gangnams | 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!

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 - Wildcard: Got something not on this list? Go nuts! We ain't here to tell what you can't play out.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ not interested in: i, iii, v, vi and xiii. ]

"You know, detective, it seems like we keep running into one another." The clinking of the handcuffs, connected to the metal table, Gikwang staring at the woman across from him. He grins, despite his situation. Bruises on his jaw and cheek, the cuts above his eye dried and bandaged. He runs his thumb against his bottom lip, swollen from the exchange he endured with her partner. Who was currently not in the room. Which he could only figure was due to two things. One, medical attention. Two, their sergeant kept him entering.

He glanced at the two way mirror, where he was most likely standing behind. A smirk on his lips, despite what had happened nearly an hour prior. His capture had been difficult for her team, he was sure. Hyosung was always two steps behind him, as he comfortably kept her for years. Then suddenly, there she was. He wasn't sure where he slipped up, and right now, he didn't care. His eyes kept drifting over her features, taking in every inch of her. It had been about ten years since their last meeting. 2010? No, probably earlier. She was graduating high school. He showed up with a bouquet of flowers with his mother in tow. She was the brightest girl on their street, growing up everyone knew she would get far. Even he did, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, staring at her through his rose-colored glasses. Those same glasses, that he took off the night before when he confessed his feelings for her. It was probably not ideal for your junior to confess his love to you. Especially the little boy that had followed her throughout her youth. When they played together, grew up together, and inevitably tutored one another. Hyosung was brilliant but Gikwang was better at math. Which gave him plenty of chances to goad her with and stare at her from across the table as she poured her attention over a math equation.

Then again, his eyes peeled from her. They were in the current and it had been so long since either of them looked at one another. At least, as far as he could remember. She graduated in 2008, if he recalls, and his mother passed the following year. The rest becomes a blur. He doesn't remember if she attended the funeral, he doesn't remember searching for her face in the crowd of people surging forward to pay their respects. He just remembers the numbness and being passed from family member to family member until he hit the streets running. By then, Hyosung became a fond memory. His first love and in a way, his last. He left behind his youth when he chose this path. The path that inevitably led him to standing before her now.

He dropped his folded hands before him, tugging on the chain attached to his handcuffs, "How long until my lawyer gets here, you think?" He sighs and looks around the empty room, dim, one flickering light above their heads. And yet, his eyes fall upon her again. It's not the first time, technically. He spied her on his trail when he narrowly escaped the police from his last museum heist. He walked past her, then, and once more when he got away with priceless artifacts two years ago. He mildly wonders how long it took until his face surfaced in her search and if she remembered him. He licks his lips and winces slightly from the pain, "You think your partner's gonna be okay? My right hook almost knocked him out cold. What was his name? Detective Kim Sung-something?"

And then he sighs, "You look good, by the way."

"If that was the case, wouldn't we have caught you already?" Hyosung returned, her expression quite blank as her gaze focused on the younger man sitting across from her. Being in the force, she had seen much worse on criminals and fellow colleagues, the swelling and bruises always looked worse than they actually were. He had the right thought, at least that the sergeant didn't want her partner in the room - one could say she was the brains while he was the brawn out of their partnership, not that she couldn't give someone a good beating but she preferred to avoid unnecessary violence.

His capture was a stroke of luck and mostly down to a gut feeling of hers, she herself was as surprised that he had practically walked straight into their laps as anyone else - though even more surprised at the identity of the thief they had been after for years. The moment they were back in the precinct, she had asked to be taken off the case but her superiors wouldn't have it, adamant that she could use their history to get a proper confession as well as the locations of the stolen pieces but this was different than all those times she used her appearance or nature to goad a criminal into revealing details, this was personal. While she didn't keep in contact with many people from her childhood, she never thought she'd be sitting across from one of them in an interrogation room - especially not Gikwang.

"Could be twenty minutes, could be an hour, depends on how much you're paying him." I'm her experience it was usually only the lawyers of the rich and influential that seemed to show up in what felt like minutes of their client sitting down. "Sungwoo will be alright, he's had much worse than a few cuts and bruises." Her eyes glanced briefly over to the two way mirror, pretty much able to see the expression her partner problem had as he stared in at them. The compliment he gives, goes completely ignored by her, one should never give in and show weakness in any sense or form, that wasn't how she got to where she was today.

"So, over the years it's been what? 50 to 100 artefacts?" In these types of cases it was hard to keep count, who knew how many thefts went unreported or simply written off as just a local burglary. "There's a unit gone to search your apartment but I doubt they're going to find anything, are they?" It was more a rhetorical question than anything else, besides, after all these years chasing his tail she doubted he would slip up in such a way. "Why don't we play a little game?"

The Alternate Universe Meme

jun hyosung | ota

vii: lee gikwang (art and jewel thief) vs detective jun hyosung

Re: vii: lee gikwang (art and jewel thief) vs detective jun hyosung