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/Ning Yizhuo
Tags: Occult, horror
Permission to Remix: Yes
-
ao3 link! (https://archiveofourown.org/works/46370518)

Sharp, high-heeled footsteps carried through the dark basement, loud against the bare concrete. They moved zigzag, stopping in corners and diverting around piles of boxes while their owner surveyed each alcove for her target.

"Minjeong?" came the voice, sugary sweet, echoing all around. "Won't you come out?"

There was no answer except the scuttle of rats in the corners of the room.

"Come on, Minnie. I hate being down in this ugly basement."

A door opened far away, and another voiced called down.

"Aeri, what's taking so long?"

"She got away from me! And it's dark down here."

The girl at the top of the stairs-it must be Jimin-made a frustrated sound. "I'll do it myself. Come back up here and help Ning-ah. She's going crazy."

"Wow, I wonder why," Aeri muttered. "It's not like we're trying to sacrifice her girlfriend or anything."
"Did you say something?"

"Nope!" The sweet high voice was back. "I'm coming up now."

Minjeong stayed absolutely still as Aeri's footsteps moved away from her hiding place. The hand clasped over her mouth was all she could do to keep from screaming, and the other hand was shaking as it held onto a pipe that she'd managed to pick off the floor somewhere else in the cellar. She wasn't very strong- Aeri had barely even flinched when Minjeong had struck her with it earlier- but having even a meager weapon made her feel marginally more in-control. She was bleeding from both her knees, her dress was torn, and her hair was absolutely ruined. Honestly, this was just Minjeong's luck. She makes an effort to look nice while meeting her girlfriend's best friends and instead of telling her she looks pretty, they start hunting her down with daggers. The first time something like this had happened, she was sure it was a fluke. The second time it was a freak coincidence. Now here she was, third go around. Was she that easy of prey for weird lesbian cults? Does she just have a “sacrificial vibe” about her?

Twin footsteps on the stairs; Aeri's going up and Jimin's coming down.

"Give me the rope," Jimin said. "And get the implements ready." Aeri said something in response, and the door closed.
Jimin's footsteps were less bouncy than Aeri's. They were quieter, steadier, in absolutely no hurry. And they were heading straight for Minjeong.

"Minjeong-ie." Jimin's voice was smooth and low, almost pitying. "This is already hard enough on Yizhuo, don't you think? There's no need to drag this out."

Minjeong didn't respond. Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure Jimin was tracing her by its sound.
"I hope you don't feel too resentful. She was just doing her job. If you want to be angry at someone, blame me. I'm the one who will be holding the knife."

The footsteps stopped a few paces away from Minjeong's hiding place. The rats squeaked as they scurried back their holes, leaving Minjeong alone in stifling silence. She felt Jimin's presence in front of her like a physical force.

"Minjeong, could you come out please?"

Minjeong didn't respond.

"If you don't come out yourself, I'm going to have to drag you out. And that won't be fun for anyone."

Minjeong swallowed, and slowly pushed herself up on shaking and sore legs. Jimin's face was shrouded in darkness, but Minjeong swore she could still make out her placid smile.

"There we go. Come on, let's go upstairs. You'll catch pneumonia down here."

She turned and started walking back towards the staircase. Minjeong watched her silhouette start to fade, her heart still high in her throat. She clambered over the boxes to follow, helpless, then remembered the pipe in her hand. Her grip tightened around the rough metal. If she could knock her out and steal back her car keys, she could find another exit. The cellar had to have a ground exit, didn't it? Something that led out into the yard, where she could make a run for the garage? It was the only shot she had. She brought the pipe overheard, arms shaking with adrenaline.

The pipe had barely begun its descent when Jimin turned around, eyes flashing even in the dark, and stopped the pipe in midair, one-handed.

"Points for trying," she said, still pitying. She yanked the pipe out of Minjeong's grasp and grabbed her by the wrists. Minjeong couldn't help but scream as Jimin turned her around, wrenching her arms painfully behind her back.

"Again, I don't want this to be so hard. You're making it hard. I'm just doing my job, too."

Minjeong struggled, but Jimin's hands were strong, and her nails dug into Minjeong's skin like claws. The rope she had mentioned on the stairs made an appearance as Jimin roughly tied Minjeong's hands behind her back.

"Please," she said, not above begging for her life. "Please, please, no-"

"I'd love to say you'll understand someday, but clearly you won't." Jimin said, tightening the knot so much it was cutting off blood supply to her hands. She tugged on the rope, sending Minjeong stumbling, her vision blurring with tears. "Come on, Minnie. Let's go up top."

Minjeong sucked in a heaving breath, her brain shorting out with terror. If she wasn't so preoccupied with her own breakdown, she might've heard the door to the basement open, and harried voices from the stairs.

"Stop! Stop, please!"

"Ning-ah, what are you-"

A body plowed into Minjeong, shocking her back into the present. She collapsed hard to the ground, Yizhuo falling on top of her, sobbing, while the other two girls argued above them.

"Didn't I tell you to keep her upstairs?"

"She freaked out when she heard Minjeong scream. She bit me! Do you think it's going to get infected? They say human bites are the most dangerous kind."

"Aeri, we're not human. We can't get sick."

Yizhuo was crying, clutching on to Minjeong like a child hugs a teddy bear. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she said, barely audible through her own cries. "I'm so sorry, Minjeong, please don't hate me, please, I didn't want to bring you here. I didn't want to hurt you."

"Yizhuo, get up. Now." Jimin's voice was severe. Minjeong could practically see the fire in her eyes.

Yizhuo tightened her grip on Minjeong. "No. We're not killing her."

"Stop being childish, Yizhuo. What do you think would happen if we let her go? You think you'd just go back to your cute little relationship?"

"She might call the police!" Aeri mentioned from the side. "We'd have to move away again, and I just finished getting all the rooms decorated.”

"She wouldn't!" Yizhuo leaned back enough to turn Minjeong over and look in her face. With the light spilling in from the kitchen upstairs, there was enough light to see the tear tracks on Yizhuo’s desperate face. "You wouldn't do that, right? You wouldn't tell anyone about us."

Minjeong wasn't sure what she would even tell, given the opportunity, but she shook her head anyway.

"See?" Yizhuo appealed to Jimin, who appeared profoundly unmoved. "She'll leave us alone."

"Ning-ah, I know this is hard, but you know the rules. She's already been in the house. We can't just-"
"I'll turn her."

A hush fell over the room. Jimin blinked once, clearly shocked. "What?"

"I'll turn her. Then she'll be one of us. She can't rat us out if she's one of us."

"You're going to turn Minjeong?" Aeri's voice was incredulous. "Doesn't she have a family?"

"She'll just go missing. Girls go missing all the time."

Jimin looked pained. "Yizhuo, we can't just-"

"But I can. I get one pick, right? That's what you said when Aeri turned me. That I'd get to choose the next one."

"I- yes, you do, but you chose to be turned. This is- she's obviously under duress."

"She was also under duress when you were going to gut her."

Minjeong's head was spinning. She didn't understand what they were talking about. Not human? Turning? They were going to make her...make her like one of them? Whatever they were?

"Unnie." Yizhuo’s voice was serious as she took Minjeong's head in her hands. "What do you think? You can stay here with me, for eternity. I’ll take care of you. You won't even have to go to school anymore or work a day in your life. Doesn't that sound nice?"

"I..." Minjeong's eyes darted between the three girls, all of whom were looking at her with very different expressions. Jimin was frowning, eyebrows knitted in frustration. Aeri seemed oddly entertained by the whole thing, and Yizhuo’s eyes were just full of desperation, begging Minjeong to agree. And despite everything, despite the betrayal and the terror and the way she was still bruised and bloody, she really couldn't help but cave when Yizhuo looked at her like that.

"I'll do it. I'll join your group."

Yizhuo let out a little yelp of glee and pulled Minjeong into a hug.

"Please, Jimin-unnie. She said yes and everything."

"She doesn't even know what she's agreeing to," Jimin said, but her voice was less angry now and more resigned. "But...fine, I guess. It's your right. But her transformation is your responsibility. I'm not dealing with it at all."

Yizhuo nodded emphatically. "Thank you, I understand, I'll take care of it."

Jimin groaned, long suffering. "Keep her hands tied until she's in the saferoom. If she runs away, I'm going to shoot her."

Yizhuo nodded again. Minjeong hid her face in Yizhuo’s neck and tried to steady her breathing.

"Aeri? Go find someone. We'll need blood for Minjeong's transformation."

"Does it matter who?"

"At this point, no. Just anyone. She'll just have to do it the hard way."

Aeri's footsteps disappeared up the steps and out of the basement. for a while there was quiet, but Minjeong could feel Jimin's eyes boring into her back like lasers. Then, she followed Aeri up the stairs and slammed the door shut. Alone now with no witnesses, Minjeong wrenched herself out of Yizhuo’s grip and scooted away. It was dark again. The cold of the basement was seeing into Minjeong’s skin.

“Unnie.” Yizhuo’s tone was mournful. “Don’t be that way. It’ll be alright.”

Minjeong felt herself breaking down again, sobs getting caught in her too-tight chest as she tried to sort out her own conflicting feelings.

“You were going to kill me,” she said, voice shaky and wretched.

“Never.” Yizhuo’s voice was absolute. “I’d never let them do that to you. I’m sorry I let it get this far. But you’re safe now. You’re mine. They can’t hurt you anymore.”

Minjeong stayed in place as Yizhuo crawled around back to loosen the bonds on her ropes so they weren’t cutting into her skin anymore. She smoothed Minjeong’s hair down and pressed a kiss to her temple.

“Please don’t cry. It’s okay.”

It didn’t feel okay at all. Minjeong felt seconds from hysterics. She wanted to tear herself away from Yizhuo and make a break for the door again, but she knew it was futile. Jimin would kill her on sight. Yizhuo clearly didn’t want her to die, and Aeri didn’t seem to have vested interest one way or another. It was better to take a chance on them, than to resign herself to an untimely demise.

“How does ‘turning’ work?” she asked finally. “What does it mean?”

“Don’t worry about that right now,” Yizhuo soothed. “Let’s go upstairs and clean you up. I promise I’ll explain everything.”

Minjeong leaned into Yizhuo’s touch, seeking what little comfort she could from the other girl. She could bear it. She could figure it out. It might not even be that bad. Yizhuo seemed happy, at least. And honestly, Minjeong hadn’t been planning on finishing her degree anyway.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Round 1: Quotes

[FILL] bad things come in threes