bakerstreet | THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE MEME.

THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE MEME.

the alternate universe meme

how to play
1. post with your character, name and canon in the subject line.
2. feel free to mention which aus you’re willing or not willing to play in the body of the comment.
3. tag by rolling for an alternate universe setting using rng.
4. or tag by picking whatever au you’d like to play in most.
5. have fun!

alternate universes
i - all human: in an all human au, characters who are canonically vampires, werewolves or superheroes, are now humans, with corresponding changes to their backstories.

ii - apocalypse: a portmanteau of "apocalypse fic", apocafic is fiction set during or after some sort of apocalypse, or end of the world. some canons carry a built-in apocalypse against which the protagonists are fighting: in apocafic, they lose. for example, apocafic in stargate and x-files is usually set after the alien occupation; supernatural apocafic is set on a demon-controlled earth.

iii - band: an alternate universe in which the characters are members in, or form a band. often, the instruments they plan and their roles in the band are analogous to their canon identities. for example, tony stark might be cast as the fame-hungry lead singer who is also a musical genius, or river tam might be a classically trained pianist who, after a terrible experience at julliard, writes songs for mal reynold's grunge rock band, serenity.

iv - circus: circus aus are a popular trope in fanfic and sometimes fanart. using a circus as a setting means introducing the characters to each other in a close-knit community. that can help break down barriers between them and make them bond together against the outside world which may not understand them as well as the other characters do. it also brings a sense of adventure and the idea that this world may have different rules and everything is possible. a circus can also be a good place for characters to go undercover and meet the love of their lives.

v - coffee shop: the barista au (or coffeeshop au, or the closely related bakery au) is a popular fanfiction trope in livejournal fandoms. in most cases, one half of the main pairing is the barista and the other is or becomes their favorite customer; in some stories the whole cast works at a coffee shop. this trope is especially popular in fandoms where one character is very attached to coffee, either in canon or in fanon, or is frequently stressed.

vi - college/high school: college fic is a popular genre of fanfic (less often a genre of fanart) that places characters together in college or another secondary institution such as the starfleet academy in star trek fic (then called "academy fic"). this can be canon stories, for example backstory if characters have or could have met during college, or college aus, similar to high school aus. in science fiction, historical or fantasy fandoms the present day college au is a popular subgenre of the modern au that puts fantastic or historical characters in more mundane everyday settings.

vii - cop/detective: an alternate universe in which the characters are cast as cops or investigators of some kind. often, the canon villain is also cast as the villain in the story. this might be set in modern times, or in a noir-like environment, complete with gangsters and femme fatales.

viii - daemons: his dark materials is a fantasy trilogy by philip pullman. the trilogy consists of the golden compass (1995; published in the uk as northern lights), the subtle knife (1997), and the amber spyglass (2000). there are currently two companion novellas: lyra's oxford (2003) and once upon a time in the north (2008). a movie adaptation of the first book was released in theatres in late 2007. humans have their souls living outside their body in the form of an animal companion. males have female souls and females have male souls. the animals often correspond to the character’s personality.

ix - fantasy: an alternate universe populated with fantastical characters like elves, dwarves, unicorns, sorcerers, and dragons. canon characters might be cast as analogous races (e.g. clint barton or katniss everdeen as elf archers) or they might be humans in a fantastical setting. characters also might be able to secretly shape-shift into another form, like a dragon, and therefore is related closely to were/vampire/supernatural aus.

x - historical: a historical au is a fanwork which moves characters into a different historical period than their canon setting. typically this involves taking "contemporary" characters (from the late 20th century or 21st century) and putting them in an earlier historical period (such as the 19th century or before). popular settings for historical aus include: pirates, america's old west, britain's regency period, ancient rome, a vague facsimile of medieval england such as robin hood, and many others.

xi - hooker/porn/stripper: hookerfic is a type of fanfic where one or more of the characters is a sex worker. there are many different types of hookerfic, ranging from more realistic depictions to the more common pretty woman-type fantasy of a hooker with a heart of gold, rescued from life on the streets by a client. sex work of all kinds is portrayed—brothels, escorts, street prostitution, "call-girls" as well as strippers and go-go boys.

xii - magic: magic aus are alternate universe fanworks that incorporate magic in fandoms where there is no magic present in canon. (or in some cases, fanworks that make a canon with magic more magical.) they differ from elf aus in that there may be magic without any elves showing up, and are opposites of all human and mundane aus.

xiii - neighbors/roomates: an alternate universe where the canon characters live next-door to one another, or in the same apartment building or complex, or in the same apartment. often, this is also an all-human au, if the canon characters are powered in some way. the forced proximity is usually used to create romantic tension between characters.

xiv - space/sci-fi: a space au is an alternate universe where a source set on earth is transported into space; works are often referred to as "[fandom] in spaaaaaaaaace!" the trope can be a form of crackfic, but often includes surprisingly serious reinterpretations of the most earthbound of sources, particularly historical fiction written or set before space exploration. cyberpunk trappings such as robots, cyborgs and ais are often included.

xv - steampunk: steampunk was originally a term for a sub-genre of speculative fiction that imitated 19th century "scientific romances" like the work of jules verne and h.g. wells. later, the term was applied to a general aesthetic involving styles that would be "futuristic" from the perspective of the 19th century. steampunk appears in fanworks as both a genre and an aesthetic. there are some fandoms for which the canon is steampunk(-ish), e.g. the secret adventures of jules verne, but more often it is found as steampunk alternate universe.

xvi - western: the western is a genre of fiction set in the later half of the 19th century in the western part of north america, especially the united states, but also canada and mexico. sometimes also included in the genre are stories about western-type characters and plots in other settings, e.g. "space westerns" (in science fiction settings) and contemporary westerns (set in the western part of contemporary north america).

xvii - were/vamp/supernatural: a reversal of the all-human, in these fics characters who are normally human are now supernatural creatures of some kind the most common being werewolves or vampires.

xviii - choose your own: self-explanatory! choose your own option.

( taken from here. )

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"Look. Do you really love this job? With the way ya look with those giraffe legs ya could be a basketball player or somethin'!" Badou always speaks through his cigarette, having it in his mouth doesn't mean he can't talk properly. Plus, by now, he Is more used to having to speak with something in his mouth... that can be taken in multiple ways but he's not going to dwell on it. He doesn't know why he's even talking to this guy like this. Is he so miserable that he has to make others miserable as well?

"Or like a model, with that face. But whatever, if ya like fake smiling at people, not like it's a crime." He takes the coffee handed to him, and watches as the cinnamon rolls are restocked. Though really, Kise isn't bad at smiling... it's quite nice, seeing it. Badou thinks it's upsetting only because he knows it's fake.

"Was just reading your name tag... I keep forgetting. But yea, a cinnamon roll." He points to the display case.

He's about to leave it at that... but...

"... Listen. 'M not sayin there's anythin wrong with serving coffee or not but... if you're free later let's do a test shoot." His hand dives back into his pocket and he flips around a bit, pulling out a card and looking at it before handing it over. He does photo shoots for magazines and advertisements. And really, Badou thinks Kise has potential.

"Hope 'm not coming off as creepy."

Kise shrugs:"I don't like it, but I don't hate it either. There could be worse things I could be doing." Like sitting in the office and doing dull paperwork... things that people usually find normal and good, Kise considers them bad. He's weird person like that.

When basketball was mentioned, his smile froze a bit- this guy is either reading his mind or heard about him. "I was playing basketball for period of time. I was in the pro league. But professional sports career lasts only so long, haha." Well, that was true but he left pro scene early (too early if you ask him) for very different reason.

He nods and packs up one cinnamon roll for the guy. They are still warm too, Kise's tempted to snatch one for himself as well. But he'll have to wait 'till he has a break.
The sudden proposal is, well, sudden, and Kise eyes the card curiously, picking it up. Modelling? Last time he did that was in first year of high school as part time job.

"Really? Are you sure?" The card is legit, Kise can tell but he's not sure if he still has good features for modelling career. He chuckles:"Well if you work for magazine, proposing a test shoot is not creepy. Unless you're lying of course." The guy is not lying. But Kise can always poke around people, a mischievous smile revealing that he's teasing.

(omg sorry for the length x.x got carried away)

"Yea, true that." There's nothing worse than a job that doesn't let you talk anytime you want, or smoke anytime you want. Badou thinks that a place that's so controlling would be his worse nightmare. Maybe making coffee isn't so bad... at least it teaches you how to make a hell of a latte. Or in Kise's case, a hell of an americano.

Badou shrugs. "Yea, whatta sobstory." He makes a little face, scrunching up his nose and turning the corners of his mouth down. Pro league. It's almost funny that he hit the guy's sore spot, judging by the way he paused, but now's not really the time to question every bit of Kise's past, so Badou just takes the coffee.

"I'll be there," he gestures with his cigarette package to the corner, where he usually sits and reads lame emails or looks at magazines for inspiration, or muddles over his life. "I could be lying, yanno. Up to you if you'll let me." And he winks, but he doesn't really know what winking means in his case anymore, as he only has one eye to even blink with. The thought always cracks him up, and he turns to walk over to his corner with a quiet little chuckle.

Reaching the table he usually sits at, and finding it empty, Badou pulls out the plush chair and sinks into it. There's an iPad that the always carries with him in his tote bag, and he pulls it out, reading his multiple different email addresses. He sips at his americano and lights up his cig, breathing the smoke deep into his lungs. It's numbing and delicious, and burns so good.

A man wants him to do a private investigation on his wife, who he thinks is cheating on him. He's to find her and follow her friday night, and capture any moments on camera that could give her adultery away. A woman wants him to find her cat. The ex-mob boss emailed, and this causes Badou's eyebrows to raise, and wants him to do a private shoot of his new house. Badou takes up any odd jobs he can find, and is usually not picky. His other email address, reserved for more... professional... activities, tells him that he needs to find a male model for the next CK Underwear shoot. Another one emails him back, telling him that his portfolio is impressive, and that they would like to meet.

His head throbs. He's so sick of reading emails. He's sick of replying to them and keeping to a fucking schedule. Badou wonders how good of an idea it was to try to settle down. His green eye looks up from the glowing iPad screen to Kise. He wonders if the other will take him up on the offer.

Edited 2015-07-11 21:53 (UTC)

Kise briefly watched the guy take his drink and return to his place next to the window. He glances at the clock and notes that there's around hour and half left of his shift. The crowd has thinned out and Kise can take a break now.

Sobstory huh? It does sound like that to people that never played professional sports. To those that love playing basketball and made their lives spin around it, it's crushing when it all falls apart. You remain unmotivated to do anything else with your life. Kise's been telling everyone that he's fine, that he lived his dream even if it was short. But real truth is that he wants to go back. And he can't. And that's devastating.

He's been stealing glances thorough the rest of his shift as he thought about the offer. In the end, he came to conclusion that it's worth a shot at least. He has nothing to loose and it's just one photo shoot. He heard that modelling job pays decently, more than bartender, but he's not going to quit it... yet.

When his shift ends, Kise changes into his regular clothes, white shirt and blue jacket (his Kaijo jacket, his favorite), throws his bag over shoulder, and walks over to the guy who still didn't seem to want to leave.

"Let's do the shoot."

Edited 2015-07-13 19:40 (UTC)

Badou had gotten quite sucked into his emails. He's the kind of person who got completely immersed in the task he had at hand. He had gone through many emails when Kise approached him, and to be honest, Badou is quite surprised that Kise actually took him up on the offer.

A green eye opened wide as the Barista stood next to his table. He's never seen Kise without a countertop in front of him before. Chances are, when the other left his job, Badou had been too immersed in his task to notice the other walking out of the shop. He's been here during shift switches before, of course, but just never notices. So, seeing Kise in regular clothing is quite a surprise.

But he grins, his cigarette dangling out of his mouth. He's gone through a half pack, and he knows it's not healthy but he can't help it. Cigarettes are just too good.

"Fuck yeah," he says, already locking his ipad and sticking it into his overshoulder messenger bag again.

"Lets go to my studio, yea?" He looks Kise up and down. "Heh, guess you look alright to shoot."

Kise just nods. Studio... he's never visited such place but he has and idea how it would look. If the movies aren't lying that is. Although, he can't deny the fact that he's feeling nervous like hell- aside from fact that he's never done photo shooting, the guy is complete stranger. What if-

Okay, Kise needs to stop thinking and imagining worst possible scenarios. The business card seemed legit and the guy actually seems to be quite a busy person- unless he was playing video games on that thing. Then Kise's screwed.

"Heeh? You think so? Won't this be a bit too plain though?" Ah well. If the guy says it's okay, then it's fine. He's the photographer.

That's the exact reason why Badou is surprised by the fact that Kise actually takes him up on the offer. He's surprised that as a customer in a coffee shop, approaching a handsome barista and asking for a photo shoot, he actually says yes. Badou shrugs.

"Nah, 'sides, we can always get you in somethin' else," he says. Kise isn't too much taller than him, and plus, there are always props they can use.

They walk to the studio. It's not far. At first, it may seem like a warehouse, or a space that's not quite similar to an apartment or office building. It's been renovated, and has large windows for daylighting, with blinds that can be shut. Badou lives in half of it, but the entrance is his photo studio. It's a large space, and mostly empty. Badou's not one for excessive furniture.

He tosses his bag on the ground and walks into the middle of the studio.

"Relax, 's not like I'm gonna murder you or anything. Want a drink?" He walks over to the mini fridge that's by the wall. "Water? Juice?" A pause as he lights up a cigarette. "Beer?"

Well that should be normal- people that take photos of models should owns stuff like that. In the end, Kise stops fretting about it (or at least tries to)- this is just a trial, it probably won't go to anything serious.

The studio looks impressive and Kise drops his work bag on one of the chairs as he looks around. He's never been on the set but he recognizes quality stuff when he sees it. "Wow, nice place..." he comments offhandedly as he eyes computers. Aren't those new modles as well??

"Eeeh," Kise chuckles and grins, "if I thought you'd murder me I wouldn't come." He walks over the big screen, looking at it curiously. "Uhh, just mineral water if you have. If you don't, it's fine." Mineral... well, some sports habits will never die, he thinks sourly.

It's really not so fancy. Badou shares the studio with some other photographers and models, so sometimes they end up in his personal space- as he lives here - but he doesn't really mind. They've gotten close now... even though sometimes they walk in on awkward situations. It's spaceshare.

"'s not all mine. Other people come and use it sometimes." He's not quite established enough to afford a place like this and all the equipment. Badou looks in his fridge.

"The fuck is mineral water?" He frowns and blows out a wisp of smoke as he grabs two bottles of chilled water. "Here. You can have bottled water 'cus I ain't got mineral water." He tosses one to Kise and opens his own, skillfully holding his cigarette between two fingers as he takes a sip of the water. Setting it down, Badou starts to wheel the lights around, sticking the smoke back into his mouth.

"Mind pulling down the blinds? Put that height to use, will ya?"

Well, it's fancy from Kise's perspective. It's set ups like this where all those famous models and stars come to take pictures, right? It might not look like it, but it's really cool to him.

"Oh? They won't be coming today?" Honest curiosity. Kise's going to pose for this guy, who seemed like a loner type of person that works alone. So he's surprised to hear stuff like that.

"Ah... that's... haha, never mind." Sparkly water. Yes, he has no idea how to explain it. He catches the water bottle with one hand and nods:"Thanks. And will do." He strides over to the windows and pulls down the blinds with a hum. Now that surprise from being offered to do thing like this, has settled, he feels kind of excited.

"Nah, today's my day in the studio." Badou takes his camera in hand, turning it around and checking to see if the right lens was mounted. After changing it, and mounting the right flash onto his camera, Badou waited until all the blinds were down and pointed to the spot right in front of the grey background paper.

"Stand here and look pretty, alright?" He doesn't want Kise to be nervous, and a natural look is what he's aiming for this time. He doesn't want to put any powder or physical effects yet.

'Look pretty' he says? Kise mulls it over as he takes a long sip of water and then settles the bottle to the side. How does one 'look pretty' for a photograph?

He walks over and stands in front of the objective. Well, he can start with a smile, so that's what he'll do. What about hands? Ugh, there's so many questions plaguing his mind about this and this guy is not giving any directions. He places one hand on his hip and relaxes his face into a calm smile, looking a bit dreamily at the lens.

Badou raises the camera that's in his hand as Kise walks into focus. It's almost funny, the way he's so aware of his own motions. There's a kind of newness to it all, and Badou's truly charmed by it. He loves taking photographs of wonderment, or of curiosity, or some sort of emotion and expression that showed novelty. Before Kise's even smiling, he's captured a few shots already. And then a few more clicks as Kise's hand settles on his hip, and that smile tilts his lips up charmingly.

"... Okay..."

And Badou laughs, lowering the camera as he takes a drag from the cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Whacya dreamin' about, hotshot?" He walks up to Kise, reaching for an umbrella reflector and pulling it a little closer, at a different angle.

"There... now that... jaw's just right." The light's bouncing in all the right ways now, making those golden eyes glow, and chiseling Kise's face charismatically.

"Really, do anything. Turn a bit to the left, maybe." Yeah, there. The camera clicks away, and Badou's leaning forward, capturing the right shot. Kise's not dressed in anything special... but... perhaps he didn't need to be.

"... hey... mind losing the shirt?" He's a dude. Who maybe didn't know that Badou's quite attracted, but his own professionalism prevented him from thinking too many things about Kise's appearance, other than what would look good on camera.

Kise subsides the urge to run over and see how the pictures turn out. But the shoot just begun and he can't really do that. Besides, he'll see them when it's done... right?

"What you ask?" Kise murmurs as Badou turns his head to be under the right angle. An amused smile crosses his lips:"About stuff other people see trivial."

Kise turns to his left, putting both of his hands behind his back, then he turns to his right and now crossing his arms.

"Shirtless? You didn't mention that," Kise said in sing song voice but he doesn't see a problem. He changed his shirt in hall full of people on his matches, this is not a problem. Just a surprise.

"Want a picture with unbuttoned shirt first?" Firt three buttons are undone and Kise places hand back on his hip, looking way more confident than what he actually feels right now. Then he removes shirt completely for additional shots.

"Like what?" Badou asks, offhandedly, as he watches Kise through the viewfinder. It's times like this when it's super convenient that he has only one eye. One eye to see the world through, viewfinder or not, it's the only one he's got left. He shrugs and grins when Kise teases.

"Isn't it a given?" Badou takes snapshots as Kise takes the shirt off, posing in the process. Badou gives a slow hum, pleased and light.

"You done this before?" He asks, keeping the conversation going. Kise is quite natural at it, and the way the light defines the planes of toned muscle is nice. Badou thinks that he's found his model for the new CK Underwear shoot. He grins to himself.

"Hmmm... like getting to bed early for once. Or waking up without being tired. Or crossing out everything on to-do list. Or going through whole workout without.." he trails of for a second.. 'without your leg hurting'.. "..without getting tired at all!" Kise grins.

He laughs lightly:"When I talk to people about stuff like that, they always go 'Ah you have it so EASY when you can think about that! There's so much bigger problems in the world!" Hopefully Badou doesn't catch the mocking expression and frown that follows on camera.

"Not exactly, haha," Kise laughs but doesn't seem to mind being undressed. The light blasting down on him is pretty hot so he's kind of relieved.

"The photo shoots? Nah, never." He smiles widely as he changes position in front of the camera. "I guess I am one of those people that doesn't consider photography and modelling until encountering people in that professional field."

Edited 2015-07-17 11:18 (UTC)

"Yea, but that's what most people think about, ain't it?"

He captures the smiling expression on Kise's face perfectly, though there's something slightly off about it. He blinks and misses the frown but he chuckles at the mocking expression. The camera quite easily follows Kise's natural movements, the guy really is quite comfortable in front of the camera.

"Somethin' about you..." Badou drifted off, clicking a few more times as he captured half body shots. "Just caught my eye, I guess."

It wasn't something that happened everyday.

"I just see you so frikin' often, guess you just looked too... good. Or something."

"It is. Which is why it's hard to find people that get you." People that won't mind if you live for today, not thinking about tomorrow or day after tomorrow. He's tired of that. And tired of people trying to make him think like that.

He smirks at the camera, hooking thumbs on his pants, making them slip down a bit. He feels indeed comfortable in front of the camera, it's been long time since he's been this relaxed and a bit excited at the same time.

The last comment had him pause in his movements. He gets those kind of compliments ('oh you're so hot/handsome/looking good') from girls but this is first time he hears it from a guy. His cheeks tint slightly with color:"Ah? You think so? I can really say because it's me so I guess I'll trust your judgement."

Badou somehow manages to shrug behind the camera without making it move much.

"Yea." A simple answer, because he knows how Kise feels. Badou doesn't have many rules governing his life, but one of them is that he rarely tries to explain the way he lives to others. He takes a long drag on his cigarette before catching the way Kise's fingers tug at his waistband, revealing the dip in his hips.

Fuck that looks good.

Badou swallows, then stands up straight, letting his hand with the camera hang down by his side. He's glad that Kise's so comfortable in front of the camera, and Badou gives him a long look, from top to bottom, green eye taking in each detail of the other's body and pose.

"Uh, ya better trust my judgement. Really. You look good." Badou doesn't miss the way colour tinted those cheeks.

And a pause before he grins. "Bet ya get that all the time though. You single?" He's just curious. Really.

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THE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE MEME.

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