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2022 Round 2: AUs
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Status: Closed
This round has closed. It remains open for fills, comments and remixes, but prompts are no longer accepted.
✧ Seventeen Holidays ✧
About
When you put the characters you love in a new world, you end up loving them even more. Sometimes it's about the aesthetic (dark academia). Sometimes it's about straining those ship dynamics to the extreme (Pacific Rim). Maybe life is hard and you need to exorcise something (unemployment/coporate slave AU). Or perhaps you are so in love with the world you want to see Seventeen in it. Shakespeare, My Hero Academia, RuPaul's Drag Race. No problem - just give some context so anyone can fill it. Examples
MinWon - Bittersweet
Ah yes, the ambiguous Bittersweet MV. I'm curious to see anyone's interpretation of those MinWon scenes.
Any / NCT AU
Remember how Seventeen was supposed to be subgroups divided across Korea, China and Japan? What if that happened and the members were split up, only to reunite once a year. Or if they promoted like NCT - thinking about the graduation angst of NCT Dream, the ridiculous schedules of SuperM. Who is Mark and over-employed. Who is Shotaro and stuck in the basement?
Wonhui X Link Click (Donghua)
Link Click is a show about two guys who run a photography studio and time travels to help their customers. Wonwoo knows every event within 12 hours of a photograph being taken and Junhui can time travel and possess the photographer for 12 hours to complete a mission. Wonwoo speaks in Junhui's mind and tells him what he needs to do - where to go, what to say, what will happen. There's a rule that Junhui can't change the past because it will change the future :') but Junhui wants to :'). Would love to see WonHui investigating another sebong's story, or an exploration of their contrasting attitudes to fate (resigned vs headstrong - roles can be reversed if you want).
Rules
How it works
Prompting
Filling
Remixing
Art/media
Note!
Have you considered trying for the 17hols hall of fame? The categories are: Exactly 400 Words, Year of the Tiger, Five of a Kind and the Rarest Pair. ▽ Click for More Info ▽Exactly 400 words: your fill is the absolute minimum word count. Well done you cold curt succinct savage. Year of the Tiger: in celebration of 2022, we will also celebrate anyone who supports this agenda (context: burn your ears). You must seamlessly incorporate a horanghae or wooahae or hahahahanihae (etc) in your fill. You can not regret it. Five of a Kind: You win this if you fill 5 prompts, and each fill is different in the same way. E.g. 5 different ships, 5 different AUs, 5 different mediums. You also win this by doing 5 remixes! The rarest pair: the fill with the rarest pairing at the end of the fest wins. This is based off the number of works in the ao3 tag. For simplicity, this will be the / tag and not &. (e.g. a “Wonwoo & Minghao” platonic fill will be counted by the “Wonwoo/Minghao” tag). The ship must only have Seventeen members and be the main pairing in your fill. We will update the category with the current titleholder during the fest so you know who to challenge~ I anticipate polyamory. (To help us out, please mention that you’re going for one of these categories at the beginning of your fill.) Navigation
 ABOUT  DATES  FAQ  BAITS |
name one hero who was happy
Ship/Member: Any (quietly) seokgyu..
Major Tags: MCD ?
Additional Tags: Friends to enemies? Lovers to enemies? Strangers to enemies? Rivals to enemies? You get it...
Do Not Wants: None
Prompt: Achilles and Hector AU (doesn't have to be Iliad au...). Born to be enemies. Destined to be rivals. Fated to cause one another harm.
[FILL] a doom that will never be done with
Major Tags: Major Character Death
Additional Tags: royalty AU, vague mythological past, intergenerational curse, betrayal
Permission to remix: Please ask
Word count: 3349
dear peb, the second worst thing you have ever done to me is send me that oresteia pdf. the worst thing you have ever done to me is this prompt. hope you enjoy
[1/2]
***
The story is worthy of epic. Mingyu standing above Seokmin, driving his sword into Seokmin’s chest, ending the years of bitter feuding that have plagued their two families. Mingyu is a hero, even if the people don’t think so. Even if nobody else in this godforsaken city believes him, the gods know. They put him onto this, they see him for who he is. The gods know Mingyu’s story.
Mingyu’s story is worthy of epic. That is why nobody quite tells it right.
***
Mingyu knows why he is here. Seokmin’s father murdered Mingyu’s uncle, because Mingyu’s uncle murdered Seokmin’s grandfather, because Seokmin’s grandfather had cheated Mingyu’s great-aunt, because Mingyu’s great-grandfather had betrayed Seokmin’s great-grandfather. The chain was long, but it was traceable. There was a reason why Mingyu’s blood boiled whenever he even thought about Seokmin.
That is why he is here, vying for a spot as Seokmin’s military chief. Betrayal would be the only way he could get Seokmin where he wanted, and the only way to betray someone is to get close to them first. And the advantage of having been sent away for his education is that nobody knows him. His past, his family - none of that matters. All that matters is that he’s able to do the job. So Mingyu spars with the other contenders, shows off his skill in swordfighting and archery, shares his strategies confidently. Really, the others don’t stand a chance when he’s around. All the while, though, his eyes dart to Seokmin, making sure he is watching.
And Seokmin is watching. His eyes are trained on Mingyu, intent on his lithe movement and strong blows. Even from afar, Mingyu can tell that Seokmin is focusing on him, and so he might as well put on a little show. He pushes himself harder under Seokmin’s intense gaze, strains every muscle in his body to keep him hooked. If Mingyu wants his glory, he needs to catch Seokmin’s attention, he needs to make Seokmin need him.
At the end of it all, it’s Mingyu who is the victor. He knew he would be, but nevertheless he keeps his head down when Seokmin moves to congratulate him.
“I look forward to working with you,” Seokmin says, with a glimmer in his eye. Not haughty or cruel, but something almost genuine.
Mingyu smiles meekly. He replies, “As do I.”
And he means it, more than Seokmin can ever know.
***
It doesn’t take Mingyu very long to learn that Seokmin isn’t very sure of himself. It might be understandable - Seokmin is still quite new to being a king, after all - but every word he utters in front of his advisers sounds unsure, like he’s waiting for someone to prove him wrong. In this particular meeting, they are discussing a nearby city whose soldiers are lurking closer to the border. Royal adviser Jeonghan wants to make an attack, but-
“I don’t think we should,” Seokmin posits hesitantly. “They’re not too much of a threat, are they? There’s no reason to suppose they will attack us soon.”
“Seokmin, you trust too easily,” Jeonghan warns, like he has said this many times before. “They’ve caused issues before, and they might cause issues again. It’s better to anticipate them rather than lag behind.”
“Even so,” Seokmin says, voice trailing off a little, “I don’t think we should be too hostile just yet. I think that- well, given where we are in terms of manpower- I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“I agree,” Mingyu remarks.
It catches everyone else by surprise - perhaps they weren’t expecting the new military chief to be so vocal so quickly. Seokmin looks the most surprised of all, like he wasn’t expecting Mingyu to agree with him, like he couldn’t believe he had said something right.
“It’s the logical choice, in my view,” Mingyu continues. “There’s no need to make unnecessary enemies. Until they pose a clear threat, we shouldn’t use valuable manpower and resources to cut them off. If they want to advance, they can, but they’ll be the aggressors. I’m not too sure they’ll want that, diplomatically speaking.”
A weighty silence hangs over the room. Nobody is quite looking at Mingyu - not even Seokmin, who’s too busy staring at his own hands, like they’ll move of their own accord.
“Thank you,” Seokmin replies, scarcely audible. “Now if that issue is settled, we can move on.”
Mingyu doesn’t miss the grateful smile Seokmin sends him when nobody else is looking. Before he even realises he’s doing it, he smiles back.
***
Mingyu doesn’t mean to watch Seokmin pluck the orange from the tree. He wasn’t even expecting to see Seokmin at all. He was just walking around the grounds, looking to clear his head, to shake off the ghosts asking why haven’t you done it yet?
And there Seokmin is, soaked in sun and splendour, as he stands on tiptoes and reaches for the orange. Next to him, a little girl - one of Seokmin’s cousins, Mingyu realises - watches in wide-eyed awe as Seokmin’s long fingers grip the orange and pull.
It comes off into his hands, and Seokmin smiles a satisfied little smile. He kneels down so he is eye level with the girl, not caring for whether his robes got dirty.
“Do you want me to peel it for you?” he asks, honeyed voice carrying across the grass.
The girl nods vigorously, and Seokmin starts to peel the orange. He digs his nails in, making quick work of the peel, stripping it off in one piece. Then, he gently pulls the orange apart, separating the segments with so much precision and care that for a minute Mingyu feels like the orange is more important than anything he’s ever had to do. Seokmin passes the orange segments to the little girl, mirroring her bright grin, and watches her run off to eat.
Mingyu remembers his uncle and his great-aunt and how all his family want Seokmin to die. But they never saw his eyes shine with silken kindness as he gave his cousin an orange, nor did they see the curve of his lips as he smiled wider than any king should. If they did, Mingyu is pretty certain they’d change their minds.
“Mingyu! Over here!”
Mingyu is startled. He didn’t realise Seokmin could see him. Had he known he was there all along? Sheepishly, he shuffles towards Seokmin.
The blinding smile is still on Seokmin’s face, even though his military chief has been basically watching him from behind a tree. Seokmin doesn’t seem to mind that Mingyu saw him in his tender, vulnerable moment. Kings don’t tend to like it when their advisers see them for who they are, but Seokmin doesn’t seem to mind. Something within Mingyu burns at the thought.
“Do you want an orange, Mingyu?” Seokmin asks when Mingyu approaches.
And even though Mingyu knows he’s taller, and he knows that he could reach the oranges much easier than Seokmin can, he doesn’t stop himself from saying, “I’d love one, thank you.”
The orange is sweet, even if the ghosts try and sour his joy.
***
“Sometimes,” Seokmin whispers, more to the candle than to Mingyu, “I don’t know if I deserve all this.”
Mingyu is in Seokmin’s chambers. He probably shouldn’t be - it’s hardly conventional for a king to invite his military chief to his chambers unless there is an emergency. But Seokmin isn’t conventional, and to him most decisions feel like an emergency.
So Mingyu sits on a chair opposite him, talking to him until his furrowed eyebrows relax and the tension melts from his eyes in the warm glow of the candlelight. Usually, they talk of defence strategy. Today, the worry seems different.
“What do you mean?” Mingyu asks. “Who else would deserve this?”
“I don’t know. But not me. Everyone expects so much from me, and I don’t think I could ever live up.”
“Everybody knows you’re doing well, Seokmin. The kingdom is fine. You’ve done nothing wrong.” It pains Mingyu to admit to himself that he’s telling the truth. “So why are you so worried?”
“It’s not the people here that I’m worried about. It’s… it’s the others.”
“What others?”
“The ghosts.”
Mingyu’s heart leaps to his throat. “Ghosts?”
“Not real ghosts, but the ghosts of all my family that have suffered at the hands of the Kims. They follow me. I carry them with me every day. They expect me to do something to avenge them, that will end this chain of killings, once and for all. But I’m not like that. I’m not sure I’m a killer. I’m not sure of anything. What I am sure of is that if I don’t avenge my family, I betray them, but if I do avenge my family, I betray myself. And yet I could never even think of betraying my family, because I want to keep them happy. I need to be a good son, but these ghosts are with me all the time, and I don’t know how to keep them happy. How do I keep them happy, Mingyu?”
Mingyu never knew that being understood could be such a horror. Seokmin didn’t tear open Mingyu’s chest with his bare hands, he didn’t rummage around Mingyu’s organs looking for the key to the core of his heart, but he might as well have. Seokmin has said what Mingyu could never have the courage to, and the recognition makes him feel sick to his stomach.
Mingyu’s throat is tight and icy, like he’ll choke if he tries to open his mouth. Distantly, he thinks there’s something tragic about it all - about how similar they both are, about how fate has landed them like this, about how all Mingyu wants to do is to kneel before Seokmin and put his hands on Seokmin’s knees and say forgive me, forgive me, I know.
But he doesn’t do that. Instead, Mingyu grits his teeth. He thinks of his uncle, his great-aunt. He thinks of all the ghosts he needs to keep happy.
He says, “Just do what you’re already doing. They’ll be happy with that.”
Seokmin looks at Mingyu. His limbs seem to relax, loosened like Mingyu has fed him fine wine.
“You’re kind to me, Mingyu. You’ll make me too soft, I think.”
Mingyu isn’t too sure about that. Seokmin has been too soft long before Mingyu came into the picture. Why else would he trust Mingyu so much after only a few weeks of knowing him? Unless they absolutely had to, why would anyone trust Mingyu?
Even so, Mingyu chuckles, unable to stop himself. “Who said that was a bad thing?”
***
This is not a conversation that Mingyu’s supposed to hear. Even so, he cannot help but lurk around the threshold.
“Why are you telling me this all of a sudden?” Seokmin asks, sounding uncharacteristically irritated. “Do you think you can change my opinion of Mingyu with spurious facts and whispered rumours?”
“Seokmin,” warns royal adviser Jeonghan, with an edge to his voice, “we just want you to think carefully. We know nothing about the origin of this man, so it might be wise for you to involve him less in… sensitive matters.”
“He is my military chief, Jeonghan. How exactly am I supposed to leave him out of sensitive matters?”
“Perhaps the position ought to be reconsidered.”
“And why would I do that? On what basis? It wouldn’t be fair to anyone, least of all to Mingyu.”
“It would be fair to the kingdom.”
“The kingdom saw Mingyu win the competition! What would it look like if I were to snatch away the title of someone who earned it so obviously?”
“It would look like you’re responsible! It would look like you can make hard decisions well. There may be people who oppose it - so what? When someone so high in the ranks cannot be trusted-”
“I don’t care what you say,” Seokmin interrupts, finally sounding worthy of the crown he wears. “I trust him. I have no reason not to trust him. What wrong has Mingyu ever done to me?”
Bile rises in the back of Mingyu’s throat. Seokmin trusts so easily, so beautifully, too beautifully for the bloody foundations of this palace. Mingyu hasn’t had anyone trust him like this - for the sake of trusting him, rather than because the family name depends on it.
Seokmin believes in him so openly. If it weren’t for the ghosts on Mingyu’s back, Mingyu would be reluctant to prove him wrong.
***
Re: [FILL] a doom that will never be done with
“Mingyu,” Seokmin says, looking Mingyu straight in the eye, “can I trust you?”
It is late at night and Mingyu is in Seokmin’s chambers again. That’s not unusual, not anymore. But Seokmin is wearing nothing but a thin robe, and Mingyu can see just how broad his shoulders are and how exposed his collarbone is and how his smooth skin shines in the candlelight, and he wishes he couldn’t. Mingyu has been trying his hardest not to notice Seokmin’s radiance, but now it’s practically on display, and Mingyu wishes he could turn his face away.
He swallows the stirring feeling in his core and asks,
“You called me here just to ask if I can trust you? Why? Has something happened?”
Mingyu doesn’t miss the way Seokmin’s eyes flutter slightly. Of course something has happened. Mingyu overheard Seokmin talking to Jeonghan earlier that day. But Seokmin won’t say that. Instead, he says,
“No, nothing’s happened. But I- well, we’re going to brave a lot together. I don’t know just how many threats face this kingdom, but we’re going to need to face all of them together. And I- I just felt the need to ask. To know if you’re up for the task of sticking by me for all that time. So can you? Can I trust you?”
A lump rises to Mingyu’s throat, as it so often does around Seokmin. He wants to say yes, and he wishes that he could say it and it would be true. He wishes he could stay by Seokmin’s side as long as he needed, to hold the evils that threatened him at bay.
But of course, Mingyu is one of those evils. And he could do it right now if he wanted. Seokmin’s sword is somewhere in this room, it always is, and if Mingyu takes it Seokmin will be defenceless. Seokmin will fall easily, and Mingyu could end it all in one swift movement. The ghosts would flee, the curse would end, and life could finally, finally, move on.
And yet, Mingyu doesn’t want to. Not when Seokmin is like this, raw and bare and at his most vulnerable. Somehow Mingyu cannot bare the thought of everyone else finding him like this. And anyway, it feels almost cowardly to do it like this, when Seokmin doesn’t even have a chance to defend himself. It would hardly be a death worthy of epic. Seokmin deserves better than this. Mingyu deserves better than this.
“Of course,” Mingyu replies, slightly breathless. “Of course you can trust me.”
Seokmin smiles. Not his usual boundless grin, but something a little smaller, something just for them. Mingyu tries not to let it twist his guts.
“I’m glad to hear it. You may take your leave.”
Mingyu nods, hastening towards his own chambers.
He needs to wait for his chance to go down in epic.
***
Mingyu’s chance comes sooner than he expects. He doesn’t remember much about the meeting Seokmin calls with his advisers. All he knows is that he is the last one to leave, and even then he doesn’t really leave. He pushes a chair in front of the door, to block people from coming in. In an epic, people see the heroes die before their eyes. But Mingyu knows better. Mingyu knows that only he should lay eyes on this moment. Or at least, that’s how he wants it.
“Mingyu,” asks Seokmin, perplexed, “what are you doing?”
Mingyu unsheathes his sword. “I’m doing what I could have done weeks ago.”
Seokmin doesn’t look scared. It’s strange, really. Mingyu knows Seokmin by now, and he is scared of everything. And yet right now, he doesn’t look scared. He just looks confused.
“Why are you doing this?” Seokmin asks, backing away slowly.
Mingyu scoffs. He lunges towards Seokmin, making the other man stumble backwards onto the floor. “There’s no use trying to get away from me. You’re trapped, Seokmin. Trapped by a Kim. I am the nephew of the man your father killed. I’m here on a mission. I have been this whole time.”
Realisation dawns on Seokmin’s face. His eyes widen, and then he turns away, like he can’t bear to look at Mingyu anymore.
“I should have known,” he says, monotone. “I should have seen who you really were.”
Mingyu scowls a little. “Even now you’re blaming yourself. Just like you always do. Let me take this, for once. I betrayed you.”
The words clog his throat. They shouldn’t. He shouldn’t feel anything about this, least of all guilty.
He pushes his sword into Seokmin’s chest to distract from the feeling, before it can spread from his throat to his arms and immobilise him. It does the job. Mingyu finally manages to do what he’s been trained to do most of his life. Crimson spills from Seokmin’s chest, like a rose opening for the sun. Seokmin makes a cry of pain, tilting his head back so that all Mingyu can see is the sharp line of his jaw.
Mingyu kneels down to Seokmin, eyes roaming over his face. Something in Mingyu squeezes at the sight of Seokmin wincing in pain, even though he knows he caused it. Through it all, Seokmin is golden and tragic, bathed in heroic glory that he hasn’t quite earned, and Mingyu wishes he could want less. It’s quite tragic, really, that for all his longing, this is the closest he has ever got to Seokmin.
“I just don’t understand,” Seokmin struggles to say, voice strained, “how you could go through with this. Did you not want to be anything else? Did you not want to be different?”
“The ghosts haunt me too, Seokmin,” Mingyu whispers. “I didn’t have a choice.”
Seokmin weakly shakes his head. “We both had a choice. We were just too weak to take it.”
And before Mingyu can try and figure out what that means, Seokmin mumbles, “You’ve had your victory. Go and triumph.”
His eyes close. He looks at peace, relaxed, and Mingyu has only seen him this way in his chambers, when the candlelight danced over his face. Mingyu shudders. He cannot help but feel he has a new ghost to haunt him.
The hard part is done though, at least. Now all he has to do is to open the door, to reveal to everyone in the palace what he has done. This is the part of the story that people will tell.
Thankfully, Mingyu has had his whole life to prepare. He opens the door to see horrified courtiers gathered round, probably rushing to the sound of Seokmin screaming. Mingyu begins his speech.
“I was justified,” Mingyu declares. He doesn’t need people to believe him, but he wants them to. “I was justified in what I did. I have severed the chain of murders that fused our families together. The gods will reward me for what I have done today.”
The gods will do no such thing. The gods know what Mingyu doesn’t. They know about Chan, about how he will grow incensed with fury at the murder of his brother. They know that Chan will declare war, a war that will last many bitter years, spilling enough blood to choke the stagnant soil. Thousands of widows and orphans will beat their chests and the sound of mourning will reach the high heavens. Mingyu will die before his time, and with his last breath he will whisper Seokmin’s name.
The story will be worthy of epic. Because what is epic if not another form of tragedy?
Re: [FILL] a doom that will never be done with
nj i am . im floored. im literally on the floor. and i shall stay there forever !! !!! ! !
they could have been FRIENDS god m .. . . HHHH
Re: [FILL] a doom that will never be done with
Re: [FILL] a doom that will never be done with
some standout lines:
Mingyu never knew that being understood could be such a horror.
Mingyu scowls a little. “Even now you’re blaming yourself. Just like you always do. Let me take this, for once. I betrayed you.”
“The gods will reward me for what I have done today.”
The gods will do no such thing. The gods know what Mingyu doesn’t.
Re: [FILL] a doom that will never be done with
Re: [FILL] a doom that will never be done with
But they never saw his eyes shine with silken kindness as he gave his cousin an orange, nor did they see the curve of his lips as he smiled wider than any king should. If they did, Mingyu is pretty certain they'd change their minds.
What I am sure of is that if I don't avenge my family, I betray them, but if I do avenge my family, I betray myself.
Mingyu never knew that being understood could be such a horror. Seokmin didn't tear open Mingyu's chest with his bare hands, he didn't rummage around Mingyu's organs looking for the key to the core of his heart, but he might as well have.
the intimacy of the last scene!!! mingyu wanting to be the only one to witness it, noting how he has never been closer to seokmin, chastising seokmin for blaming himself even for this…
In an epic, people see the heroes die before their eyes. But Mingyu knows better. Mingyu knows that only he should lay eyes on this moment. Or at least, that's how he wants it.
"Even now you're blaming yourself. Just like you always do. Let me take this, for once. I betrayed you."
It's quite tragic, really, that for all his longing, this is the closest he has ever got to Seokmin.
sorry for the lengthy comment but this was just… so much… thank you for sharing this!!!
Re: [FILL] a doom that will never be done with