bakerstreet | the au 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!

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.

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"Instead of ...?" he trails off, allowing the sentence to linger there for a moment. "I've been blue my whole life, so I know the feeling of having a different complexion."

"Instead of the old-fashioned nonmutant look." Do they call themselves human here or not, he's not quite sure, yet. "Blue and a little furry?"

"The first thing to understand is that it's perfectly fine to be a mutant." They call each other 'mutants' - it's not really an insult when used among the same species. "Ja, exactly and demonic looking to top that off, of course."

"Your eyes aren't much different than mine." It has to be said, since he's wearing sunglasses nearly all the damn time. "Demon, meet corpse-man, that's what I've been compared to."

Does not help a bit that he needs to gain weight.

"Well, I suppose I wouldn't be able to tell with your eyes covered most of the time." He chuckles, finishing off what's left of his cake then moving to toss the wrapper in the garbage. "A corpse-man, huh? You sure are lively for a dead man."

Kurt will see to that problem, even if he has to sneak Pitch a whole box of Twinkies.

"Migraines. Like I said." Chomp--chomp on the twinkie. "Maybe it's sharkskin instead of rotten flesh, instead?" Sharks are usually grey, after all.

"Right, ja. I'm sure they help with those." He looks thoughtful for a moment - possibly trying to figure out what Pitch would look like with gills. "That would be something completely different."

"Different from all the other 'mutants' here?"

Thank goodness it isn't really sharkskin. That would probably do a number on clothing fairly quickly, being so rough. The Twinkie vanishes like ~magic~...

"Completely, although I believe you are already different from most mutants here."

And how would he survive out of water with gills? He'd have to be carried around in a tank or something. Kurt grins again, arms lifting to tuck behind his head. "Better?"

"Is that a polite way of saying I'm a freak among mutants?"

Well, it's possible. Can't have everything. It's enough to have food, shelter, and education. Friendship would be pushing it.

"Not at all! You're just-- well, you and I are kind of the same. There's no one like us."

If it's friendship that Pitch wants, he's already talking to the right mutant; Kurt's gotta be the friendliest person in the Mansion.

"Aren't there others out there who look--who stand out in a crowd? Living here?"

Hell, he can handle almost any insult, but Kurt might not. Best to be polite about looking funny.

"Not quite like you and I. Most of the other students are human looking."

He's getting better at handling insults, although he still has trouble responding accordingly, despite being a pacifist.

"Not even so much as extra fingers, little things like that? Bully for them, I say."

Though Kurt--yes, Kurt's look is more unique. Poor kid, finding a regular job would be hard...

"Nothing like that. I have a friend who has white hair and another who wears ruby quartz glasses, but other than that? Totally normal looking."

Super unique. Thankfully, he doesn't have to worry about finding a normal job and if he were to, he could probably ask Hank for help.

"Hm. What I think you lot need is some sort of yearbook. Or nametags." he says, a somewhat random subject change. "I think I've seen pictures of Mr. Glasses before."

"Nametags would be far easier and would cost less in the long run." Maybe those cheap little plastic ones with lanyards or something. "That would be Scott," he comments, a light smirk coming across his face now. "Don't call him 'laser eyes' or you just might get blasted."

He snorts. Heh. "And deserve it for being lame. Wasn't that Superman's trick?"

What? He read comics as a kid, like half the world. No biggie.

"Superman does have laser eyes," he confirms, lifting his hands to make air quotes with his two index digits, that cheeky smirk returning again.

"Scott prefers the term 'concussive eye beams' because they are different."

"They're a blast, but no heat?" Weird. Lucky Scott, though. Lucky everyone who can blend in with a crowd and go out into the sun.

"I wouldn't know. I haven't asked to be hit with them!" He snickers. Kurt can at least be out in the sun on campus which is good because they have lots of trees he likes to climb, sit in, hang from ...

"Well, you've seen them and I haven't."

He shrugs, drumming fingers on the counter absently. "I think I might go unpack now, if you don't mind."

"One of these days, I'm sure you'll get to."

His gaze averts from Pitch's fingers to his face, head nodding and a hand lifting to motion slightly. "Right, of course. Sorry for keeping you so long."

"I will be here tomorrow after all." he says, in response to both statements. "And the entire week, I hope. Don't apologize, I asked for the tour."

"Very true." He draws the hand up and back, rubbing at the dark strands near the nape of his neck. "You'll be here for as long as you decide to stay. I know, but-- ... nevermind."

(no subject)

boogerman - 2016-08-19 00:53 (UTC) - Expand

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