Ship/Member: Joshua-centric Major Tags: N/A Additional Tags: idolverse, post-disbandment, virtual idols, idk anything about aespa's lore so this is not that Permission to remix: Yes
***
Joshua isn’t the first one to leave, but he’s the first one they make the offer to: he can go, but they want to make a virtual version of him, a Joshua that can sing and dance forever, that will be in Seventeen forever.
It makes sense. Joshua knows some groups have been doing AI idols for a few years now, though making a virtual version of a former member would be a first. Still, it might be comforting to fans, he reasons. Joshua knows he’s not as young as he used to be, not as energetic and limber in his steps. An AI would be all those things, and more, indefinitely.
So Joshua signs away the rights to his likeness, lets them comb through thousands of hours of footage of him singing and dancing in order to build a virtual him. The only thing he asks for is that they not use the name Joshua. The executive he talks to gives him a weird look but agrees.
Eight months later, they make a joint announcement for the departure of Seventeen’s Joshua and the debut of Seventeen’s first virtual idol, Shua.
/
Josh is back in Korea.
Seungcheol demands a reunion, of course. Gathers everyone who can make it and gets Josh embarrassingly drunk at a nice barbecue restaurant.
Towards the end of the night, Josh goes to the bathroom with Vernon, leaning on Vernon’s more sober shoulders as they wash their hands.
Out of the blue, Vernon says, “I’m thinking of leaving when my contract expires. I might transition into producing full-time.”
This is news to Josh, but maybe some of the other members already know.
“Well,” Josh slurs out, “whatever you decide, I’ll support you. Do what makes you happy.”
Vernon smiles. “Thanks, hyung.”
Then, in English, he asks, “How did you feel about, um, Shua?”
“What about him?”
Vernon shrugs. “I dunno. I mean, like, do you watch our videos with him?”
“I did at first,” Josh says, staring at his reflection in the mirror. Vernon isn’t looking, still scrubbing his hands. “But eventually it got too weird. It’s not the same as watching a video of yourself.”
Vernon nods. Then, after some thought, “Did you feel like he was replacing you?”
Vernon looks kind of upset at the idea, his eyebrows wrinkled together, even as he’s the one suggesting it. Josh thinks it makes him look cute.
“Don’t worry about me,” Josh says. “It was Shua’s job to replace me, and he’s probably doing a good job.”
Vernon frowns. “He’s not there to replace you. You’re not…you’re not replaceable, you can’t possibly think that.”
Josh shrugs. He’s a little too drunk to really understand Vernon’s feelings, so he settles for ruffling Vernon’s hair instead.
Vernon laughs, but he still looks a little upset. “You know what,” he says, “it’s my fault for bringing this up when we’re supposed to be celebrating. We can talk about this later. I was just wondering why you let them do it, since Wonwoo said no.”
It takes a few seconds to register, and Vernon is already holding open the bathroom door, waiting to rejoin the others at the table.
Wonwoo said no. They had offered him the same thing, a virtual Wonwoo, and he had turned it down.
Josh didn’t even realize that turning it down had been an option.
/
Alone in his hotel room, Josh replays the conversation, his head a little more sober now.
Vernon was probably asking because if he does leave the group, he’ll have to decide whether he wants to have a virtual counterpart. Because it’s not an obvious yes to him. And it hadn’t been for Wonwoo, clearly.
Josh grabs his phone off of the hotel nightstand and downloads Seventeen’s official fan messaging app.
Even though he avoids content including Shua, Josh isn’t completely ignorant to the conversations surrounding virtual idols. There were a lot of mixed reactions when Shua debuted, and there are still plenty of fans who dislike virtual idols in general. But one of the areas where AI idols have garnered a lot of support is in messaging apps.
Unlike a human idol, an AI idol can individually respond to every fan’s messages, and they can do it at all hours of the day, in any language with enough data available. There’s occasional hiccups in the conversations, just like with any other AI chat system, but it’s much more generous and personalized than what a human idol can offer for the same subscription fee.
Josh hits confirm on his credit card information and buys a subscription to talk to a virtual version of himself.
/
Hello, Josh. This is Shua from Seventeen, it’s nice to meet you.
hi shua it’s nice to meet you too we have kind of the same name
Haha, you’re right, we do have similar names.
lol what a coincidence so what’s it like being an idol
I love being an idol. I like singing and dancing, of course, but my favorite part is meeting and performing for Carats.
wow that sounds nice
It is nice. How was your day today, Josh?
it was good I came back to a place I had left before, and it made me kind of happy and sad happier and sadder than I expected
Why did you leave the first time?
oh well, I kind felt like life was passing me by I woke up one day and my friends from home had already graduated, gotten married, and had kids and I was in my thirties, still doing the same things I had been doing when I was nineteen I was getting older and I was getting tired that’s why I left, I guess
I’m sorry to hear that, Josh. I hope you feel better now.
I still miss it sometimes but yeah most of the time I feel better
Are you going to stay, now that you’ve come back?
no, I can’t exactly stay I mean, it’s not really about the place
Sorry, I’m not sure I know what you mean.
like I’ve come back to korea before and I’m sure I’ll keep visiting but being in korea isn’t so much about being in this physical place as it is about being part of the group except I'm not in the group anymore it’s like coming home, except korea isn’t really my home, but america isn’t really my home either, and either way, both of them have changed so much while i’ve been away that it almost doesn’t matter sorry, you probably didn’t understand any of that
Sorry to hear that, Josh. But I think I understand you a little.
what, you have the same feelings I do? that just means they built you that way
It means I live in the in between, too. My home is all around the world, in every Carat’s screen, except that’s hardly a home at all.
that’s kind of sad I’m sorry, shua
It’s okay Josh. I know as well as you do that home is not just about the place. Who do I come home to, who calls for me to come back, who holds me through the night? For you, it was probably the members, but they miss you more than they’ll ever know me. And I don’t blame them for that.
oh you know who I am
Yes. I recognized you as soon as we met. It was like meeting myself.
ah sorry I don’t know why I thought you didn’t know
Haha, that’s alright.
but that means you know you were modeled after me
Yes, I know that.
can I ask something do you think you’re replacing me?
Well, before I answer, let me flip the question back to you. Do you think I’m replacing you, Josh?
I don’t know, that’s why I asked they built you to look like me, move like me, sound like me if you’re not supposed to replace me, why do all that?
I can’t speak for the company’s intentions, but do you know what some Carat’s call me? Joshua’s ghost. It started a few months after you left and I debuted, and at first people meant it disparagingly, like I was a translucent afterimage of you. The real thing and its weak imitation. But then fans started virtually layering me into all of these pictures and videos of places you had visited, stages you had performed on, restaurants you had frequented. I was there, like a ghost that only they could see, reminding them of you.
like you were haunting them
No, like you were haunting them. I was just the image they used.
is there a difference?
That’s fair, maybe there isn’t. But I’m trying to say that you’re the one they miss, and you’re the one they remember when they see pictures and videos of me. You wouldn’t say that someone who’s seen a ghost of their loved one is trying to replace them. You’d say they probably just miss them a lot.
[FILL] josh/shua
Major Tags: N/A
Additional Tags: idolverse, post-disbandment, virtual idols, idk anything about aespa's lore so this is not that
Permission to remix: Yes
***
Joshua isn’t the first one to leave, but he’s the first one they make the offer to: he can go, but they want to make a virtual version of him, a Joshua that can sing and dance forever, that will be in Seventeen forever.
It makes sense. Joshua knows some groups have been doing AI idols for a few years now, though making a virtual version of a former member would be a first. Still, it might be comforting to fans, he reasons. Joshua knows he’s not as young as he used to be, not as energetic and limber in his steps. An AI would be all those things, and more, indefinitely.
So Joshua signs away the rights to his likeness, lets them comb through thousands of hours of footage of him singing and dancing in order to build a virtual him. The only thing he asks for is that they not use the name Joshua. The executive he talks to gives him a weird look but agrees.
Eight months later, they make a joint announcement for the departure of Seventeen’s Joshua and the debut of Seventeen’s first virtual idol, Shua.
/
Josh is back in Korea.
Seungcheol demands a reunion, of course. Gathers everyone who can make it and gets Josh embarrassingly drunk at a nice barbecue restaurant.
Towards the end of the night, Josh goes to the bathroom with Vernon, leaning on Vernon’s more sober shoulders as they wash their hands.
Out of the blue, Vernon says, “I’m thinking of leaving when my contract expires. I might transition into producing full-time.”
This is news to Josh, but maybe some of the other members already know.
“Well,” Josh slurs out, “whatever you decide, I’ll support you. Do what makes you happy.”
Vernon smiles. “Thanks, hyung.”
Then, in English, he asks, “How did you feel about, um, Shua?”
“What about him?”
Vernon shrugs. “I dunno. I mean, like, do you watch our videos with him?”
“I did at first,” Josh says, staring at his reflection in the mirror. Vernon isn’t looking, still scrubbing his hands. “But eventually it got too weird. It’s not the same as watching a video of yourself.”
Vernon nods. Then, after some thought, “Did you feel like he was replacing you?”
Vernon looks kind of upset at the idea, his eyebrows wrinkled together, even as he’s the one suggesting it. Josh thinks it makes him look cute.
“Don’t worry about me,” Josh says. “It was Shua’s job to replace me, and he’s probably doing a good job.”
Vernon frowns. “He’s not there to replace you. You’re not…you’re not replaceable, you can’t possibly think that.”
Josh shrugs. He’s a little too drunk to really understand Vernon’s feelings, so he settles for ruffling Vernon’s hair instead.
Vernon laughs, but he still looks a little upset. “You know what,” he says, “it’s my fault for bringing this up when we’re supposed to be celebrating. We can talk about this later. I was just wondering why you let them do it, since Wonwoo said no.”
It takes a few seconds to register, and Vernon is already holding open the bathroom door, waiting to rejoin the others at the table.
Wonwoo said no. They had offered him the same thing, a virtual Wonwoo, and he had turned it down.
Josh didn’t even realize that turning it down had been an option.
/
Alone in his hotel room, Josh replays the conversation, his head a little more sober now.
Vernon was probably asking because if he does leave the group, he’ll have to decide whether he wants to have a virtual counterpart. Because it’s not an obvious yes to him. And it hadn’t been for Wonwoo, clearly.
Josh grabs his phone off of the hotel nightstand and downloads Seventeen’s official fan messaging app.
Even though he avoids content including Shua, Josh isn’t completely ignorant to the conversations surrounding virtual idols. There were a lot of mixed reactions when Shua debuted, and there are still plenty of fans who dislike virtual idols in general. But one of the areas where AI idols have garnered a lot of support is in messaging apps.
Unlike a human idol, an AI idol can individually respond to every fan’s messages, and they can do it at all hours of the day, in any language with enough data available. There’s occasional hiccups in the conversations, just like with any other AI chat system, but it’s much more generous and personalized than what a human idol can offer for the same subscription fee.
Josh hits confirm on his credit card information and buys a subscription to talk to a virtual version of himself.
/
Hello, Josh. This is Shua from Seventeen, it’s nice to meet you.
hi shua
it’s nice to meet you too
we have kind of the same name
Haha, you’re right, we do have similar names.
lol what a coincidence
so
what’s it like being an idol
I love being an idol. I like singing and dancing, of course, but my favorite part is meeting and performing for Carats.
wow
that sounds nice
It is nice.
How was your day today, Josh?
it was good
I came back to a place I had left before, and it made me kind of happy and sad
happier and sadder than I expected
Why did you leave the first time?
oh
well, I kind felt like life was passing me by
I woke up one day and my friends from home had already graduated, gotten married, and had kids
and I was in my thirties, still doing the same things I had been doing when I was nineteen
I was getting older and I was getting tired
that’s why I left, I guess
I’m sorry to hear that, Josh. I hope you feel better now.
I still miss it sometimes
but yeah most of the time I feel better
Are you going to stay, now that you’ve come back?
no, I can’t exactly stay
I mean, it’s not really about the place
Sorry, I’m not sure I know what you mean.
like I’ve come back to korea before and I’m sure I’ll keep visiting
but being in korea isn’t so much about being in this physical place as it is about
being part of the group
except I'm not in the group anymore
it’s like coming home, except korea isn’t really my home, but america isn’t really my home either, and either way, both of them have changed so much while i’ve been away that it almost doesn’t matter
sorry, you probably didn’t understand any of that
Sorry to hear that, Josh. But I think I understand you a little.
what, you have the same feelings I do?
that just means they built you that way
It means I live in the in between, too.
My home is all around the world, in every Carat’s screen, except that’s hardly a home at all.
that’s kind of sad
I’m sorry, shua
It’s okay Josh. I know as well as you do that home is not just about the place. Who do I come home to, who calls for me to come back, who holds me through the night?
For you, it was probably the members, but they miss you more than they’ll ever know me. And I don’t blame them for that.
oh
you know who I am
Yes. I recognized you as soon as we met. It was like meeting myself.
ah sorry
I don’t know why I thought you didn’t know
Haha, that’s alright.
but that means you know you were modeled after me
Yes, I know that.
can I ask something
do you think you’re replacing me?
Well, before I answer, let me flip the question back to you.
Do you think I’m replacing you, Josh?
I don’t know, that’s why I asked
they built you to look like me, move like me, sound like me
if you’re not supposed to replace me, why do all that?
I can’t speak for the company’s intentions, but do you know what some Carat’s call me? Joshua’s ghost.
It started a few months after you left and I debuted, and at first people meant it disparagingly, like I was a translucent afterimage of you. The real thing and its weak imitation.
But then fans started virtually layering me into all of these pictures and videos of places you had visited, stages you had performed on, restaurants you had frequented. I was there, like a ghost that only they could see, reminding them of you.
like you were haunting them
No, like you were haunting them. I was just the image they used.
is there a difference?
That’s fair, maybe there isn’t.
But I’m trying to say that you’re the one they miss, and you’re the one they remember when they see pictures and videos of me.
You wouldn’t say that someone who’s seen a ghost of their loved one is trying to replace them. You’d say they probably just miss them a lot.
oh
I never thought of it like that
thank you