AU Prompts for Fanfiction - 1

Part One: Time Period Prompts (that is, prompts that are set in either the past or the future).

Medieval / Renaissance

Gypsies:

+ One is a gypsy; the other is a law-enforcement officer, a la Esmeralda and Phoebus.

+ Both are gypsies; one of them is captured by a law enforcement officer (perhaps the subject of a rival pairing).

+ One is a gypsy, the other is a townsperson, helping them hide from the authorities.

Royalty

+ One is royalty, the other works under them, as a knight, advisor, or teacher.

+ Both are royalty, but one is being forced to marry another character.

+ One is royalty, the other is a commoner. How and why do they meet? How do they end up falling in love? How do their families feel about it?

Other Medieval Ideas

+ Renaissance artists/models
+ King and queen
+ Both knights
+ Rival kingdoms
+ Philosophers and scientists
+ Kings with multiple wives
+ Clergymen; the Vatican
+ The Black Plague

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Ancient Worlds

Egypt

+ One character is the pharaoh, and the other is one of his multiple wives (This idea works great for incest, by the way, since it was okay for the pharaoh to engage in it).

+ Both characters are servants to the pharaoh.

+ One or both are other powerful officials, like viziers, army commanders, tax collectors, or chief advisors.

+ Both are wives of the Pharaoh.

Greece or Rome

+ One is a god, the other a human.

+ One is a powerful Roman governor, the other is a commoner or a resident of the place outside of Rome the governor is in charge of (such as Judaea).

+ Teacher and student.

+ Master and slave.

+ Both are gods.

Other Ancient Prompts

+ Imperial China -- Do some research on the emperors, wives, and concubines of Ancient China, including their guards and keepers.
+ Other ancient cultures to research:
Persia
The Aztecs
Mesopotamia
Mayans
Babylon

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The Victorian Era

+ One character is wealthy, the other is their butler or maid.

+ Both characters are in an arranged marriage, whether with each other or a third party.

+ Both are servants.

+ One (or both) is an artist, scientist, detective, doctor, poet or writer, etc.

+ Problems like prostitution, child labor, and poverty were ripe in the Victorian era. Place the characters in one of those difficult situations and surround the story with them trying to get out of it.

Steampunk -- A favorite genre of many, placing characters in a steampunk world is often great fun. They could be inventors, airship pilots, sky pirates, scientists, explorers, factory workers, or simply employees on an airship, or even a submarine.

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More Recent History

World War II:

+ One character is a Nazi soldier, and the other is a concentration camp inmate.

+ Both are soldiers.

+ One or both are inmates in one of Russia's infamous gulags.

+ There are tons of possibilities if you have a soldier fetish. Russia, Germany, Japan, and America immediately come to mind when I think of World War II. You could tie in events like Hiroshima, Pearl Harbor, and Germany's invasion of Poland.

1920s

+ Flappers!

+ Prohibition - a character could run a speakeasy, that is, an underground establishment for selling alcohol.

+ One or both characters could be jazz performers, or owners of a jazz club.

+ New Orleans was full of fun back then, as well. Down there you have Mardi Gras and whatnot.

+ Dance! Have your characters meet at a jazz club and dance together, or even just dance on the streets for the heck of it.

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The Future…

Robotics:

+ One character is a robot, the other its inventor. Or both are robots. Or one or both is a cyborg.

Aliens:

+ One or both characters are from planets other than Earth.

Starships:

+ One or both could work aboard a starship, be it military or commercial.

Any of these prompts could work in a post-apocalyptic world, or even in some kind of steampunk world.