History FandomSpecificPlot / Literature

** Common plot is 'houseswap' [=AUs=], where characters are born into houses other than their canon ones. Sometimes this is a fullblown ForWantOfANail scenario, sometimes it just makes shipping easier.

** Another popular plot sees Grandpa Joe get replaced by [[OriginalCharacter a female relative of Charlie (usually his older sister)]] as the adult who takes Charlie to the chocolate factory; she and Willy Wonka promptly fall in love. This one is largely exclusive to fanfics of [[Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory the 2005 movie version]], where Wonka is played by resident MrFanservice Creator/JohnnyDepp.

* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'':

** The "Cabbage Patch Hobbits" storyline where hobbits grow their children in their gardens as opposed to giving birth. Usually involves Bilbo growing a child of his and Thorin's after Thorin's presumed death.
** The Shire AU has Thorin abdicating the throne in favour of his sister or nephew and settling down with Bilbo in the Shire.

* ''Literature/TheMoomins'' has a story where a girl named Ninny is invisible due to her aunt's abuse, and needs to be made visible again with kindness. Fanworks and [=AUs=] where someone else becomes invisible from being troubled are common.

** Shen Yuan gets transmigrated into a different character (the most popular choice being an unimportant minor character who [[InSpiteOfANail still gains Luo Binghe's affections]]) or [[CrossoverFic canon]].

* Classic ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'' fandom: Holmes meets Famous Historical Figure, or becomes involved in a historical event/situation which the author has a particular interest in so they can infodump all their obsessive knowledge onto the reader. "Holmes tackles the Usefulnotes/JackTheRipper case", in particular, has been done several times, to the point where people unfamiliar with the original books might think it was a real Sherlock Holmes story.

* "Christine gives birth to Erik's child" and "Christine marries Raoul [[RonTheDeathEater only to find out he's a complete jerk]]" are so common in ''[[Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera Phantom of the Opera]]'' fanfiction that when [[Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera the musical's]] sequel ''Theatre/LoveNeverDies'' included ''both'' plot points, a lot of people rolled their eyes and groaned "What, ''again''?"

* Fanfiction for ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' are often {{Patchwork Fic}}s, which is not surprising considering the many media interpretations. By far, the most common versions involve drawing various pieces from the original novel by Gaston Leroux, the backstory rich Susan Kay novel, and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. This leads to wildly different takes on the story and characters, depending on the percentages used, and it is considered polite to state in the author's notes which versions are being blended.

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'':

** Many fanfics have Cersei give birth to one of Robert's children. Said child ends up becoming all the good that is missing from Joffrey - and either fights his brother for the throne (which Robert bequeaths to him instead of Joffrey) or ends up inheriting the crown when Joffrey dies. This non-existent character even has their own [[RedBaron nickname]], "The Black Prince/ss," to contrast with their siblings' golden coloring. As it's in reference to their hair color and they'll typically be kindhearted, both [[DarkIsNotEvil Dark Is Not Evil]] and [[LightIsNotGood Light Is Not Good]] are in full effect.

** Its fandom is really into GenderBender, particularly of Harry, in an attempt to offset- or at least explore- his [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero sexist tendencies]] in the early days of the series.(Pairing Female!Harry with [[FanPreferredCouple Marcone]] is optional but frequently done, as Harry is heterosexual in canon.)
** A massive trend is the Sex Kitten Winter Knight!Harry, taking place in some amorphous time after Harry's become the Winter Knight. They, similarly, offset or explore Harry's canon attitudes on sex (I.E., not having sex with a new partner while still trying to save an old one, not having sex with monsters trying to eat or manipulate you, and not having sex with minors), which parts of the fandom see as repressed or, at times misogynistic.
* Some fics ignore the end of ''Changes'' and subsequently "Ghost Story". This is less due to dislike of the events therein, [[spoiler: and more about the fact that ''Changes'' basically ''obliterated'' the Status Quo]], and/so it's hard to tell ''where'' the story is going to go after ''Ghost Story''.

* Classic ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'' fandom: Holmes meets Famous Historical Figure, or becomes involved in a historical event/situation which the author has a particular interest in so they can infodump all their obsessive knowledge onto the reader. "Holmes tackles the Jack the Ripper case", in particular, has been done several times, to the point where people unfamiliar with the original books might think it was a real Sherlock Holmes story.

* ''Literature/TheMoomins'' has a story where a girl named Ninny is invisible due to her aunt's abuse, and needs to be made visible again with kindness. [=AUs=] where someone else becomes invisible from being troubled are common.

* ''Literature/CaptivePrince'': "Auguste Doesn't Die" AUs are popular, helped by Damen, in the third book, fantasizing about this exact scenario which is followed by fanfics: The battle at Marlas is solved peacefully or doesn't happen, Auguste and Damen become friends (as Laurent mentions they would be likely to be), Damen falls in love with a less antagonistic Laurent, and starts a proper process of courting him.
* ''Literature/TheMoomins'' has a story where a girl named Ninny is invisible due to her aunt's abuse, and needs to be made visible again with kindness. AUs where someone else becomes invisible from being troubled are common.

** Crossovers with the ''Literature/TheKaneChronciles'' are quite common as well, even before it became a canon thing.

** Crossovers with the Kane Chronciles are quite common as well, even before it became a canon thing.

** Several fics write the stories of demigod children whose godly parent ''isn't'' part of the Olympian gods. What would a child of Nemesis, goddess of revenge, be like? A child of Hypnos, god of sleep and dreams? A child of Hecate, goddess of magic? It helps that the sequel series, ''Heroes of Olympus'' does focus more on the other gods and shows what exactly they and their kids are capable of.

* Many ''Literature/GoodOmens'' fics based on the [[Series/GoodOmens2019 TV miniseries adaptation]] incorporate [[PatchworkFic some book elements]] that the series didn't adapt, like all angels being sexless unless they really want to make an effort and Crowley loving sleep so much that he once slept for an entire century.

** The Quarter Quells [[note]]one-off rule changes introduced every twenty-five Hunger Games[[/note]] form the basis for a number of fics. These come in four types: fics about the unnamed victor of the Twenty-fifth Games, fics about Haymitch's experiences in the Fiftieth Games, fics in which the twist in the Seventy-fifth Games differs from canon, and fics set in an AlternateContinuity where the Games (and therefore the Quells) have continued past the Seventy-fifth Games.