MCU AU Exchange 2017
Apr. 8th, 2017 04:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aurillyGeneral Notes
Overall
The basic idea is that Bucky, Loki, Thor, and Steve are my favorites, and I adore canon divergences. As long as they're still adopted Asgardian princes and Brooklyn boys who get experimented on in WWII, you can change or ignore or rearrange whatever parts of canon you want... no explanation needed. Only one romantic pairing per fic, please (or none at all!). I've seen all the movies, but I haven’t read any comics or watched the TV shows.
I'm always hankering for more fic where the duos who don't canonically go together hang out and/or make out. Gen or shippy, I want them to make ultimately positive connections that leave them a little happier and healthier than they were before, even if it starts out wary or slightly manipulative. As long as no one is bashed, you can acknowledge canon ships in the background or pretend they never existed. Whatever!
I'm often less interested in the moment of divergence than I am in what happens later in this new verse. Similarly, stories that end right after the meet-cute make me sad. I'm more interested in seeing how characters work together and bond afterwards. I'm totally happy to start in media res, long after the thing described in the tag or after the characters have already become acquainted.
Things I Like
• Journeys & Adventures: badassery, competence and resourcefulness; the pen is mightier than the sword; laughing in the face of danger or absurdity; fish out of water; vacations gone awry
• Angst with a Hopeful Ending: self-help; being jollied or distracted into a better emotional place; finding home where you least expect it
• Forced or Repeated Proximity: reluctant allies; captured or stranded together; undercover as a couple; arranged marriage; marriage of convenience; aliens made them do it
• Odd Couples: characters with wildly different speech patterns; fond exasperation; quietly heroic or secretly self-sacrificial gestures; giving each other shit; falling in love
• Makeouts & More: first times; learning about what each other likes; imperfect sex where everyone's enjoying it (and maybe laughing a bit), even if it's also angsty; inexperienced participants who are neither shy nor passive
Do Not Want
• fusions and alternate setting AUs
• romantic pairings other than the ones specifically requested
• Things That Upset Me: the afterlife; depressing endings; noncon; dark dynamics in my ships; destiny/fate; shovel talks
• Schmoopiness: plotless fluff; non-canonical pet names or terms of endearment
• Sex & Relationship-Related: soulmates; D/s dynamics; yentas and matchmakers; pregnancy; adultery; explicit discussions about consent (everyone eagerly participating is good enough for me!)
• Writing Things: 1st & 2nd person POV; phonetically spelled dialogue
• Darcy and Sharon
Character Notes (for all pairings and requests):
Thor and Loki
I love Thor's blend of arrogance, infectious likeability, stoicism, bemusement, and the yoke of duty. Please don't write him as a booming idiot or jerk. I generally see Loki as Chaotic Neutral Type 4, not as straight up evil or crazy or blameless victim. I think he's too guarded to flirt or sleep with a lot of people--which makes it all the more special when he does fall for someone. Bonus points if strangers can’t tell if they're brothers, enemies, lovers, friends, or some uncomfortable combination.
Bucky and Steve
These requests are about Bucky, but Steve is always welcome, so I'm covering him, too. They both have lots of baggage and trauma, but I'm most interested in seeing them move forward with their lives and inch towards a healthier place. Bonus points for giving Bucky, especially, some new friends. I love when they're fully functional, brave, resourceful, and when they retain of a sense of humour despite everything. I have a pet peeve about them saying things like “ain’t”; can they please speak as properly as they do in the films? Cursing's fine, though. If you're writing shipping Bucky with Loki, please don't let Steve and Bucky have ever had more than platonic feelings for one another.
Background Characters
Bucky befriending any of the Asgard characters as a side plot would be amazing. In terms of human side characters, bonus points for less common ones. Instead of Natasha, Sam and Tony, what about Hope or Pepper (or Jane as a friend for Steve or Bucky)? Or Peter Parker, or Pangborn?
Requests for: Loki/Bucky, Thor&Bucky
• My main ask is to please let them find out about each other's alien and supersoldier-ness. Please don't end the story with them thinking the other is just some regular guy!
• Bucky and Loki: I think they would make such an entertainingly snarky, angsty and badass odd couple, with complementary skill sets and personalities. I think they'd be able to tough love each other to a better place.
• Bucky & Thor: I'd love to see the ways in which Bucky could have Thor's back, how Thor might jolly Bucky out of his brooding, what others think of their BFFness, how their kills complement... everything.
Canon AU - Aether Infected Different Character/Worked Differently
What if Bucky had been the one to stumble upon the Aether? How does he deal with being drawn into Asgard drama? What if he had been able to harness it and use it, and completely change the story, instead of being damseled? How does this facilitate a relationship with one or both of the princes, and what happens?
Canon AU - Identity Porn
I love "Lois & Clark"-style secret identity drama as well as quotidian versions like "You've Got Mail" (but not a copy of that movie, please). Masks, amnesia, magic, lame lies, angst about the love interest preferring another version of you, which one is real vs a role, erroneous but logical theories, the reveal... Yum.
— The Winter Soldier is one of Loki's nemeses, but he likes this guy named Bucky who shows up in his quotidian life. How does he find out they are one and the same? What happens next?
— Does escaped and living in hiding Bucky have two jobs, not realizing that his regular customer from the café and his regular customer from the bar are alien brothers? What happens when he finds out?
Canon AU - Bucky In Asgard
I don't care how/why he's there. Handwave away! I'm interested Bucky's impressions of the place and people, and vice versa. I'd extra love if Bucky's Earth experiences or street smarts could help the Asgardians with something.
— Does Heimdall beam Bucky and/or Steve up to Asgard? Possibly during TFA, thus saving them? Or at some later point? For what reason? What happens next?
— Steve asks Thor if his friend can lie low in Asgard since he's wanted on Earth
— Thor invites Bucky (and Steve?) to Asgard for a vacation... that maybe goes awry? What does Loki and/or Thor think of him?
— Jane builds her bridge, which allows Steve and/or Bucky to go to Asgard on a mission
Canon AU - Met As Children
I'd love anything where young Bucky spent time in Asgard OR young Loki and/or Thor spent time in early 20th century Brooklyn. Maybe the royal family traditionally takes kids from different realms and time periods to be companions for princes for a little while. Maybe teenage princes are traditionally sent on a kind of study abroad, and this trip sent him/them to 1930s NYC. Perhaps wee Bucky fell into a portal and spent time in Asgard. Or it's wee Thor and/or Loki who wandered into a time-space portal and was taken in by the Barnes family for awhile. Were they together for just a few days, or longer?
All that said, what I'm most interested in are the ramifications of the childhood bond once they become adults. You can include the flashbacks, but you can also assume/skip over the backstory and write something that's 100% about them as adults. How do they reunite? Did they stay in touch, or has it been so long that they don't even recognize each other at first? Does some duo/trio quest to save their friend(s) from canon events? Getting back in touch to ask for help with a problem? Have they changed over the years, but still get along?
Canon AU - Loki Fell to Earth
Canon AU - Loki Banished Instead of/with Thor
Canon AU - Thor Fell with Loki
Canon AU - Thor Banished Differently
I long for more fics where either brother (or both together!) spent more time stranded on Earth, with or without their powers. Experiencing different adventures than in canon, meeting different people, learning life priorities, getting over themselves, etc.
— Assume Bucky escaped from Hydra (or Steve escaped from SHIELD) and went on to live in hiding as a regular person... The story starts a couple of years later when he meets a banished Asgardian prince. Or both of them. What happens?
— Instead of New Mexico, Loki (and/or Thor) landed where Bucky is, whether at a Hydra base, or while the WS is doing a mission, or after Bucky's escaped. How do they help one another?
— Thor and Loki come to Earth to fight the Chitauri together, instead of Loki being the villain, and meet Bucky
— Do banished!Thor and escaped!Bucky become friends while working together, leading to them helping one another in other areas of their lives?
— Maybe the fact that they met a year ago via a Craigslist ad is what informs their dynamic, but the story is about Thor and/or Loki taking his roommate Bucky home at the end of his banishment (which he finds out is Asgard, wtf)?
Canon AU - Time Loops/Groundhog Day
I love individual journeys of self-discovery, as well as self-help adventures in which people learn life lessons, overcome some baggage, figure out priorities, etc. This trope is amazing for these! I don't care how/why it starts or stops. I'm totally cool with handwaving, starting in media res, or leaving things unexplained.
My only caveat is that I get a little creeped out if the loop person spends the entire time solely obsessed with making someone fall in love with them, or where character B is treated simply as character A's oblivious reward. As long as the loop person has other goals/projects, too, I'll be ecstatic. Or maybe you find a way for the non-loop person to play an active role. Or maybe two people are in the loop together, which perhaps they don't initially realize?
Canon AU - Stranded/Survival
Are they stranded in space? At sea? On a mission? In a foreign country? As usual, I don't care about how they got into this mess; I'm here for unlikely people being forced to work together and become friends/lovers, having unexpected heart-to-hearts in weird settings, and finding that their skills are complementary. I'm totally happy starting with, "Crap. Well, what do we do now?" Getting captured, too, would be the totally optional cherry on top.
On the offchance that you know/like Lost, a crossover would be lovely, focused on any one or combination of my four MCU faves. Thor banished to the island, at any time in the Island's timeline? Loki banished or fell there? Steve crashed the plane there (since the island moves and could have been in the Atlantic then)? I ship any of these guys with Juliet, Richard or Jacob. I also ship Bucky/Miles. Otherwise, please keep it gen or to the pairings requested in this exchange (I also love Sayid/Shannon, Sayid/Kate and Richard/Miles; canon pairings are fine in the background).
Overall
The basic idea is that Bucky, Loki, Thor, and Steve are my favorites, and I adore canon divergences. As long as they're still adopted Asgardian princes and Brooklyn boys who get experimented on in WWII, you can change or ignore or rearrange whatever parts of canon you want... no explanation needed. Only one romantic pairing per fic, please (or none at all!). I've seen all the movies, but I haven’t read any comics or watched the TV shows.
I'm always hankering for more fic where the duos who don't canonically go together hang out and/or make out. Gen or shippy, I want them to make ultimately positive connections that leave them a little happier and healthier than they were before, even if it starts out wary or slightly manipulative. As long as no one is bashed, you can acknowledge canon ships in the background or pretend they never existed. Whatever!
I'm often less interested in the moment of divergence than I am in what happens later in this new verse. Similarly, stories that end right after the meet-cute make me sad. I'm more interested in seeing how characters work together and bond afterwards. I'm totally happy to start in media res, long after the thing described in the tag or after the characters have already become acquainted.
Things I Like
• Journeys & Adventures: badassery, competence and resourcefulness; the pen is mightier than the sword; laughing in the face of danger or absurdity; fish out of water; vacations gone awry
• Angst with a Hopeful Ending: self-help; being jollied or distracted into a better emotional place; finding home where you least expect it
• Forced or Repeated Proximity: reluctant allies; captured or stranded together; undercover as a couple; arranged marriage; marriage of convenience; aliens made them do it
• Odd Couples: characters with wildly different speech patterns; fond exasperation; quietly heroic or secretly self-sacrificial gestures; giving each other shit; falling in love
• Makeouts & More: first times; learning about what each other likes; imperfect sex where everyone's enjoying it (and maybe laughing a bit), even if it's also angsty; inexperienced participants who are neither shy nor passive
Do Not Want
• fusions and alternate setting AUs
• romantic pairings other than the ones specifically requested
• Things That Upset Me: the afterlife; depressing endings; noncon; dark dynamics in my ships; destiny/fate; shovel talks
• Schmoopiness: plotless fluff; non-canonical pet names or terms of endearment
• Sex & Relationship-Related: soulmates; D/s dynamics; yentas and matchmakers; pregnancy; adultery; explicit discussions about consent (everyone eagerly participating is good enough for me!)
• Writing Things: 1st & 2nd person POV; phonetically spelled dialogue
• Darcy and Sharon
Character Notes (for all pairings and requests):
Thor and Loki
I love Thor's blend of arrogance, infectious likeability, stoicism, bemusement, and the yoke of duty. Please don't write him as a booming idiot or jerk. I generally see Loki as Chaotic Neutral Type 4, not as straight up evil or crazy or blameless victim. I think he's too guarded to flirt or sleep with a lot of people--which makes it all the more special when he does fall for someone. Bonus points if strangers can’t tell if they're brothers, enemies, lovers, friends, or some uncomfortable combination.
Bucky and Steve
These requests are about Bucky, but Steve is always welcome, so I'm covering him, too. They both have lots of baggage and trauma, but I'm most interested in seeing them move forward with their lives and inch towards a healthier place. Bonus points for giving Bucky, especially, some new friends. I love when they're fully functional, brave, resourceful, and when they retain of a sense of humour despite everything. I have a pet peeve about them saying things like “ain’t”; can they please speak as properly as they do in the films? Cursing's fine, though. If you're writing shipping Bucky with Loki, please don't let Steve and Bucky have ever had more than platonic feelings for one another.
Background Characters
Bucky befriending any of the Asgard characters as a side plot would be amazing. In terms of human side characters, bonus points for less common ones. Instead of Natasha, Sam and Tony, what about Hope or Pepper (or Jane as a friend for Steve or Bucky)? Or Peter Parker, or Pangborn?
Requests for: Loki/Bucky, Thor&Bucky
• My main ask is to please let them find out about each other's alien and supersoldier-ness. Please don't end the story with them thinking the other is just some regular guy!
• Bucky and Loki: I think they would make such an entertainingly snarky, angsty and badass odd couple, with complementary skill sets and personalities. I think they'd be able to tough love each other to a better place.
• Bucky & Thor: I'd love to see the ways in which Bucky could have Thor's back, how Thor might jolly Bucky out of his brooding, what others think of their BFFness, how their kills complement... everything.
Canon AU - Aether Infected Different Character/Worked Differently
What if Bucky had been the one to stumble upon the Aether? How does he deal with being drawn into Asgard drama? What if he had been able to harness it and use it, and completely change the story, instead of being damseled? How does this facilitate a relationship with one or both of the princes, and what happens?
Canon AU - Identity Porn
I love "Lois & Clark"-style secret identity drama as well as quotidian versions like "You've Got Mail" (but not a copy of that movie, please). Masks, amnesia, magic, lame lies, angst about the love interest preferring another version of you, which one is real vs a role, erroneous but logical theories, the reveal... Yum.
— The Winter Soldier is one of Loki's nemeses, but he likes this guy named Bucky who shows up in his quotidian life. How does he find out they are one and the same? What happens next?
— Does escaped and living in hiding Bucky have two jobs, not realizing that his regular customer from the café and his regular customer from the bar are alien brothers? What happens when he finds out?
Canon AU - Bucky In Asgard
I don't care how/why he's there. Handwave away! I'm interested Bucky's impressions of the place and people, and vice versa. I'd extra love if Bucky's Earth experiences or street smarts could help the Asgardians with something.
— Does Heimdall beam Bucky and/or Steve up to Asgard? Possibly during TFA, thus saving them? Or at some later point? For what reason? What happens next?
— Steve asks Thor if his friend can lie low in Asgard since he's wanted on Earth
— Thor invites Bucky (and Steve?) to Asgard for a vacation... that maybe goes awry? What does Loki and/or Thor think of him?
— Jane builds her bridge, which allows Steve and/or Bucky to go to Asgard on a mission
Canon AU - Met As Children
I'd love anything where young Bucky spent time in Asgard OR young Loki and/or Thor spent time in early 20th century Brooklyn. Maybe the royal family traditionally takes kids from different realms and time periods to be companions for princes for a little while. Maybe teenage princes are traditionally sent on a kind of study abroad, and this trip sent him/them to 1930s NYC. Perhaps wee Bucky fell into a portal and spent time in Asgard. Or it's wee Thor and/or Loki who wandered into a time-space portal and was taken in by the Barnes family for awhile. Were they together for just a few days, or longer?
All that said, what I'm most interested in are the ramifications of the childhood bond once they become adults. You can include the flashbacks, but you can also assume/skip over the backstory and write something that's 100% about them as adults. How do they reunite? Did they stay in touch, or has it been so long that they don't even recognize each other at first? Does some duo/trio quest to save their friend(s) from canon events? Getting back in touch to ask for help with a problem? Have they changed over the years, but still get along?
Canon AU - Loki Fell to Earth
Canon AU - Loki Banished Instead of/with Thor
Canon AU - Thor Fell with Loki
Canon AU - Thor Banished Differently
I long for more fics where either brother (or both together!) spent more time stranded on Earth, with or without their powers. Experiencing different adventures than in canon, meeting different people, learning life priorities, getting over themselves, etc.
— Assume Bucky escaped from Hydra (or Steve escaped from SHIELD) and went on to live in hiding as a regular person... The story starts a couple of years later when he meets a banished Asgardian prince. Or both of them. What happens?
— Instead of New Mexico, Loki (and/or Thor) landed where Bucky is, whether at a Hydra base, or while the WS is doing a mission, or after Bucky's escaped. How do they help one another?
— Thor and Loki come to Earth to fight the Chitauri together, instead of Loki being the villain, and meet Bucky
— Do banished!Thor and escaped!Bucky become friends while working together, leading to them helping one another in other areas of their lives?
— Maybe the fact that they met a year ago via a Craigslist ad is what informs their dynamic, but the story is about Thor and/or Loki taking his roommate Bucky home at the end of his banishment (which he finds out is Asgard, wtf)?
Canon AU - Time Loops/Groundhog Day
I love individual journeys of self-discovery, as well as self-help adventures in which people learn life lessons, overcome some baggage, figure out priorities, etc. This trope is amazing for these! I don't care how/why it starts or stops. I'm totally cool with handwaving, starting in media res, or leaving things unexplained.
My only caveat is that I get a little creeped out if the loop person spends the entire time solely obsessed with making someone fall in love with them, or where character B is treated simply as character A's oblivious reward. As long as the loop person has other goals/projects, too, I'll be ecstatic. Or maybe you find a way for the non-loop person to play an active role. Or maybe two people are in the loop together, which perhaps they don't initially realize?
Canon AU - Stranded/Survival
Are they stranded in space? At sea? On a mission? In a foreign country? As usual, I don't care about how they got into this mess; I'm here for unlikely people being forced to work together and become friends/lovers, having unexpected heart-to-hearts in weird settings, and finding that their skills are complementary. I'm totally happy starting with, "Crap. Well, what do we do now?" Getting captured, too, would be the totally optional cherry on top.
On the offchance that you know/like Lost, a crossover would be lovely, focused on any one or combination of my four MCU faves. Thor banished to the island, at any time in the Island's timeline? Loki banished or fell there? Steve crashed the plane there (since the island moves and could have been in the Atlantic then)? I ship any of these guys with Juliet, Richard or Jacob. I also ship Bucky/Miles. Otherwise, please keep it gen or to the pairings requested in this exchange (I also love Sayid/Shannon, Sayid/Kate and Richard/Miles; canon pairings are fine in the background).