Status: Closed
This round has closed. It remains open for fills, comments and remixes, but prompts are no longer accepted.
About
"If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more."
"What is grief, if not love persevering?"
"You kept me like a secret but I kept you like an oath"
Calling all readers, lovers of poetry and music, screen and stage. Quote collecters and lyric hoarders, unleash your archive. Each prompt must contain a quote - you can combine them, add commentary, link to articles, and more. Steal from a literary classic, or WeVerse drama. Have fun!
Examples
Minghao + Ocean Vuong
The most beautiful part of your body
is where it's headed. & remember,
loneliness is still time spent
with the world.
Ocean Vuong - night sky with exit wounds
Hoshi/Anyone; "Beauty is terror"
Thinking about these two quotes together and the idea of on/off-stage personas:
"Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful we tremble before it. And what could be more terrifying or beautiful, to the Greeks to to our own, than to lose control completely?" - Donna Tartt, the Secret Histories
"I am calm in everyday life but when I put on my in-ear device and step on stage, I can feel the tension and hear the cheers getting louder as the music gets louder. When the staff tells me it's time to step on stage, I feel something boil inside me. I feel it steaming inside and I think I have to give a burst of something, spill what is inside me." - Hoshi in Hit the Road Ep. 04
Any ship; "It's been so many years"
Hello, hello there, is this Martha?
This is old Tom Frost
And I am calling long distance
Don't worry 'bout the cost.
'Cause it's been forty years or more
Now Martha please recall
Meet me out for coffee
Where we'll talk about it all.
Tom Watts - Martha
Rules
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- NSFW/Explicit content should be tagged
- NSFW art should not be visible, please provide a link and a warning. You may crop the artwork and embed a SFW preview.
How it works
Prompting
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Filling
- Reply to the original prompt;
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You may also upload your fill to the AO3 Collection.
Remixing
- Post as a reply to the fill you are remixing, using the same HTML as above;
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Art/media
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by the sea, by the sea
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: N/A
Do Not Wants: None
Prompt:
[FILL] a boat in the sea of love
(Anonymous) 2021-12-27 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)Major Tags: beach day
Additional Tags: N/A
Permission to remix: Yes
***
“We should go to the beach.” Seokmin suggests one day, eyes bright in the reflection of the morning sun, “We’ve been here for almost 3 years and I’ve never been to the Santa Monica Pier.”
Minghao uncurls from his position on the mat so he could look at where Seokmin is, half buried under the blankets. Seokmin’s expression is as awake as he ever is at 9AM in the morning. The idea of having that knowledge, of knowing what Seokmin looks like in the process of waking makes something curl warm and comforting in between Minghao’s ribs.
It feels a little like devotion, like love right on the tip of the tongue.
“Sure, when were you thinking?” Minghao asks, leaning forward again until he could feel a tug on his hamstring.
Seokmin hums, the sound of tapping coming from where Minghao can’t see and he knows Seokmin must be checking his dates and availability.
“How about next weekend? Your internship will be done, my workshop will be wrapped up and it’s the last weekend before our semester starts again.” Seokmin finally says, tilting his smartphone towards where Minghao is now arching his back to show him the calendar. “When are you done again? I mean don’t get me wrong it’s very sexy to watch but I’m bored now.”
“Yes, I’m done now.” Minghao laughs, “And it’s good for you. Yoga increases blood flow and flexibility.”
Seokmin makes a face but he’s smiling, and Minghao already knows what he wants to say, the same response from the same conversation that they have had dozens of times. He will be affectionately mocking in a way that only Seokmin could be while Minghao patiently explains the benefits of pulling your body into dozens of improbable shapes, the ways that your muscles and bones will thank you.
He hopes they will have this conversation hundreds more times, every day for the rest of his life if he had the choice.
“Yeah, let’s go next Saturday.” Minghao says before Seokmin can respond, leaning down to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth, “I miss the beach.”
Minghao packs for them because if it were left to Seokmin, they would arrive at the beach sans sunscreen and changes of clothing and anything else that wasn’t related to surfing or running barefoot through the sand. Instead, he’s relegated to helping Minghao load everything into their old beat up Toyota sedan.
From there, it’s an hour drive from their tiny apartment in the heart of Koreatown to the beach, A/C on full blast against the sweltering Los Angeles heat. Seokmin sings loudly and purposefully off tune to the songs on Minghao’s playlist and Minghao flips through the news and internet, reading anything interesting he finds. Halfway through the drive, they call up Mingyu whose all the way across the country in New York for the summer, just so Seokmin could rub it into his face that he couldn’t be at the beach with them.
“It’s not as if we can’t just go again when I get back.” Mingyu says, the sound of the radio a buzz in the background of his call.
“But it won’t be the same as the first time with us.” Seokmin trills, smug, “You’re missing the discovery and wonder.”
Mingyu audibly snorts and says, “Discovery and wonder my ass, this isn’t even the first beach we’ve been to. I bet you’re going to get sunburned,” to which Seokmin squawks indignantly and the conversation only derails further from there.
Minghao listens to Seokmin and Mingyu bicker, only stepping in before it can devolve further than petty names, their words still softened with fondness, never meant to hurt.
“Text us your flight details for next week, we’ll pick you up from the airport. We miss you.” Minghao says, and ends the call before Seokmin could interject with something childish.
It’s half past 11 by the time they arrive at the beach, the sun blistering in the sky. Seokmin voluntarily slathers on sunscreen, Mingyu’s sunburn threat clearly still lingering in his mind. Privately, Minghao doesn’t think Seokmin, who is bronzed like precious metal, is the one more likely to sunburn between the two of them.
They unload the rest of the car and Seokmin hoists the beach umbrella under his arm while Minghao carries the tote and beach chairs.. Both of them share the weight of the cooler filled with lunch and bottled water, and set off to find an unoccupied plot of sand.
“Want to join me surfing?” Seokmin asks after they’ve set up their spot.
Minghao shakes his head, already fishing for the book he’s stashed under the extra towels. “No, I’ll watch. Have fun in the sun.”
Seokmin nods, already expecting the answer, “I’ll be back soon.”
The kiss he gives leaves Minghao’s cheek warm, flushed by something other than the burning sun.
Seokmin finally finishes up a little before 4 and returns clearly ravenous. His hair is still damp but he’s already stripped out of his wetsuit back into regular beachwear. Minghao, for his part, has read less than he would have liked, constantly distracted by Seokmin trying to catch his attention from amongst the waves or in between tides. He puts away the book and holds out a towel; Seokmin dutifully sits in the other beach chair.
Minghao towels off his hair gently, running fingers through the locks bleached by the light, a field of wheat spun into gold. He doesn’t think he would ever tire of this, of the privilege of drying Seokmin’s hair after showers and rain, of seeing Seokmin close his eyes and sigh into the pressure against his scalp.
Minghao feels the thing in his chest swell, pressing against his lungs and threatening to burst with the fullness of the feeling.
They eat sandwiches as a late lunch, Minghao’s filled with mostly vegetables and Seokmin’s piled as high with cheese and meat as he feasibly could. Seokmin digs his toes into the sand, shuffling them until slyly until he’s poking the arch of Minghao’s foot, and then laughs when Minghao almost drops his sandwich at the unexpected contact. They talk about the water and Minghao’s book, small stories about work until they’re dusting crumbs off their swim shorts.
“C’mon, let’s go into the water for a bit.” Seokmin says, eyes twinkling with sincerity, reaching for Minghao.
His fingers are warm, by heat and joy, and Minghao follows willingly. If Seokmin glowed even under the most ordinary of circumstances, he was blinding under the summer sun and Minghao was enraptured by the light of him. Seokmin was fearless of the waves, dunking his whole body into the water despite the chill, and was not above splashing Minghao upon seeing his hesitation.
“C’mon you weenie, you’ve got to get a little wet at the beach.” Seokmin laughs, shaking droplets like diamonds out of his hair.
He smiles in the way only Seokmin does, without expectations, because there is something to smile about even when all else is dark. Seokmin is dazzling against the dark of the waves, the bright blue of the sky, and Minghao feels as if the ocean itself is swallowing him whole with the depth of his wanting. This was a feeling he could die with, a love so deep Mazu herself would have coveted it among her heavenly splendor.
“Of course, I’m coming.” Minghao says, and follows Seokmin into the sea.
---
I’m a little nervous posting this because ki, I suspect you will know who I am immediately but I wanted to try something. also i didn't edit any of this and most of it has nothing to do with the ocean.
title from siken, "saying your names" which has also nothing to do with any of this in actuality.
Re: [FILL] a boat in the sea of love
Re: [FILL] a boat in the sea of love
Re: [FILL] a boat in the sea of love
Re: [FILL] a boat in the sea of love
Re: [FILL] a boat in the sea of love
Re: [FILL] a boat in the sea of love
lines I loved:
It feels a little like devotion, like love right on the tip of the tongue. - I'm old and disillusioned but this line literally makes me want to fall in love
He doesn’t think he would ever tire of this, of the privilege of drying Seokmin’s hair after showers and rain - sobbing, the calling an act of love a /privilege/ makes me want to knit this quote into a sweater
Minghao feels as if the ocean itself is swallowing him whole with the depth of his wanting - (silent screaming)
[FILL] let the tide in
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: friends to lovers(?), alcohol, drowning used as a metaphor
Permission to remix: Yes
Word count: 1791
dear ki, i probably shouldn’t be doing this when the prompt has already been filled so well but this poem has haunted me so! here we are, with no plot but lots of vibes
***
- Nizar Qabbani
- Richard Siken
***
Minghao learns that he likes Seokmin by a lake.
It’s a school biology trip, and they’re sitting on the lakeside, using little nets to look for fish or plants or insects or whatever. Minghao’s already forgotten what they’re supposed to be doing. The sun glares on the back of his neck, like he’s being punished for something, and the dry grass irritates his legs. The air is teeming with insects; Minghao hasn’t seen any, but he can feel the shadows of them crawl over his skin. He shifts uncomfortably, looking over at Seokmin, his partner for the project. Seokmin is actually bent over the lake, moving the net around, discomfort be damned. Rays of sunlight crown him from behind and highlight the focus in his eyes, like he’ll coerce a fish into the net by sheer force of will.
“Why are you doing this?” Minghao asks.
“Doing what?” Seokmin replies, briefly glancing at him.
“Trying. Nobody else is. They’ve given up.”
“You never know, we could catch something!”
And isn’t that Seokmin all over? Trying when nobody else would? Helping when nobody else would? Befriending Minghao when nobody else would? If there was one thing that Minghao knows about his friend, it’s that he would only stop when he had enough, not when anyone else did.
Even so, Minghao doesn’t want him to waste his time.
“I’m not sure we’re actually going to-”
“Shh! I think I feel something!”
Minghao scrambles closer to Seokmin, watching the net intently. Seokmin’s hand is clenched tight on the handle like he’s drowning, like he’s the one struggling in the water. Minghao thinks he could memorise the shape of his hands; he isn’t quite there yet, but one day he could commit the ridges and valleys of them to memory.
“Well? Did you get anything?” Minghao asks.
Seokmin’s grip loosens. He turns to Minghao and smiles sheepishly.
“Sorry,” he whispers, like there’s something to apologise for. Minghao just smiles back.
Seokmin takes the net out of the water, looks around furtively to check nobody’s looking, and then puts it on the ground next to him. He stretches his arms out, tilting his head back to let the sun kiss his face, and if Minghao’s heart were a kite, it would be soaring right now with Seokmin to guide it.
He’s not used to this. He’s been friends with Seokmin for some time now, but he’s had an enduring heaviness in his core for as long as he’s been alive, and he’s not used to Seokmin making it lighter with his gentle smile. Minghao isn’t sure, but he thinks he knows this feeling - like he would know a friend of a friend, someone he’s heard about but never seen.
Minghao likes Seokmin. It’s a horrible thing to realise, that he likes someone as likeable and bright and untouchable as Seokmin. But as the insect shadows fester on him and bite through his skin, he realises he does like Seokmin. He burns with the knowledge, and the sun tries to turn him to ash, and at that moment he wishes that the lake would burst its banks and wash over him, drown him, swallow him whole.
***
Minghao learns to kiss Seokmin by a swimming pool.
It’s someone’s party, someone rich enough to have a swimming pool, and Minghao shouldn’t really be there. Neither should Seokmin. Not that their parents would mind or anything like that, but neither of them are there because they want to be. They’re there because everyone else is. And because there’s alcohol.
It’s the alcohol that’s making Minghao act like he is now, clinging to Seokmin like he’s the only thing stopping him from falling. In a way, he is - Minghao wouldn’t really have anyone else to talk to if Seokmin weren’t there. They try to dance in the living room to the horrible music for a bit, but then Seokmin pulls Minghao close and whispers,
“Do you want to get out of here?”
and Minghao has never agreed to anything faster.
They push past throngs of couples and obnoxious drunk boys to slip out to where the pool is. It’s quieter, but something in Minghao’s head buzzes as he walks around the pool with Seokmin.
He’s used to the thrumming ache of liking Seokmin without being liked back. He’s had a good two years of practice. He knows, really, that he wouldn’t sacrifice their friendship for anything - a thousand kisses would never be worth the risk of losing out on Seokmin’s bright smile. But in moments like this, where it’s just them, the ache turns into a hope, which turns into a longing, which turns into a rush of affection that almost suffocates Minghao.
So that is what he’s thinking about as he walks with Seokmin. Unfortunately, he’s so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he doesn’t even notice when he’s falling forwards.
He hears the splash before he realises that he’s the one in the water. He’s drenched from head to toe and starting to shiver - the pool’s much colder than he was expecting it to be.
Seokmin throws his head back and laughs, the full moon makes his laugh sound brighter. Seokmin moves to the edge of the pool, holding out a hand for Minghao to take, and Minghao - well, he grabs Seokmin’s hand and pulls him in the water.
Minghao giggles when Seokmin resurfaces, shaking like a dog and pushing his hair out of his eyes. He whines a little as he insists,
“That wasn’t funny, Minghao!”
“Oh come on. It was a little bit, don’t you think?”
“You’re insufferable, Minghao.”
“Am I?”
“Yeah,” Seokmin retaliates, crowding him against a corner of the pool. “You are.”
Suddenly, Minghao gets the feeling that he might not be drunk in this rich kid’s swimming pool. He must have just ascended, and that’s why Seokmin is looking at him like this. His eyes shining, drops of water falling from his hair, looking at Minghao like-
“You’re really insufferable, Minghao,” he says, his breath cold on Minghao’s lips.
“I’m not as bad as you,” Minghao mumbles. “You keep looking at me like- like-”
“Like what?”
Minghao gulps. He takes a deep breath and-
Seokmin kisses him, ever so gently. His hands are awkwardly gripping Minghao’s T-shirt, and it seems like he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. So Minghao takes over. He wraps his arms around Seokmin’s middle, bringing one hand to the back of his neck, and starts kissing him properly.
Minghao read somewhere that the heart of a mouse beats so fast that it doesn’t even sound like it’s beating at all. He thinks he’s feeling something similar, like his heart is beating so fast he’s not even sure he has one. All he has is Seokmin on him, around him. The alcohol is buzzing through his veins, and part of him is panicking that someone’s going to catch them - and yet he thinks, as the sharp chlorine stings at his eyes and nose, that this feels like the most natural thing in the world.
Minghao wants to kiss Seokmin. He wants to drag Seokmin into the pool with him, to let Seokmin fill his eyes and the water fill his ears, and he wants to taste the chlorine on Seokmin’s lips and never surface again.
***
Minghao learns that he loves Seokmin by the sea.
They’re at the beach, on one of the little trips they take together sometimes. Not as a couple - he and Seokmin have been hovering in the pleasant haze of undefined togetherness ever since they kissed in that pool. They haven’t said any important nebulous words, they haven’t tried to put meaning to anything, but they enjoy existing by each other’s sides and holding each other, so that’s all that matters. And honestly, Minghao doesn’t really mind it. He would rather have Seokmin this way, clandestine and confused, than go back to the tender ache of liking him from afar.
So they don’t call it love. And yet, something feels a little different as they walk along the beach.
Seokmin looks beautiful today. There’s something so unrestrained and boundless in his joy that Minghao wants to keep it under lock and key, to make sure that nothing can ever spoil it. Seokmin walks along the beach with a joy so delightful that the sun can’t help but love him, kissing his face and bathing him in splendour. He stops every so often to pick up a shell and show it to Minghao, pointing out the patterns and colours with his fingers, which Minghao has almost memorised now. Whenever he speaks in his honeyed tones, he speaks like he’s saying something secret, something just for them, and Minghao will never tire of that. Even if he’s pretty sure that Seokmin can’t think of him the way he thinks of Seokmin, he will never tire of thinking that what they have is special and different. And maybe it is - under the vast rosy sky, with nobody but the endless sea to guide them, anything feels possible.
Seokmin is beautiful. But that’s not what makes Minghao realise. He’s always known that Seokmin is beautiful. What makes him realise is when they stop to gaze at the rolling waves and Seokmin sighs deeply. Minghao isn’t used to hearing that from him, so he turns to see what the matter is. But nothing’s the matter. Seokmin’s just looking out to sea, and he keeps looking out as he says,
“I wish I could stay like this forever, Minghao. Just us, the sun, the sea. Wouldn’t that be beautiful?”
And that’s the moment when Minghao realises, because his answer is nothing but a deep and resounding yes. He wants Seokmin around all the time. Sometimes, he’s not sure he wants anyone else around at all. Nobody else can make him feel this light and peaceful. Nobody else can make breathing air feel this easy. It’s only Seokmin, with all his doubts and stubbornness and shyness, that can make him feel what the sea must feel when it’s caressed by the sun or guided by the moon.
He takes a deep breath, letting the salt-strung air and the presence of Seokmin fill him up. Seokmin is looking at the sea, and he’s looking at Seokmin, and, without meaning for anyone to hear, he whispers, “I love you.”
And he looks to the sea and he thinks, I love him.
And he looks to the sea and he thinks, Come and get me. I dare you to get me, to swallow me up and drown me. But I don’t think you can. I don’t think that you, with all your brutal power, would ever be able to contain my love for him.
Re: [FILL] let the tide in
Re: [FILL] let the tide in
ah man... seokhao....
Minghao learns to kiss Seokmin by a swimming pool. not another bo-
man something about childhood friends just grips me by the throat everytime.
Minghao learns that he loves Seokmin by the sea. there we go :rolling_eyes:
Come and get me. I dare you to get me, to swallow me up and drown me. But I don’t think you can. I don’t think that you, with all your brutal power, would ever be able to contain my love for him. what thehell
nj what the helllllllll you're so good at seokhao you're so good in general really living up to your seokmin_liker name
Re: [FILL] let the tide in
Re: [FILL] let the tide in