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AU GUIDELINES (how to build an AU)
HOW TO BUILD AN AU
This will likely be a work in progress since I, too, am new to the AU memory life style but hopefully, this advice might help you out anyway!! If you have any tricks, let me know.
1) Communication will likely be very helpful. You do not have to build your alternate universe around other people, but if you think there could be a fun avenue that you can pursue by connecting your story to another, feel free to tap people and ask their opinion! There will be posts where people can discuss things if they're not comfortable with DMs, but discord exists for a reason also. It's okay to also tell people if you're not interested in an idea! This will hopefully get your gears running to see what works best. Also, if you have ideas but aren't sure how to implement them or if you're not sure if they're legal, you can always DM Celi too!!
2) What is a core trait that you want to explore? If your character is someone who is anti-social, maybe you want to explore a character who has the ability to be more open. However, maybe you cannot due to their trauma! If so, a fun AU might be having a character who CAN live a social life without that baggage and as they slowly regain their memories of trauma, they have to wrestle with keeping their social connections without completing shutting the other person out.
3) Once you come up with some core AU traits, you can then build the headcanon details as you continue to rp. You do not have to have every significant detail nailed down right at the start of your character arc. Just like canon characters, sometimes you are put into a situation where you suddenly have to come up with random facts that might not exist in canon, you can do that with the AU as well.
4) Be open to being flexible!! When you have your AU details made up, just remember it is always okay to change them if you find they don't work out anymore. Also if they don't always match to everyone's details 100%, that's fine too. Canon characters don't always have details that match and that's fine. Those kind of IC perception challenges are fun!!
5) Remember that characters will get their memories back and think about how that will challenge their AU traits. As mentioned above, when you regain memories, sometimes it can cause a struggle of who they were before and who they are now. Imagine a character whose AU self is a comic artist who enjoys superheroes and magic! Then imagine as they regain their memories, they get excited to learn they have unique superpowers and have become a hero in their own right. However, more memories reveal that their family was murdered and they live in a world where death and trauma are a daily occurrence. That internal conflict can be juicy and fun to play with!
6 ) Don't feel like you have to 100% follow your team aesthetic. Each team has a general base to give flavor, but that isn't a hard requirement of how you need to define your character. Just because Siren's Melodies is filled with charismatic people as a whole, sometimes you have outliers! Maybe your character is an awkward person and can never someone on the center stage, but perhaps they decide hiding behind a VTUBER persona allows them to feel more comfortable in the spotlight. Or maybe they're someone who supports idols and is a manager! They're great at working in the shadows instead of the limelight. Use the background story of the team as a way to emphasize the flavor of the AU you want! Don't feel like you must force the AU to mold into the team perfectly.
7 ) Be open to the idea that the characters do not have 100% control of the situation at the start. No character is resistant to having their memories tampered with. Characters will eventually learn that their memories are being forged and how they react to that is obv based on IC reasoning, but at the start, everyone with AU memories completely believes that their "selves" are real. That means you don't need to feel like you MUST follow certain canon traits or you're breaking character rules.
8 ) DON'T BE AFRAID TO BE CREATIVE AND HAVE FUN!!. That means don't feel shy about trying to stand out or following a crazy route if you have a fun idea. Did you app someone from Fruits Basket, but want them to be an assassin in their AU? Hell yeah, do it. Apping a DBZ character and they believe they were an idol their entire lives? Why not. Like obviously, as long as you don't godmode other characters and step on other people's toes and their ideas, don't feel like you need to hold back!!
1) Communication will likely be very helpful. You do not have to build your alternate universe around other people, but if you think there could be a fun avenue that you can pursue by connecting your story to another, feel free to tap people and ask their opinion! There will be posts where people can discuss things if they're not comfortable with DMs, but discord exists for a reason also. It's okay to also tell people if you're not interested in an idea! This will hopefully get your gears running to see what works best. Also, if you have ideas but aren't sure how to implement them or if you're not sure if they're legal, you can always DM Celi too!!
2) What is a core trait that you want to explore? If your character is someone who is anti-social, maybe you want to explore a character who has the ability to be more open. However, maybe you cannot due to their trauma! If so, a fun AU might be having a character who CAN live a social life without that baggage and as they slowly regain their memories of trauma, they have to wrestle with keeping their social connections without completing shutting the other person out.
3) Once you come up with some core AU traits, you can then build the headcanon details as you continue to rp. You do not have to have every significant detail nailed down right at the start of your character arc. Just like canon characters, sometimes you are put into a situation where you suddenly have to come up with random facts that might not exist in canon, you can do that with the AU as well.
4) Be open to being flexible!! When you have your AU details made up, just remember it is always okay to change them if you find they don't work out anymore. Also if they don't always match to everyone's details 100%, that's fine too. Canon characters don't always have details that match and that's fine. Those kind of IC perception challenges are fun!!
5) Remember that characters will get their memories back and think about how that will challenge their AU traits. As mentioned above, when you regain memories, sometimes it can cause a struggle of who they were before and who they are now. Imagine a character whose AU self is a comic artist who enjoys superheroes and magic! Then imagine as they regain their memories, they get excited to learn they have unique superpowers and have become a hero in their own right. However, more memories reveal that their family was murdered and they live in a world where death and trauma are a daily occurrence. That internal conflict can be juicy and fun to play with!
6 ) Don't feel like you have to 100% follow your team aesthetic. Each team has a general base to give flavor, but that isn't a hard requirement of how you need to define your character. Just because Siren's Melodies is filled with charismatic people as a whole, sometimes you have outliers! Maybe your character is an awkward person and can never someone on the center stage, but perhaps they decide hiding behind a VTUBER persona allows them to feel more comfortable in the spotlight. Or maybe they're someone who supports idols and is a manager! They're great at working in the shadows instead of the limelight. Use the background story of the team as a way to emphasize the flavor of the AU you want! Don't feel like you must force the AU to mold into the team perfectly.
7 ) Be open to the idea that the characters do not have 100% control of the situation at the start. No character is resistant to having their memories tampered with. Characters will eventually learn that their memories are being forged and how they react to that is obv based on IC reasoning, but at the start, everyone with AU memories completely believes that their "selves" are real. That means you don't need to feel like you MUST follow certain canon traits or you're breaking character rules.
8 ) DON'T BE AFRAID TO BE CREATIVE AND HAVE FUN!!. That means don't feel shy about trying to stand out or following a crazy route if you have a fun idea. Did you app someone from Fruits Basket, but want them to be an assassin in their AU? Hell yeah, do it. Apping a DBZ character and they believe they were an idol their entire lives? Why not. Like obviously, as long as you don't godmode other characters and step on other people's toes and their ideas, don't feel like you need to hold back!!