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Fic: The Colors of Sirens Aren't Just Red and Blue
Title: The Colors of Sirens Aren't Just Red and Blue
Fandom: Exo
Focus: Lu Han-centric
Genre: General
Rating: G
Length: Drabble, 524 words
Summary: Idols are special, splashes of color in a grey and lonely world.
Original Post: Here.
Prompt: "life is literally black and white, until you see your soul mate for the first time"
Author's Note: Written for WCAU Round 1, another free kick. This was actually an idea I'd been bouncing around for a while and the opportunity came to just. Write it. Haha. Unfortunately, it was wasted on Lu Han, but i do hope to take this concept and rewrite it with a pairing or with characters I actually care about. Anyway, the first thing to know about this is that I actually strongly dislike soulmate AUs, and the concept of soulmates in general, unless it's platonic. In my opinion, we find happiness as we go, so I don't really like the idea of being fated to be shackled to one other person and that's it. Too sad. Anyway, so I just... came up with this idea that idols, who sell this fantasy of being your ideal type, can be cultivated to have a similar affect to the soulmate trope of only seeing color when you meet your soulmate. And that people actually look down on idols for it because it's a sort of false love and happiness if they're letting you see muted colors. I've got some other worldbuilding rules and ideas built up, but it's probably not the place to go too into depth with them.
Anyway, in this story, it's basically AR more than it is AU, set pre-debut. Lu Han joining SM and meeting first Chanyeol, and then Xiumin. I wasn't sure if I wanted any of them to be soulmates since I don't particularly ship any permutation of the three. Had to include Lu Han and Chanyeol though since they were Team Xiumin's fellow teammates and there was a bonus for using everyone. Meh.
Fandom: Exo
Focus: Lu Han-centric
Genre: General
Rating: G
Length: Drabble, 524 words
Summary: Idols are special, splashes of color in a grey and lonely world.
Idols are a beautiful abnormality in a world of greys, sirens tinted with the slightest bit of color at the corners of their eyes and in locks of shamelessly bright hair. Of all the reasons Lu Han signs up for a contracted shelf life a country away, this is the most important.
"It's why people don't particularly like them," the casting scout explains to him as she hands over her card. SM Entertainment, it reads. He knows it should be pink, has seen traces of color during the concerts he livestreams on his computer, but the cardstock in his hand is as grey as the concrete. "It's an illusion, you're not supposed to see color unless you meet that someone special."
And yet nothing explains the way crowds of fans all simultaneously see the world in dull pastels and clouded hues. A miracle, they call it.
Lu Han accepts -- of course he accepts -- and imagines himself in a world of color. The world of idols. He dreams of walking in through the frosted doors of the company building and seeing colorful paintings, the pink logo of the company.
But just like when he first stepped out of the airport all those months ago, heart shoved into his throat because his chest was so full of expectation, all he sees is grey.
A passing stranger -- another trainee, probably, he looks so young -- stops in his tracks, cocks his head in a way that makes his oversized ears stand out even more.
"New guy?" he asks, sounding neither particularly cruel or sympathetic. Lu Han wonders how many new guys he's seen with those cool eyes.
When Lu Han nods, the other smiles tightly. Hints of brown start creeping into Lu Han's field of vision, starting from the strands of the trainee's hair, but it stays a dull muted color. Lu Han knows the surprise on his face is all too obvious when the other begins to beam.
"Yeah, I have that effect," the guy says cheekily, reaching out for Lu Han's arm, "and I bet you will too. You look the type."
Lu Han doesn't even have the chance to stumble over Korean in an attempt to answer, barely has a chance to formulate one in Mandarin before the trainee starts dragging him down the hallways. He almost calls out for him to stop, but more and more colors are creeping into his vision and he stares wide-eyed at the door they all seem to be reaching to him out from.
"Feast your eyes," his surprise escort says, pulling away from Lu Han and resting his hand on the door handle. His smile is brighter than ever, and Lu Han can see the obnoxious bright orange of his hoodie by this point. As the boy opens the door, another tumbles out, his hand still on the other handle.
"Chanyeolie," the shorter trainee says, thick brows narrowed. His skin is pale, his shirt a bright yellow. The colors burst, lingering behind Lu Han's eyelids as he tries to blink them away in surprise. It's brighter than any concert he's ever watched.
It's magic.
Original Post: Here.
Prompt: "life is literally black and white, until you see your soul mate for the first time"
Author's Note: Written for WCAU Round 1, another free kick. This was actually an idea I'd been bouncing around for a while and the opportunity came to just. Write it. Haha. Unfortunately, it was wasted on Lu Han, but i do hope to take this concept and rewrite it with a pairing or with characters I actually care about. Anyway, the first thing to know about this is that I actually strongly dislike soulmate AUs, and the concept of soulmates in general, unless it's platonic. In my opinion, we find happiness as we go, so I don't really like the idea of being fated to be shackled to one other person and that's it. Too sad. Anyway, so I just... came up with this idea that idols, who sell this fantasy of being your ideal type, can be cultivated to have a similar affect to the soulmate trope of only seeing color when you meet your soulmate. And that people actually look down on idols for it because it's a sort of false love and happiness if they're letting you see muted colors. I've got some other worldbuilding rules and ideas built up, but it's probably not the place to go too into depth with them.
Anyway, in this story, it's basically AR more than it is AU, set pre-debut. Lu Han joining SM and meeting first Chanyeol, and then Xiumin. I wasn't sure if I wanted any of them to be soulmates since I don't particularly ship any permutation of the three. Had to include Lu Han and Chanyeol though since they were Team Xiumin's fellow teammates and there was a bonus for using everyone. Meh.