What Does Reincarnation AU Mean?
Fic TypeAn alternate universe where characters die and are reborn into new lives, often finding each other again across lifetimes. A favorite vehicle for tragic ships that deserve another chance.
Reincarnation AU in Practice
The reincarnation AU is fandom's most romantic loophole: canon killed them, but souls are patient. Standard configurations include modern reincarnations of historical or fantasy characters slowly recovering past-life memories, the agony of one partner remembering while the other doesn't, and the multi-lifetime montage where the couple finds and loses each other across centuries before finally getting it right. The genre is enormous in fandoms whose canons are themselves steeped in reincarnation themes, and it overlaps with soulmate AUs in treating love as a metaphysical constant. Its emotional pitch ranges from healing fix-it to exquisite recurring tragedy, depending on how merciful the author feels.
Example usage
"The reincarnation AU spans four lifetimes, and they only get their happy ending in the one where nobody remembers the war."
Related Terms
Soulmate AU
An AU built on a universe where soulmates demonstrably exist, marked by some mechanism — a name on your skin, shared pain, color vision unlocking at first touch. The mechanic varies; the destiny is the genre.
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Fix-It
A fic that repairs what canon broke — reversing deaths, redeeming wasted arcs, rescuing characters from endings fandom rejects. Written in the firm belief that the source got it wrong.
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Angst
A genre label for stories centered on emotional pain — grief, longing, guilt, heartbreak, or despair. An angst tag warns readers to expect to suffer, at least for a while.
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AU (Alternate Universe)
Short for Alternate Universe: a story that deliberately changes fundamental facts of the canon setting — the time period, the world's rules, or the characters' circumstances. Coffee shop AUs, no-powers AUs, and modern AUs are classic examples.
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