Punk AU
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Related tropes/genres | Body Modification, Band AU, Punks in Fanworks, 1970s |
| See also | cyberpunk, steampunk |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
You may be looking for Punks in Fanworks or Punk (disambiguation).
Punk AU is a broad category of Alternate Universe fanworks wherein elements of punk culture are incorporated. Unlike some more easily quantifiable AUs, like Harry Potter or Regency, Punk AUs are most often combined with another type of AU such as High School or Role Reversal rather than being the singular focus of a work. This fluidity makes an absolute definition of what makes a fanwork a "punk au" more or less up to personal interpretation.
This trope is primarily found in fanfic and fanart, although it can be present in any type of fanwork, from vids to cosplay.
Trope Conventions
There are two general categories that works referred to as "punk AUs" typically fall into: "all punk AUs", and "one punk AUs".
All Punk AU
In a "All Punk" AU, all or most of the characters appearing are part of the punk subculture where they weren't in canon. If non-punk characters appear, they're often minor or intended to show the attitude of the punk characters. These fanworks tend to focus more on the subculture itself and incorporate aspects beyond merely marking a character as counterculture and tend to be very popular in fandoms based around a group of characters, such as One Direction, where the entire group can be made into punks.[1][2]
Sometimes this type of punk au is a "punk band au."[3]
One Punk AU
A "One Punk" AU is a fanwork where a single character is changed to be punk while the rest are usually more or less as in canon. Primarily these fanworks tend to be more focused on the contrasts between the punk character and their love interest or surrounding characters rather than the punk subculture itself. It's sort of a counterculture equivalent to the "bad boy" and "girl next door" narrative that's popular in romance fiction, such as Fifty Shades of Grey or After.
This type of au tends to not be specifically tagged on sites with "punk au," but rather with a character tag such as "punk!John"[4] or "Bucky Barnes is a punk." It's frequently combined with high school au.
Pastel and Punk AU
Possibly originating from the recent trend of pastel punk[5] and/or the Flower Shop and Tattoo Parlor AU, Pastel and Punk AU is a specific type of One Punk AU wherein one half of a ship is portrayed as soft and innocent while the other shown to be a "bad boy" type. This is most often a type of Role Reversal, where the characters usually take the role opposite from the way fanon generally portrays them.
This type of AU is extremely popular in Phandom, which most often casts Dan as the pastel and Phil as the punk, whereas general fanon characterises Dan as the more worldly of the two, and Phil as the innocent one.[6][7]
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
- Baby Heaven's in your Eyes by theboyfriendstagram, which is a One Direction fic featuring Harry Styles as a punk and Louis Tomlinson as an innocent schoolboy.
- softmushie has a popular Dear Evan Hansen Pastel and Punk au called Cotton Candy and Hunters that features Pastel Connor and Punk Evan.
- Click On My Heart by CocoaChoux, an Attack on Titan modern au fic which features Punk Levi and Pastel Eren.
- baking is punk as fuck by heyfightme, a Check Please! fic wherein everyone is in a punk band instead of playing hockey.
- He wears a suit like it's 1945 by Shaish and Stringlish, a MCU fic featuring punk Steve and dapper Bucky.
Art Gallery
Sherlock fanart by maXKennedy – teenage punk!Sherlock and John (2016)
Punk portrait of Supernatural's Castiel by winchester-reload (2017)
✨PUNK GⒶY WITCHES 🤘 (Dec 2022) by Yakiti, featuring punk!Lumity from The Owl House.
Resources
- Punk tag on AO3, which also lists any popular character variants as sub tags.
- Alternate Universe - Punk tag on AO3
- #punk on Wattpad
- The Pastel X Punk and Pastel and Punk AU tags on AO3
- Stories tagged with both #punk and #pastel on Wattpad
References
- ^ Punk Direction tag on AO3. Accessed March 09 2019.
- ^ Punk1DEdits Twitter. Accessed March 09 2019.
- ^ Punk Band AU tag on Tumblr. Accessed March 09 2019.
- ^ Punk John tag at AO3. Accessed March 09 2019.
- ^ Urban Dictionary: pastel punk. Accessed March 09 2019.
- ^ Pastel Dan and Punk Phil tag on AO3. As of March 09 2019, the tag has 124 works.
- ^ #punkphil and #pasteldan on Wattpad. Accessed March 09 2019.