Dear AU Exchange Creator,

[paleomnesis]

Dexter (TV)

Dexter Morgan/Harrison Morgan (Dexter TV)

 

I really love their relationship – how Dexter is clearly terrible at setting any kind of good example and how Harrison grows to recognize this, but hey, when you're both strangers and kindred spirits, normal relationships go out the window and what's left is something twisted and beautiful. So something that explores that loneliness and alienation and clinging on to anything that makes you feel connected for the first time in your life would be great. 

 

DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine as are any permutation of Brian/Dexter/Harrison), no permanent nominated character death (transformations/ghosts are fine).

 

1990s Erotic Thriller, Noir

The amount of codependency in this relationship really makes it ripe for some sort of direct to video type thriller, where there's all this pretentious/portentous dialogue, at least one vaguely kinky sex scene, and at the end, we find out that everyone's a killer! Same goes for noir, though they tend to cut to black or show a train before you get any intimacy there (thanks, Hays Code). 

 

Canon setting has Silent Hill style Otherworld, Hellraiser AU, Time loop where character makes things worse before making them better

The part where Harrison really regrets killing his dad and everything becomes infinitely more terrible before he can save him. Whether it's just trying to find the right thing to do or say to make the loop break on a happy ending, or making a deal with the wrong kind of entities, I'm good with anything that brings Dexter back. 

 

Carrie AU, Cosmic Horror/Eldritch Abomination AU, Gothic Horror

If you want to go on full supernatural creepiness, I'd love to see it! Victorian!Harrison turning up to find his father in a manor on the moors and no one's really sure how he obtained it, but it is a shame that so many people keep disappearing.  Or maybe something where it turns out that being of the same blood as Dexter gives you some unwanted connections to the Elder Gods or Great Old Ones? And I do believe Dexter would handle Harrison suddenly having psychic powers better than Margaret White, but I'm not entirely convinced that would lower the body count much. 

 

Character was kidnapped as child and raised by enemy instead, Different first meeting

Maybe Brian bided his time after Dexter turned him down and instead of forcing his hand, he thought he'd play a long-term game, taking Harrison and carefully creating a monster that Dexter would adore on first sight. Or somewhere down the road, Harrison revealed himself to Dexter a different way – waiting until he was in danger from Kurt? Finding him before he moved to Iron Lake? There's so many possibilities and roads not chosen. 

 

Characters Trapped in a Building with Supernatural Mass Murderers, Evil Dead AU - Someone Read From The Necronomicon; Now Everyone Must Fight Deadites, The Purge AU, The Thing (1982) Fusion

Oh, no, Dexter and Harrison have to fight some sort of creepy killer/alien/monster and they're outnumbered! Maybe they have help from others, maybe they're on their own, but it doesn't really matter, not when you have mutual protectiveness and a realization that hey, this is a whole lot easier when their jaws are dripping ichor in your face. 

 

Everyone wakes up amnesiac on a spaceship, IN SPACE!, Pacific Rim AU

I'm not entirely sure how Dexter in space would work, but I'd definitely be interested in seeing it – do bodies just go floating out into space (real shame about Jerry and that airlock that keeps malfunctioning?) Did Dexter survive death only to turn up as an AI (oh, god, the Dark Passenger is HAL and he can't let you do that, Dave)? Or are there kaiju that only Dexter, surprising murder expert he is (only Doakes would have seen it coming, but they need every pilot they can get) and Harrison, newfound son, can take care of? 

 

 Game of Thrones Setting

Oh, look, there's murder, plotting, and people being incestuous all over the place. They'll fit right in. 

 

Hearts can be nonfatally removed and given to others to keep safe/injure/hide/etc, Soulmates - socially inappropriate soulmate

So you've given your heart to your son or father and now it's the next morning and breakfast is just really awkward right now. Likewise, realizing that the person you're supposed to be the most intimately close to is your father, who probably shouldn't be as excited about this as he is (but they both are). 

Far Cry 4

Ajay Ghale/Pagan Min (Far Cry 4)

Look, one of my things in video games is that I have a horrible tendency to fall in love with the charismatic villain and want to defect to his side, no matter how shitty a person he is, because he often has pretty compelling arguments (it doesn't help that the villains generally have some of the best voice actors). And in Far Cry 4, they made it even worse by being like “oh, everyone's morally gray and any choice you make will be terrible for someone,” so I think, can I stay with the guy who gives me free crab Rangoon, a helicopter ride, and basically cuts through all the bullshit to tell me how much of a dick my dad was? No? Damn it. 

 

DNWs: Permanent nominated character death, animal harm, extreme underage (16 and up is fine), bodily fluids (blood is fine), focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (references to past relationships that ended are fine).

 

Canon is the adaptation historians hate

For one thing, death by honey badger was not nearly as common as certain texts make it out to be. This is the problem when you have no access to primary sources. 

 

Canon's Plot Is Interrupted By An Alien Invasion, Evil Dead AU - Someone Read From The Necronomicon; Now Everyone Must Fight Deadites, IN SPACE!

I don't know, it's just how much worse could things be in Kyrat if you had to deal with Deadites, aliens, and/or intergalactic war. I mean, everyone would cope really well and humanity would be saved, but only if you like living in a world where everything is either on fire or about to be. 

 

Character Tries to Woo and Honorably Marry Their Fellow Sex Pollen Victim, Sex pollen is a natural hazard, State mandated sex pollen orgies every month

Given all the natural hazards in Kyrat, it seems quite appropriate that sex pollen should be one of them. I don't know which would be more catastrophically amusing, though. First, having Pagan and Ajay accidentally get exposed to it and Ajay, being the good boy that he is, awkwardly courting Pagan who's torn between telling him that he abolished this custom or just accepting it, because you know, it's Ajay. Or second, Pagan just running with it and informing Ajay that yes, the sex pollen orgies are real so who would he like him to book (money is no object, dear boy). 

 

everything is the same until characters soul bond which changes everything , Hearts can be nonfatally removed and given to others to keep safe/injure/hide/etc, Soulmates - You can’t tell who your soulmate is until you fuck them

None of this seems remotely implausible to me – did Ishwari literally leave with Pagan's heart and Ajay's tasked to return it back to him? Did Pagan give up on the whole soulmate thing, figuring it was just bullshit until Ajay and him fell into bed and oh, shit, you mean it's real? Are things going along swimmingly with the whole resistance thing until random soulbond occurs and that just made things really complicated?

 

in times of stress people turn into sentient animals, Like Canon But One Character Has A Disney Princess-like Effect On Animals

Oh, how much worse would it be if the giant eagle or Bengal tiger that you accidentally stumbled into was really a deeply pissed off member of the Golden Path who's just been having a really bad time lately and would appreciate some time to themselves? Also, Ajay as a Disney Princess is something I cannot unsee now. 

 

Marriage by Winning Ritual Combat To Gain Partner's Hand, Marrying To Keep Legal Custody Of Convict Out Of Hostile Hands

I'm a sucker for “well, we weren't planning on getting married, but it looks like it sort of just happened. Maybe Ajay accidentally proposes to Pagan by beating a bunch of people up (he probably should have guessed something was up when Pagan looked both happy and deeply concerned). Or maybe Ajay gets into more trouble than he should back in the U.S. when miraculously he gets a reprieve... too bad he kind of glossed over the fine print. 

Sugar Daddy AU, The Golden Path raised Ajay to kill Pagan

Alternate meetings! I'd love an Ajay who's more aware from the beginning of all the shit going down in Kyrat – maybe Ishwari succeeds in killing Mohan at the cost of her life and the Golden Path take Ajay in to mold him to be their perfect successor (sadly for them, he takes more after his mother than his asshole dad). Or maybe it's the opposite and he's completely oblivious until someone starts flirting with him online and before he knows it, he's traded money problems for a whole different set.

John Wick (Movies)
John Wick/Winston (John Wick)

Just when I think the series can't possibly give me any more of what I love – namely, badass fights, fine tailoring, and loyalty kink like you wouldn't believe, John Wick turns around and goes, oh, I'm sorry, did you think you were finished with me? Like seriously, these movies are just filled with all the kinds of things I adore, especially the bond between John and Winston. I just have always had a thing for mentor/protégé ships, especially when it involves classy suits, fine dining, and murder. There's just something about the way Winston and John interact that always made me want more - more tailoring, more teaching, more of the two of them just sitting and talking and ending up in a far too intimate relationship that everyone realizes is a terrible idea, but hey, that's what this series is made of.

 

DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformations are fine).

 

Characters involuntarily soulbonded by authorities use soulbond to rebel against the authority,  Hearts can be nonfatally removed and given to others to keep safe/injure/hide/etc, 

Hearts – does Winston have a whole vault of them? Did John have to leave his in order to start a new life?  What happens when the High Table gets their hands on yours? Or what if they think, you know what would be a really great (read: incredibly stupid) idea? Let's punish two people by bonding them together and hope that it makes them both miserable. What do you mean it's backfired on us like everything else?

 

Character Saved From Death via Emergency Vampire Transformation, Evil Dead AU - Someone Read From The Necronomicon; Now Everyone Must Fight Deadites, Neverwhere AU there is another world beneath canon

Supernatural shit, part one – the one where people aren't explicitly getting their Catholicism on! You know, it's a little implausible that assassins could be running all over the place, getting into epic fights, so what if it's not really happening in the world aboveground? Does John survive his “death” through the time-honored tradition of becoming a vampire, thus making that religious stuff really fun to deal with now? And you know, the only thing that would bring all these warring factions together is if they all got to kill a few hundred Deadites – fun for the whole family! 

 

Cyberpunk AU, Everyone wakes up amnesiac on a spaceship, Space Opera AU

John Wick in space! John Wick in things that may or not resemble certain properties his actor has been in!  Also, spaceship amnesia! I don't know what caused it or what it leads to, but hey, maybe Winston's the AI on the ship and John's just trying to figure out if everyone wants him dead (probably). 

 

Good Omens AU, Hellraiser AU, Somebody Made A Deal With The Devil

Supernatural shit, part two – now with veiled references to The Devil's Advocate! I could totally see John and Winston as figures on either side of the angel/demon divide, vaguely starting a revolution if only so the world doesn't end. Or you know, if the High Table's not willing to help you out, there's always The Man and his prices are quite reasonable. Plus, it strikes me that the High Table are the sort to totally have puzzle boxes and be dumb enough to try to use them. 

 

Medieval AU, Monte Cristo Style Revenge AU, Noir, Old West, Regency AU, Revenge Tragedy AU

Okay, so maybe for some of these, we'd be seriously losing out on the “guns... lots of guns” thing, but hey, there's always revenge, people wearing nice clothes, and copious amounts of religion. Just imagine how much fun could be had with a John Wick who went around crossbowing people or having duels that didn't come as a complete surprise. Plus, you know with things like Noir and Revenge Tragedy, John is going to absolutely nail the brooding man reluctantly called back into a world he never wanted to return to because of betrayal and loss. Finally, John Wick in a cowboy hat. I'm there for that!

Squid Game (TV 2021)

Hwang Inho | Front Man/Hwang Junho (Squid Game)

This show hits all the right things for me - the reveal that the enemy you've been fighting all this time is your brother? And he's trying to get you to join him? And he's messed-up and kind of evil and damn it, played by Lee Byong-hun? Well, that's just going to hit all the right buttons. I like Jun-ho, too. In any other show, he'd be the hero, but instead, he's the side plot that sort of just... well, falls off a cliff. But before that, we get to him basically do anything to find his brother and that level of devotion (obsession) is both admirable and in the world of Squid Game, really unfortunate. I'd love something about the two of them and their close relationship – how their connection seems to be their greatest weakness and yet neither one of them really can give it up because it's all tied up in love and loyalty and what you owe to the other person.

 

DNWs: No animal harm, extreme underage, scat/watersports, no focus on unrequested pairings involving nominated characters (mentions of past canon relationships are fine), no permanent nominated character death (transformations are fine).

 

Altered Carbon Fusion, Cyberpunk AU, Hunger Games AU, IN SPACE!, SAO fusion

Squid Game done in the future – it's already on the verge of the unreal when it comes to certain technology, so why not go even more speculative? Maybe one of the rewards is a nice new, upgraded body and that's why Junho has so much problem recognizing his brother? Or maybe it's all done virtually (but if you die in the game, you die in real life, oh noes!) and Inho took advantage of one old man's blasé attitude towards death to bend the rules a little in his favor? I feel like it's almost cheating to have a Hunger Games AU, but how could I not go for it? Finally, Space! Everything's fun when there's the potential to die in a cold, unfeeling vacuum!

 

Character has amnesia at any point in canon, Time Loop - looping character forced to watch loved one die repeatedly until loop is broken

Here's where canon setting might stay the same, which doesn't mean things go any better. After all, a Junho who can't remember why he wouldn't help his brother out is a very nice present for Inho, unless he's too busy trying to constantly reset time because it turns out he's really bad at this whole communication thing (seriously, Inho, you can't just pull a Darth Vader and expect your family not to jump for joy at the prospect). 
 

Character Saved From Death via Emergency Vampire Transformation, Hellraiser AU, The Thing (1982) Fusion

Creepy supernatural things! My love for vampires is well-established and it's the least Inho can do for his brother after shooting him and making him fall off a cliff! Or if we're in the mood for even deadlier, less explicable games, there's always intricate puzzles boxes that people just can't keep their hands off of. And I'm not sure how an AU of The Thing would work, but just the idea of Thing!Inho using his knowledge of how much Inho sacrificed for his younger brother to guilt Junho into joining him would be delicious. 

 

Hearts can be nonfatally removed and given to others to keep safe/injure/hide/etc, Soulbonds - Soulbonding is the only way for A to save severely injured B's life, Soulmates - socially inappropriate soulmate, Tam Lin AU

The fantasy aspect of it all – perhaps Inho left Junho with a souvenir before he left and Junho's on a quest to give it back to him, or Inho left because it turns out when your brother is your soulmate, things get really sticky (though money can make these things a moot point if you have enough of it). Or you know, the fae are just assholes that like to play games and if you have to hug your brother to get him to stop murdering people, that's the way it goes. 

 

Historical AU, Monte Cristo Style Revenge AU, Most Dangerous Game AU, Noir

Instead of going forward, how about going back to the past? There's always the classic noir set-up with mistaken identities and double crosses and way too many bodies turning up, but hey, there's the fun that comes from trying to do revenge in nice clothing or getting to play a cat and mouse game on a mysterious island and why is this sounding familiar? Also, I'd be fascinated to see something like Joseon era Squid Game – there certainly were enough sketchy rulers (Yeonsangun anyone?) that I could see something like this flourishing with some minor alterations back then.