Yes to all those recs! Talking about A/U, I'm currently in a hotel room in Cambodia and writing on a corporate iPad and haven't the foggiest clue how to have enough windows open so I can create links, so all I can do is say check out the A/Us frea_o and franztastisch wrote for Secret Santa -- both are amazingly well done!!!

One of these days I may yet attempt an A/U; the closest I've come is a SHIELD/007 crossover/fusion called "Second Mouse".

Because I can;

Second Skin by frea_o [ PG13 | supernatural violence ]

Maps by franztastisch (me) [PG13 | mentioned violence ]

So is this where I lovingly poke your muse and mention that you haven't really written an AU yet? It worked for the magic thing! ;)

And awww, thank you for recommending Second Skin. I had two ideas for the Secret Santa thing and they both would've been AUs in the end, amusingly.

How's Cambodia, eh? I thought you were talking about literal windows for a second, so I was gonna suggest a brick.

:-) Keep at it woman, you may yet succeed.

Cambodia is tons of fun, and nothing quite beats escaping the Canadian winter for bit. Sandals!!! Water you can't walk on!!! But my knees are killing me from climbing around in the ruins of Angkor Wat, so I'm taking an internet break.

Thats so much for the rec! <3

With the risk of sounding very repetative, I have to always, always rec no light in this valley by trysts [ PG13 | violence ] Two for the Show by mousie_tongue [ R | please read warnings ] and Soiree by ruby_caspar [ PG ]. They are amongst my favourite C/N stories, nevermind C/N AUs.

But newer loves include Yesterday, Upon the Stair by _samalander [ R | violence ] (basically anything by her really), sugar_fey's very own Adjectives Assemble [ NC17 ], Ghosts that we Knew by eternaleponine [ PG13 | mentioned sexual abuse ] and Indebted by sablier_bloque [ NC17 | violence, implied sexual assult, abuse of minors ].

And yes, I write AUs, as you ay have worked out. :P Or... to me they're more like that strange category that people don't use very often; Universe Alterations. Everything is basically the same apart from one thing; Clint was a bird, Natasha lives forever etc. etc. I've only once attempted a proper AU, but no one has seen it yet - well, apart from my cheerleaders and beta reader.

Anyway, I love them because they give me so much more room to work and I don't have to worry about not knowing stuff cos I can just make shit up. :P

Incidentally, I've always meant to read Underground and never quite got round to it. Clearly I'll be getting round to it now. :P

Edited 2014-01-17 05:55 pm (UTC)

Seconding 'Ghosts That We Knew'!! That series is AMAZING. I always look forward to the Sunday updates. =D

Maybe just me? But the links to Ghosts that we knew and Indebted didn't work. :)

Nope, the links don't work. :/

Fixed links are here.

Oh wow. That's weird. Here;

Ghosts that we Knew and Indebted. :)

Oh, wow, I love Two for the Show and Ghosts That We Knew. Both amazing!

I gotta say, any Au is pure gold. Okay, I'll see myself out now.






...

Though on the serious, AUs, man. AUs. AUs are the song of my people. I've made it no secret that I am here for two things: witty banter and AUs. A well-crafted AU makes me go weak at the knees. It takes me back to my times of being a young kid and reading my dad's old Calvin and Hobbes comics and grinning so hard as Calvin runs around as Spaceman Spiff. And AUs are just like that. They're you getting to play make believe with your favorite characters. It's not a coincidence that the holodeck was a favorite plot device of the Star Trek writers, you know. Suddenly you can take these awesome people and you can play old timey gangsters or baristas or astronauts or just whatever you want with them. And it's so much fun.

There are two things that make an AU successful in my opinion. The first thing is your world, and it's less important than your characters (which is the second thing). A well-crafted world with creative differences and even more creative similarities is just the thing to ground your story, but if your characters aren't recognizable, then there's no point. Half of the fun of the AU is that moment where you nod and say OMG cop!Natasha would do that EXACTLY or aww, scientist Clint, you tried so hard and I just want to pinch your cheeks. Not everybody can pull it off but I genuinely salute anybody that tries because AUUUUUUUUUs.

(Plus there's the fun difference between crossover and fusion and AU that makes my heart go pitty-pat)

A couple of my favorite AUs before I go:

This awesome Star Trek fusion I found on Tumblr (http://thejimkirk.tumblr.com/post/54524034788) (no warnings)

Here I Dreamt I Was a Soldier (http://archiveofourown.org/works/925882) by sugar_fey, the Bletchley Circle/WW2 AU you can't live without; warnings for violence, wartime issues, era specific -isms

I LOOOOOVE "Here I Dreamt I was a Soldier"!!! That's the first AU that popped into my mind.

Aww, thank you! I'm glad you like it!

I gotta say, any Au is pure gold.

You should be ashamed of yourself. :P

AUs are so much fun to read and are a good writing challenge. I never get enough of them. All those possibilities!

SOMEBODY HAD TO MAKE THE JOKE. I WAS WILLING TO FALL ON MY SWORD FOR YOU, SUGARFEY. FOR YOU.

So what exactly is the difference between AU and crossover/fusion, Madam Professor? Can I at least get 12% worth of credit for an AU with the Mouse story?

The jury debates *grins* but the definitions that I go with are:

- a crossover is where characters from one universe and characters in another universe now exist in the same universe. Or two worlds exist in the same universe. So Second Mouse for example, or I read a Narnia/LOTR crossover where the edges of the maps of middle earths and narnis where joined together. Co-existence.

- a fusion is where you take characters from one world and plant them in another, often replacing one character with another. So for example if instead of Clint and Bond both existing in Second Mouse, Clint would be an MI6 agent and there would be no such thing as James Bond, Fury would have M's role in the agency, and so on. Or the Avengers characters in the Harry Potter verse where they all go to Hogwarts. Instead of characters and worlds intersecting, characters from one world are made to be a natural part of another.

- an AU then is where you take a situation and you change it. Lots of debate! But technically any 'what if' is an AU. Like what if Natasha was taken by Loki instead of Clint? Anything that changes the way the original or canon events took place. But then this can go right back to 'what if Clint didn't join SHIELD and actually grew up to be a librarian?' or 'what if everyone worked in a circus?' or 'what if Natasha was supernatural?'

So for me: everyone works in a police department or law enforcement would be an AU. Everyone works in a specific one, like in the CSI verse or The Unusuals, either alongside existing characters in those worlds or replacing them, or just in that world, would be a fusion. SHIELD working with the CSIs or Unusuals would be a crossoever.

So, for confusion we can then say things like with Second Mouse you don't just have the crossover-ness of SHIELD working with MI6, but the facts of the SHIELD 'verse being altered, made AU, and to fit the MI6 'verse *grins*. I'd say because SHIELD still exists and no one fills the MI6 roles it's a crossover, not a fusion, and that it's not a 'straight' AU because there's another established 'verse involved.

Anyone else have thinky thoughts on this?

Well, the good news is, you and frea_o agree! So it must be true and I shall take it as gospel. :-)

Thank you! :-)

With the Mouse story, that was definitely a crossover, which is a type of AU.

AU encompasses everything that doesn't directly go within canon. You've got what's technically an Alternate Reality, which is your barista, your space opera, your old timey detectives.

Then you have your technical AU, which is where you take canon and alter one detail and watch the fallout. For example: what would have happened if Natasha didn't take Clint on his offer?

Then you have your crossover, which is when you've got characters from two canons interacting, either in one world or the other or a mixture of both (my Arrow and Avengers crossover falls into this category, for example). This can be done by making both universes compatible or just ignoring the things that make the universes incompatible, either way.

And finally, you have your fusion, where you take the characters of one universe and put them into another universe. For example, my pirates fic is a fusion. The characters are Avengers, but they're in the Pirates of the Caribbean universe. A fic where Clint Barton is a wizard at Hogwarts is a fusion; a fic where he's a wizard that's best buddies with Harry Potter is a crossover.

*takes a bow*

As i said in my reply just above, you and inkvoices agree pretty much 100%, which makes it so in my 'verse.

But by your definition, everything us Clint-Natasha writers do is a "technical AU" then, no?

Could be, but if you say, "this is in canon verse," it's not really AU. :)

The Nature of Dust, by inkvoices

I was lurking on these boards until I read this fic on here and then immediately "joined up." So. This is amazing.

It's one of my favourite fics ever. So gorgeous.

aksfjfbfbjkdhkb THANK YOU!!! And thank you for the rec :D

That's an gorgeous one, I can only agree.

I'm smiling fit to split my face in two over here, just so you know, that you liked it that much, and that it brought you into our bar :D

Oh my goodness, I still remember the moment! I was sitting in my car during a break from work, reading, and my mouth and eyes getting rounder in just complete awe of this incredible, magical fic. You are so insanely talented!

Im Still waiting for a Stargate Atlantis or Hunger Games fusion with these two.

I think Im ready to put it in my own hands XD.

Isn't there one where Natasha is John Sheppard's mother?

yup.

But I would like to see them as if they were the characters.....like Natasha could be an Elizabeth figure and Clint could be like Sheppard and Loki's Kolya or something XD

Haha, I have no idea who any of these people are, really. SGA's not my fandom. But I do hope that you either find it or write it yourself. :-P

I love a good AU. I'm amazed at the creativity involved in worldbuilding and/or adapting characters into an existing universe.

Some of my favorites that haven't been mentioned already:

Brown and Gold (http://archiveofourown.org/works/470858) by cybermathwitch -- rated teen and up, a Dragonriders of Pern AU.

A(nimal)vengers (http://archiveofourown.org/works/894091) by shenshen77 -- rated teen and up, an animal rescue AU.

Talking Like Peter Lorre (http://archiveofourown.org/works/607424) by frea_o -- general audiences, this is the first in Frea's Antarctica AU. Full disclosure -- I'm totally biased about this AU since this first fic was a surprise gift for me, but it's still amazing! I think Frea has a link somewhere that will take you to the rest of the fics in the AU.

Ooooooh, yes, seconding all those recs!

Thanks for seconding :)

I was just about to rec Brown and Gold! LOVE that one! Off the read the others. :D

Eeeeeep, a rec :D Thanks so much!

And totally seconding the other two recs! I love the Antarctica AU! And yeah, I may be biased too, as some of those fics were written as gifts for me, but they are just awesome, funny and feelsy. Also penguins :)

Oh, my goodness, I love Hyperfocal Distance and Strange Bird! SOO going to go read the others. Let's see...some more that I like are...

I've Had My Run, Baby I'm Done (http://archiveofourown.org/works/711736) by Anuna - awesome actors' AU. Love it!

The Golden Arrow (http://archiveofourown.org/works/786239) by sneakronicity - a really fun Robin Hood AU. Guess who Clint is? :D

Adagio, Allegro (http://archiveofourown.org/works/826531) by Anuna - a short fic in which they're cello players. It's amazing that such an intense world is create in such a few paragraphs. It's cool.

Naked Pantomime in the Dark (http://archiveofourown.org/works/441665) by samalander - I don't think anyone else has recced this yet, which is surprising b/c it's widely beloved, as it should be. I fully admit to a personal bias b/c I am a Drama teacher and this is set in a high school theatre department. It's one of the rare occasions where I saw my life in a written story. That *really* doesn't happen very often. Despite my bias, though, I am being absolutely serious when I say that this is one of the very best AUs out there. It's amazing. (Oh, and one of my students figured out my screen name after reading my comments in this fic - which is pretty funny!)

Most of the others I would rec have already been mentioned. I love a good AU - for me, it's all about fusion b/w the characters and the world. The characters still be OUR characters. It just doesn't work if the characters are completely different entities with familiar names slapped on. At the same time, you need a good world to have been drawn. When you get both...yeah, it's gold. Love it!!

Edited 2014-01-18 05:45 am (UTC)

Seconding all of those! Those are amongst my favorite AUs as well.

I love AUs! All the AUs! Seconding the recs already mentioned, and throwing out some that haven't been:

Rascals, Scoundrels, Villains, and Knaves by frea_o is a gloriously long pirate AU chock full of wonderful detail.

Those Arms by anuna_81 in which Natasha is an unapologetic feminist and country singer.

Bows and Catapults by flying_android where Clint and Natasha meet as children. Long and wonderful with a perfect ending. (Also their Clint Barton, Vampire Slayer. Technically probably comes under 'crossover/fusion' instead, but I LOVE it.)

humanity (n) by sweetwatersong and the waters and the wild by ashen_key for supernatural fantasticalness.

galaxies in our halos and hands by sweetwatersong because CIRCUS and excellent circus it is :D

History's Mistakes by bob5fic in which Clint is a college professor and Natasha is his student and Bobbi isn't written off and everything is so knife-edge sharp.


On the writing front a lot, as in nearly ALL, of my WIPS are fusions/crossovers - with Firefly, Hunger Games, Dark Materials, the Walking Dead, Uglies... For straight AUs? Oh more circus, I need to write more circus AUs! Also there was a 'British' style Avengers thing rattling around in my head, but it kept oscillating between mick take and serious, meh.