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Historical AU

 Historical AU
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 Historical AU
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Historical AU
 Historical AU
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HistoricalAU
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A specific type of Elseworld in which the cast of an established work is transplanted into the writer's historical setting of choice. While writers might use a fantastic premise to explain how they got there (such as Time Travel or Reincarnation), other instances just have the characters be born and raised in the new time period.
The appeal of this trope is seeing how established characters react to and are shaped by a drastically different society, and the usage of tropes and figures (Historical Domain Character and Public Domain Character) specific to the new time period. For example, a diverse cast might feel constrained by a more patriarchal and/or racist society, the central romance now has to unfold amidst strict etiquette and courting rules, the characters resolve a historical conflict using very different methods from the source material's, or a Historical Domain Character arrives to help wrap up the story.
In addition, certain genres that the writers might like to use, such as The Western, are strongly tied to a specific time period.
Note that this is specifically an Elseworld/Alternate Universe — the characters must not be native to the setting. Works where the characters could plausibly have lived through the time period (e.g. immortals) don't count.
Compare Period Piece and the Out-of-Genre Experience Episodes. Contrast Setting Update and Modern AU Fic, which put characters in a contemporary setting. Distant Prequel is another way an established work might want to play with historical tropes.
 Historical AU
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 Historical AU
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2024-04-22T00:01:24Z
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Detective Loomes And The Phantom Thief (Fanfic)
 Historical AU
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Historical AU / int_114401d2
type
Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_114401d2
comment
The majority of the Pretty Little Liars episode "Shadow Play" takes place in a 1940s noir setting, as hallucinated by Spencer after she pops a pill while watching an old film. In it, Toby is a Private Detective, Hanna is a switchboard operator, and Mona and Ezra are cooperating against the girls.
 Historical AU / int_114401d2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Historical AU / int_114401d2
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1.0
 Pretty Little Liars
hasFeature
Historical AU / int_114401d2
 Historical AU / int_139fbc38
type
Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_139fbc38
comment
I Would Move Mountains is an Overwatch Genji/Zenyatta fic that takes the characters from their canon 20 Minutes into the Future setting to the 1600s, with the addition of High Fantasy magic.
 Historical AU / int_139fbc38
featureApplicability
1.0
 Historical AU / int_139fbc38
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1.0
 I Would Move Mountains (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Historical AU / int_139fbc38
 Historical AU / int_15ef0cd9
type
Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_15ef0cd9
comment
Batman Ninja: Batman, his allies, and his Rogues Gallery are transported to feudal Japan. The villains have become daimy�, and the Bat-Family learns the ways of the ninja to defeat Gorilla Grodd.
 Historical AU / int_15ef0cd9
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_15ef0cd9
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 Batman Ninja
hasFeature
Historical AU / int_15ef0cd9
 Historical AU / int_17d5c93a
type
Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_17d5c93a
comment
The DC Comics characters usually interact in Present Day, save for the occasional Elseworld:
Batman: Thrillkiller, published in 1997, imagines Batgirl and Robin as noiry 1960s counterculture crimefighters.
DC Comics Bombshells turns several prominent female characters into World War II-era freedom fighters, with some changes made with powersets in mind (e.g. Flying Bricks Supergirl and Stargirl as former members of the Night Witches) and others with characterization in mind (e.g. Italian-American Zatanna is Jewish and Roma in this version and the Holocaust is part of her backstory).
Gotham by Gaslight sees Batman and his supporting cast as characters in Victorian England, turning the modern noir of a Gotham story into a Gaslamp Fantasy one, tangling with figures of the time like Jack the Ripper, and exploring how Batman can become the Caped Crusader in a setting that doesn't allow for his modern technology.
 Historical AU / int_17d5c93a
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1.0
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1.0
 DCComics
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Historical AU / int_17d5c93a
 Historical AU / int_22211d68
type
Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_22211d68
comment
Bones pays tribute to Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief with its 200th episode, reimagining the cast in 1950s Hollywood. Here, Brennan battles misogyny as an LAPD detective and Booth is a jewel thief framed for the murder of a rich socialite.
 Historical AU / int_22211d68
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1.0
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 Bones
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Historical AU / int_22211d68
 Historical AU / int_3193b4c3
type
Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_3193b4c3
comment
Drowning in Your Depths is a Gravity Falls Slash Fic that takes place during The Golden Age of Piracy, where Bill Cipher is a pirate captain and Dipper is a siren.
 Historical AU / int_3193b4c3
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_3193b4c3
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 Drowning In Your Depths / Fan Fic
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Historical AU / int_3193b4c3
 Historical AU / int_49887298
type
Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_49887298
comment
DC Comics Bombshells turns several prominent female characters into World War II-era freedom fighters, with some changes made with powersets in mind (e.g. Flying Bricks Supergirl and Stargirl as former members of the Night Witches) and others with characterization in mind (e.g. Italian-American Zatanna is Jewish and Roma in this version and the Holocaust is part of her backstory).
 Historical AU / int_49887298
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_49887298
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1.0
 DC Comics Bombshells (Comic Book)
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Historical AU / int_49887298
 Historical AU / int_4c260e4
type
Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_4c260e4
comment
Heimatfront is a Massive Multiplayer Crossover fic centered around Girls und Panzer that takes place in the last days of World War II.
 Historical AU / int_4c260e4
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_4c260e4
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1.0
 Heimatfront (Fanfic)
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Historical AU / int_4c260e4
 Historical AU / int_5ec33353
type
Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_5ec33353
comment
The Rod Squad is basically Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, but ten years earlier, in 1979. Chip wears a tie that's as wide as a surfboard (and he uses it as a surfboard), Dale has an afro, and Gadget wears bell-bottoms and platform shoes. Together, they have to face a lot of "HASSLES" and "RIP-OFFS" on their assignment by baseball manager Charles O. Finley to prevent a Disco Demolition Night.
 Historical AU / int_5ec33353
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_5ec33353
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 The Rod Squad (Fanfic)
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Historical AU / int_5ec33353
 Historical AU / int_62570927
type
Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_62570927
comment
The Marvel Universe is broadly set in Present Day, but occasionally shows alternate versions of the characters in historical settings:
Marvel 1602 is set in the tail end of Elizabeth I's reign, with various Marvel characters reimagined as court figures or involved in the colonization of the New World.
5 Ronin, which transplanted Wolverine, The Punisher, The Hulk, Psylocke and Deadpool into Tokugawa-era Japan.
 Historical AU / int_62570927
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_62570927
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1.0
 Marvel Universe (Franchise)
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Historical AU / int_62570927
 Historical AU / int_650c088
type
Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_650c088
comment
5 Ronin, which transplanted Wolverine, The Punisher, The Hulk, Psylocke and Deadpool into Tokugawa-era Japan.
 Historical AU / int_650c088
featureApplicability
1.0
 Historical AU / int_650c088
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1.0
 5 Ronin (Comic Book)
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Historical AU / int_650c088
 Historical AU / int_671d5c19
type
Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_671d5c19
comment
The Powerpuff Girls (1998): "West in Pieces" transplants the characters into the American Old West, where Professor Utonium creates the Steamypuff Girls to deal with the infamous outlaw Mojo the Kid.
 Historical AU / int_671d5c19
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1.0
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 The Powerpuff Girls (1998)
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Historical AU / int_671d5c19
 Historical AU / int_7460586f
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_7460586f
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Archer has season-long AUs brought on by Archer's coma dreams:
Season 8, Archer Dreamland, is a dramedy Film Noir where Archer is a Private Detective in 1947 L.A. investigating the death of his partner Woodhouse.
Season 9, Archer Danger Island, takes place on a Pacific island in 1939, as Nazi Germany is poised to march through Europe. Instead of a PI (or a modern-day spy), Archer is a one-eyed cargo plane pilot.
 Historical AU / int_7460586f
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_7460586f
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1.0
 Archer
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Historical AU / int_7460586f
 Historical AU / int_76e1ae72
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_76e1ae72
comment
CatDog: The episode "It's a Wonderful Half Life" is an homage to The Golden Age of Animation, wherein Cat and Dog both have dreams where they're separate animals. Dog is a happy hobo in The Great Depression and Cat is a business tycoon of The Roaring '20s.
 Historical AU / int_76e1ae72
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_76e1ae72
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 CatDog
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Historical AU / int_76e1ae72
 Historical AU / int_7bd11427
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_7bd11427
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Season 9, Archer Danger Island, takes place on a Pacific island in 1939, as Nazi Germany is poised to march through Europe. Instead of a PI (or a modern-day spy), Archer is a one-eyed cargo plane pilot.
 Historical AU / int_7bd11427
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_7bd11427
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 Archer Danger Island
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Historical AU / int_7bd11427
 Historical AU / int_7c038c18
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_7c038c18
comment
Phineas and Ferb has transplanted its cast into a variety of settings, sometimes collectively referred to as "Time Shift" episodes.
"Tri-Stone Area" goes all the way back to Hollywood Prehistory, where all the characters are cavepeople speaking "cave talk" gibberish. What they're saying is easily gleaned, as the Strictly Formula plot sees Phinabunk and Gerb inventing a wheeled vehicle, Cantok not managing to get them in trouble, and Bunka de Bunkakwan trying to foil Doofengung's plan to cause a mammoth stampede.
"Doof Dynasty" is set in ancient China. Doofus Khan tries to take over the Tri-Province Area in a plan that involves kidnapping Princess Isabella. The gang needs Master Perry's training to defeat him.
 Historical AU / int_7c038c18
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_7c038c18
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 Phineas and Ferb
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Historical AU / int_7c038c18
 Historical AU / int_9e2f90f4
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_9e2f90f4
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The One Piece anime has a series of standalone episodes comprising the Boss Luffy Historical Special, which transplants the characters into 19th-century Japan.
 Historical AU / int_9e2f90f4
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 Historical AU / int_9e2f90f4
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 One Piece (Manga)
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Historical AU / int_9e2f90f4
 Historical AU / int_a5f56532
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_a5f56532
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Ice on the Rhine: While Frozen (2013) takes place in the 1840s, the characters from the film and from Tangled are drawn into The Napoleonic Wars of the early 1800s.
 Historical AU / int_a5f56532
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1.0
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 Ice on the Rhine / Fan Fic
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Historical AU / int_a5f56532
 Historical AU / int_acc861f
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_acc861f
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A Great Endeavor takes the characters of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and imagines an alternate world where they lived alongside humans. The story is then set in World War II.
 Historical AU / int_acc861f
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 Historical AU / int_acc861f
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 A Great Endeavor (Fanfic)
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Historical AU / int_acc861f
 Historical AU / int_ad3e7810
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_ad3e7810
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Witching Hour: The cast of Invader Zim are moved from a 20 Minutes in the Future setting to a Medieval one.
 Historical AU / int_ad3e7810
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_ad3e7810
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 Witching Hour (Fanfic)
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Historical AU / int_ad3e7810
 Historical AU / int_b282ff90
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_b282ff90
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Manners and Misunderstandings places the characters of High Fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire into Regency England. This includes rewriting plot points and deaths to be far more mundane, and Fantasy Counterpart Cultures getting mapped onto real-world countries.
 Historical AU / int_b282ff90
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 Manners and Misunderstandings (Fanfic)
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Historical AU / int_b282ff90
 Historical AU / int_b3ca30b7
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_b3ca30b7
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An Uncommon Witness is a Princess Tutu fic where the characters are transplanted into The Roaring '20s with a Film Noir-style plot.
 Historical AU / int_b3ca30b7
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_b3ca30b7
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 An Uncommon Witness / Fan Fic
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Historical AU / int_b3ca30b7
 Historical AU / int_b6a1aaa6
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_b6a1aaa6
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By the Sea is a romance between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Commander Cody of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, except reimagining the pair as a shell-shocked World War II veteran and an injured merman, respectively.
 Historical AU / int_b6a1aaa6
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 By the Sea (Fanfic)
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Historical AU / int_b6a1aaa6
 Historical AU / int_bc32cdd4
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_bc32cdd4
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The Swordsman & The Gunslinger moves the contemporary cast of Fruits Basket into The Wild West, specifically to the Arizona Territory in 1880.
 Historical AU / int_bc32cdd4
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_bc32cdd4
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1.0
 The Swordsman & The Gunslinger / Fan Fic
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Historical AU / int_bc32cdd4
 Historical AU / int_c6c809ba
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_c6c809ba
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Lost Tales of Fantasia combines all Disney media and sets its plot against a backdrop of World War II. In it, many Disney villains have aligned themselves with the Nazis.
 Historical AU / int_c6c809ba
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 Historical AU / int_c6c809ba
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 Lost Tales of Fantasia (Fanfic)
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Historical AU / int_c6c809ba
 Historical AU / int_c763b149
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_c763b149
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Dawn of the English Roses places the characters of RWBY into the year 1965. Team SSSN are the universe's equivalent of The Beatles, with their band being called The Yeatles.
 Historical AU / int_c763b149
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 Historical AU / int_c763b149
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 Dawn of the English Roses (Fanfic)
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Historical AU / int_c763b149
 Historical AU / int_d15c34bf
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_d15c34bf
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Season 8, Archer Dreamland, is a dramedy Film Noir where Archer is a Private Detective in 1947 L.A. investigating the death of his partner Woodhouse.
 Historical AU / int_d15c34bf
featureApplicability
1.0
 Historical AU / int_d15c34bf
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 Archer Dreamland
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Historical AU / int_d15c34bf
 Historical AU / int_d3907802
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_d3907802
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Marvel 1602 is set in the tail end of Elizabeth I's reign, with various Marvel characters reimagined as court figures or involved in the colonization of the New World.
 Historical AU / int_d3907802
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 Marvel 1602 / Comicbook
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Historical AU / int_d3907802
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Historical AU
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The One Tree Hill episode "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)" primarily consists of Lucas's dream after falling asleep while watching Casablanca, which recontextualizes prior plot events in a 1940s Film Noir setting. In the dream, Lucas is the owner of Karen's Cafe, a glamorous nightclub in Tree Hill City.
 Historical AU / int_d3bc03fe
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 One Tree Hill
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Historical AU / int_d3bc03fe
 Historical AU / int_d620e397
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_d620e397
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Batman: Thrillkiller, published in 1997, imagines Batgirl and Robin as noiry 1960s counterculture crimefighters.
 Historical AU / int_d620e397
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 Historical AU / int_d620e397
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 Batman: Thrillkiller (Comic Book)
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Historical AU / int_d620e397
 Historical AU / int_d81a3ce7
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_d81a3ce7
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Petal In The Rain is a Harry Potter fic that sets Lily and James's romance during the 1940 Battle of Britain rather than the canon 1970s. Furthermore, Lily is a muggle attending a Boarding School of Horrors while James is a wizarding noble.
 Historical AU / int_d81a3ce7
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1.0
 Historical AU / int_d81a3ce7
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 Petal In The Rain (Fanfic)
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Historical AU / int_d81a3ce7
 Historical AU / int_dc4e013d
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_dc4e013d
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Everything In The World Was Standing Still places the cast of Steven Universe aboard the RMS Titanic, changing everyone's backstories to fit the era. Rather than being the superpowered son of a Crystal Gem, Steven is instead a wealthy heir to his late mother's fortune crossing the Atlantic to a new life in America.
 Historical AU / int_dc4e013d
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 Everything In The World Was Standing Still (Fanfic)
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Historical AU / int_dc4e013d
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Historical AU
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Las Vegas: "Everything Old Is You Again" takes the cast back to 1962 after Danny purchases a souvenir from the Jubilee Hotel, which was located where the Montecito now stands. In this setting, they work for a mob casino, deal with issues of the times, and generate a forward-thinking money-making scheme. As a bonus, the title card is retooled to be 60s-style.
 Historical AU / int_dd8198f3
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 Las Vegas
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Historical AU / int_dd8198f3
 Historical AU / int_e910de18
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Historical AU
 Historical AU / int_e910de18
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Gotham by Gaslight sees Batman and his supporting cast as characters in Victorian England, turning the modern noir of a Gotham story into a Gaslamp Fantasy one, tangling with figures of the time like Jack the Ripper, and exploring how Batman can become the Caped Crusader in a setting that doesn't allow for his modern technology.
 Historical AU / int_e910de18
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1.0
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 Gotham by Gaslight (Comic Book)
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Historical AU / int_e910de18
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Historical AU
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Suske en Wiske: Stories are primarily set in the present, with Applied Phlebotinum time-traveling used to temporarily visit the past. However, some stories reimagine the cast as being from particular time periods:
"Het Geheim van de Gladiatoren" (The Secret of the Gladiators): Suske, Wiske and Lambik are Gauls living in Ancient Rome.
"Het Gouden Paard" (The Golden Horse) takes place in 16th century South America.
"De verloren Van Eyck" (The lost Van Eyck) is set in early 15th century Europe.
 Historical AU / int_f1a38c03
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 Historical AU / int_f1a38c03
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 Suske en Wiske (Comic Book)
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Historical AU / int_f1a38c03
 Historical AU / int_fb9c177d
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Historical AU
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In Transformers: Hearts of Steel, some of the Transformers wake up on Earth during the Industrial Revolution rather than in 1984 as they did in Transformers: Generation 1, and took corresponding vehicle modes such as trains, propeller aircraft and warships. Human characters appearing in the comic include John Henry, Mark Twain, and Jules Verne.
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Historical AU / int_fb9c177d
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Historical AU
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Calamity Jane Meets Doctor Isles plucks the characters of Rizzoli & Isles from contemporary Boston and places them in The Wild West. Rather than a cop, the Jane Rizzoli of the fanfic poses as a male outlaw named Jake Wyatt who meets Maura Isles when she moves into town with her fiancé Garrett.
 Historical AU / int_ffef5658
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Historical AU
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Fanfic Tropes
 Historical AU
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Media Adaptation Tropes
 Batman Ninja / int_e3ba3ce3
type
Historical AU
 Batman: Black and White (Comic Book) / int_e3ba3ce3
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Historical AU
 Batman: Thrillkiller (Comic Book) / int_e3ba3ce3
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Historical AU
 DC Comics Bombshells (Comic Book) / int_e3ba3ce3
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Historical AU
 Gotham by Gaslight (Comic Book) / int_e3ba3ce3
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Historical AU
 Eyes on Me (Fanfic) / int_e3ba3ce3
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Historical AU
 Henry Stickmin Royalty AU (Fanfic) / int_e3ba3ce3
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Historical AU
 Manners and Misunderstandings (Fanfic) / int_e3ba3ce3
type
Historical AU
 The Rod Squad (Fanfic) / int_e3ba3ce3
type
Historical AU
 Witching Hour (Fanfic) / int_e3ba3ce3
type
Historical AU
 Transformers (Franchise) / int_e3ba3ce3
type
Historical AU
 Las Vegas / int_e3ba3ce3
type
Historical AU
 Pretty Little Liars / int_e3ba3ce3
type
Historical AU
 Archer Danger Island / int_e3ba3ce3
type
Historical AU
 Archer Dreamland / int_e3ba3ce3
type
Historical AU
 CatDog / int_e3ba3ce3
type
Historical AU