirectly inspired by another work.

To post a remix, post a comment reply to the comment you remixed and copy the following template in with your info. Title your comment with [REMIX] followed by the title of your remix.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Characters/Ship: aespa Kim Minjeong/Uchinaga Aeri
Tags: Convent AU, Religious Guilt, Homophobia, Happy Ending
Permission to Remix: Yes
-
ao3 link! (https://archiveofourown.org/works/46369309)

Aeri is shoving clothes into her bag with perhaps more force than is necessary. Minjeong wants to tell her to be quieter, but she knows that the older girl isn't likely to listen to her. She’d honestly been surprised enough that Aeri hadn’t screamed at her when she’d shown up at the door, just silently let her inside before returning to her packing. But perhaps she felt she’d broken enough rules of the order without disrupting their silence as well.

Minjeong hated when Aeri was upset with her.

"Unnie," Minjeong tried again. "Did you remember your jacket?"

"What do you care?"

Aeri didn't even look over. It was a dagger in Minjeong's chest.

"I just want you to be safe."

No response.

Minjeong's eyes wandered around their small room. Aeri's alcove was small, but she'd managed to make it homey somehow anyway. There were little piles of papers everywhere, books strewn across all surfaces. The clothes she wasn't taking- the ones belonging to the order- were folded neatly on the desk. Minjeong couldn't help but notice the blue blanket she'd crocheted for Aeri was still spread out on the bed, with no indication Aeri was going to pick it up and add it to her hoard.

"Unnie, please look at me."

"Why are you even here, Minjeong?" Aeri snaps. She does look at Minjeong, like she'd wanted, but her expression is harsher than any that Minjeong had ever seen before. "To laugh at me?"

"No."

"Turning me into a cautionary tale? Are you gonna tell the new initiates not to do what I did?"

"No! I-you didn't do anything wrong-”

Aeri laughs, and it's a dark, cynical thing, so unlike her usual laugh. "Don’t pretend you don’t think that. You're the one who showed my journal to the abbess. You're the one who's making me leave."

"I don't want you to leave." It's barely a whisper.

"But you don't want me to stay either. You don't want...you don't want me."

Aeri's voice breaks, and her eyes shut. She takes a steadying breath and turns back to her bags. "You could've just talked to me. I would've left you alone."

Minjeong felt like her heart was trying to tear free of her ribcage.

"I didn't know she'd-"

"Don't say you didn't know I'd be punished. You know better than any of us how wrong this is. How wrong I am." Aeri knotted the top of her bag and pulled the strings taught. "I don’t need to hear it again."

This felt wrong, more than anything else. The way Aeri's movement were so heavy, the way her voice was thick and wet, the way there were women waiting at the gates of the order to escort Aeri into the city, a place Minjeong had never been, a place Minjeong couldn’t follow. Never once had Minjeong doubted their rules. Never once had she questioned the abbess’s wisdom. But how could she continue to keep faith when her piety was driving Aeri away? Was making Aeri cry like this?

"I don't know what you want me to say," She eventually confessed.

"I don't want you to say anything. Just go away, Minjeong. Go pray for cleansing or whatever it is you think you need."

Minjeong swallowed. She stood up, fixing her skirts so they lay flat, and slid her shoes back on.

"Safe travels," she murmured, and exited the alcove, leaving Aeri behind.

She wandered the monastery for a while, aimless. She avoided eye contact with the other sisters; everyone knew what was happening, knew that Minjeong was the one who'd exposed Aeri for her “lecherous thoughts”. The older women had taken her aside and assured her that she shouldn’t be guilty, that although it felt like a betrayal, she had done the right thing. It was Aeri’s fault for not repenting. It was Aeri’s choice to abandon her vows. But Minjeong wasn’t reassured. She should be guilty. She hadn't done the right thing. And even if it was the right thing, she hadn't done it out of devotion to her order or her beliefs. She'd done it because she was scared. That night, when she went snooping through Aeri's desk and saw her own name written in Aeri's journal, she'd been so overwhelmed she hadn't known what to do. Bringing the journal to the elders was her first instinct, it had been conditioned into her so young, that she really hadn't imagined...she hadn't thought of the consequences...

I want to kiss Minjeong so badly I'm worried it shows on my face, Aeri had written. I had to switch lunch duty twice this week so I didn’t embarrass myself.

Minjeong had never wanted to kiss anyone before. It didn't occur to her until she read that line that she'd also thought about kissing Aeri. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about it ever since.

Jimin says that Minjeong is normally so quiet, but she talks to me every day. I'm glad she does. Even when my day is horrible, it gets better when I get to see her.

Minjeong cut her finger in the kitchen today. I noticed the bandage wrapped around it when we were in the garden. This is so embarrassing, but I worked extra fast so that she wouldn't tear up her hands more trying to pull up weeds. I hope she didn't notice.

Minjeong had noticed. She'd wondered when Aeri had suddenly developed a gusto for weeding, to the extent that she bled over into Minjeong's section and finished her work as well. She didn't say anything because her hand had been hurting, and she really hadn't wanted to do her own plot anyway. She'd hoped Aeri wouldn't notice.

Minjeong slowed to a stop, alone in the middle of the hallway.

Minjeong fixed my hem today. I got it caught on some branches. She pouts a little when she focuses. It's cute. I think this is now my favorite skirt.

I told Minjeong she looked pretty today. Sometimes even that feels like I’m saying too much. It's so hard to hold myself back. Feels a bit like dying probably does. I should tear out this page and burn it.

Minjeong turned on her heel and started walking back towards Aeri's room.

It was Minjeong's birthday today. We went outside and built a snowman. She told me she'd never done that before, and I got so sad I almost cried.
Minjeong has the prettiest singing voice. I wish I could fall asleep to it every night.

Today I braided Minjeong's hair and I swore my hands were shaking. I don't know how religious I am now, but if I don't have God, at least I have Minjeong. I don't think God ever made me feel this lit up inside.

I think God would forgive me for this. I hope he would. I don't really care if he doesn't, though.

If I asked her to leave with me, would she? Is that a horrible thing to want? Is this kind of love forbidden because it makes you greedy?

By now Minjeong was sprinting, frantic as the turned the corner to the residences where Aeri lived. Aeri was at the door, her bag on her shoulder, and in her arms was the folded blue blanket, Minjeong's blue blanket, she hadn't left it after all, even after Minjeong rejected her, she was going to take it with her-

"Aeri!"

Aeri turned, eyes widening as she saw Minjeong barreling towards her.

"Minjeong, what-"

Minjeong barely managed to stop her momentum as she skidded to a stop in front of Aeri, grabbed her face, and pressed their lips together.

It wasn't like a movie. Their mouths weren't at the right angles, and Minjeong was already breathless, and her lips tasted like salt from her own tears, but it was their first kiss, Minjeong's first ever kiss, with all the meaning that Minjeong struggled to parse into words.
When she pulled away, Aeri stared at her, wide eyed.

"What are you doing?" she asked, similarly out of breath.

"I do want you," Minjeong said, the words spilling out of her like a sink let out. "I want you so much. I want to be with you so much. I didn't mean to get you in trouble. I just- I've never felt this way before, and I got scared. But being away from you is scarier. I'm sorry, I'm not making sense. I know you have to leave, but I wish you didn't. I love you too much to watch you leave like this, and everyone keeps telling me I did the right thing but I didn't, because it means you're leaving me here -"

Minjeong was interrupted by Aeri's lips on hers again, and she shut up immediately, closing her eyes and letting Aeri take control over the kiss. Aeri's hands were so soft on her face, so careful. warmth was spreading from every point of contact, filling up Minjeong's chest.

Aeri pulled away and pressed her forehead against Minjeong's, breathing heavy.

"Say it again," she said. "Say that you love me again."

"I love you. I love you so much. I want to be with you always."

"Then come with me."

Tears sprung to Minjeong's eyes again. "Aeri-"

"Please. Please, Minjeong. Come with me. It's fine out there, y’know? We'll be okay. We'll be together."

Minjeong sucked in a choked breath, and Aeri carefully wiped away the tears with her thumb. This was the hard part, the part she hadn't thought through. Her whole life was here. She didn't know what she would do with herself if she turned in her vestments and left with Aeri. She was twenty-two and had never dreamed of a life outside the order. She'd end up useless, deadweight.

"I'll drag you down," she confided. "I don't know how to do anything. You'll get sick of me, it won't work-"

"I'll never get sick of you." Aeri's voice was absolute. "What are you talking about? You're good at so many things." Aeri leaned back, shaking her head morosely. "But...I can't make you. I'm asking too much. If you can't, then- then you can't. That's okay. Knowing you love me is enough."

She pulled away, and Minjeong felt the absence of her hands like a physical burning. She reached out, grabbing Aeri's shirt in her fist in a panic.

"No!"

"Minjeong, don't-"

"I'll go! I'll go with you. Please, I-" Minjeong took a shaky breath. "Give me a second to get my things."

"Minjeong, you don't have to leave just because I asked you to. I'm not that selfish." Aeri sounded so, so sad, and it was making Minjeong's chest ache. She couldn't bear it. Without any further prompting, all her feelings slid into their rightful place, and she made a choice.

"Then I'll be selfish for both of us. I want you, and I'm going to have you, so I'm coming with you. That's what I want. I’m an adult now. I can decide what I want for myself, and this is what I want." She tightened her grip, tugging Aeri to look her right in the eyes. "Got it?"

Aeri sniffled and let out a short laugh. She pulled Minjeong's hand out of her shirt, tilted her chin up, and kissed her a third time, sweet and chaste. "Okay, Min-ah," she said. "Let's go see the abbess."

Even though anxiety was still thrumming in her veins, even though she was dreading the conversation with the elders, and the judgement from her sisters, when she took a breath, the horrible weight of guilt was gone. This, right here, standing with Aeri and promising to love her, was the easy part. It was maybe the easiest thing Minjeong had ever done. She could get through everything that came after, as long as she knew she'd have more moments like this to look forward to.

You go, girl @ Minjeong! I loved this, I felt bad for Aeri then super happy she got the girl. She took the blanket with her, oh gosh. :(

Also, damn, this hit close to home, Minjeong's reaction and fear, Aeri's feelings and pain. But I liked it all... orz

Thank you for writing this!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Round 1: Quotes

[FILL] i found my holy place

Re: [FILL] i found my holy place