feversend | The Haokook Thesis: Short Version (Reply)

I think it’s very in character for my first real dreamwidth post—with actual writing in it—in ages to be a so-called thesis for a ship that I invented inside my head couple of years ago and somehow never gave up on—only grew more and more demented about as time went on.

It is hard to put down a thesis for a ship that pretty much exists in my head in every way any ship can exist—which is the luxury of a rarepair so rare that I get to hold court on what I think these imagined versions of them would be like. It’s also very hard to say something new when most of the writing I do on my ao3 is about versions of the two people in this ship and regardless of whether that fic is a haokook fic or not, any fic where Jungkook or Minghao are examined as characters…are to ME segments of the overarching haokook thesis.

In fact, almost essential to my haokook thesis are these are the lives we love to lead Jungkook and spring at the moon Minghao—the most flawed lovers of them all. And the reason I link those is because when I say short, for a change I do mean short.

The easy answer to the haokook question is they’re both deeply generous and loving artsy boys who would probably fall in love with each other’s art first—or simultaneously. Think sneaking glances in a painting class and then painting each other. Ridiculously tender and whimsical and romantic. If there was ever a perfect balance between love as devotion and love as friendship, it would be this.

But that’s the easy answer. The other one is that Jungkook is the I can never love someone enough, as much as they deserve lover and Minghao is the I will always be the more in love one in a relationship lover. Which is a crazy fucking dynamic if you take a second to think about it.

Take this quote from Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous: “They say nothing lasts forever but they're just scared it will last longer than they can love it.”

I think Minghao will be scared of this and Jungkook is the type to believe in long-lasting love, the kind that will never say he's fallen out of it and then what happens—what if they just stay together for the fuck of it? I don’t think they would. They both seem like two different yet similar kinds of realistic to do that. Sure there is the fantasy of hearing bells when you meet your destined lover or the fantasy of someone meeting your love with so much love in return you are swept off your feet. And yet. There is on one hand a guy who is romantic but practical, first out of insecurity and later because he knows better; and on the other hand, an essentially practical person who becomes more and more idealistic because of his obsession with theory.

A controversial take I have about them is that haokook are the kind of guys who offer logical solutions to people who are looking for emotional support but hate when someone does the same to them. This doesn’t mean they’re not empathetic listeners and give great advice etc and this is also not their first response to everybody (for instance: they both handle fanservice veeeryy differently). But I still think there is a similar streak of no-nonsenseness in them. (Jungkook is not all fluff is a hill I am willing to die on, tbh.)

They remind me of sunsets, water, letting the breeze kiss your face as you sit next to the sea…some terribly soppy things really. No wonder the playlist I’ve been making for them has been a lovelorn work in process for ages. Two songs I will still pin though are: Mohit Chauhan's Tum Se Hi and IU's My Sea.

But there’s no dearth of poetry.

-Firstly there’s this from their own posts.

-Natalie Diaz, The First Water Is the Body

Will we remember from where we’ve come? The water.

And once remembered, will we return to that first water, and in doing so return to ourselves, to each other?

-Ed Bok Lee, Water in Love
How to love like water loves

when it’s impossible to even taste

all the ghostly sediments

each time you take a sip

-Li-Young Lee, One Heart

The first sky

is inside you, open

at either end of day.

-Ada Limón, Mowing
I’m thinking about people

and trees and how I wish I could be silent more, be more tree than

anything else

-Marge Piercy, Night Flight

Love is plunging into darkness toward

a place that may exist.

-Anne Carson, Anthropology of Water (but I'm also thinking of Kinds of Water & The Wishing Jewel and really all of Carson's waterography
You dreamed of black arms shaking on the edge of the world. Reaching back for that you drop through a freedom so clear it is simply pain.

-Christian Wiman, Flight
My heart a bird’s heart just beyond your hand.

As you can probably tell, this is one of those pairings I can really envision being fully in love like almost cheesing in it. Which is a rare case for me, since I'm always looking for the divorce angle with ships.

Ok I said short and we're cutting it here. If you're wondering where is the long version it's always ongoing, in my head, in a doc I might let my friends peek into if they wish with haphazard link to hundred posts about haokook on every twitter account. If you're craving some haokook after reading this. Well, may I offer every haokook that's in this collection and the fics linked to my fics (courtesy ao3 klavier <3)

If you have thoughts, I'm always up for gushing over haokook~