I used to be sceptical about gang!au but then I found House of Cards (by sugamins on AO3) and dAMN - I mean, technically it is more or less mafia!au, but the line between these can be thin so I'll count it. Definitely recommendable if you're interested in the genre, it's an amazing example for a gang!au story and the perfect example for how much research done right changes. Seriously. The amount of details in this story is incredible, everything from weapons over drug addictions to psychology, and that paired with a hell of a plot - epicness. What I also like about it are the relationships, there were no black/white characters, they all had their faults and problems, but they weren't mindlessly evil purely for the sake of being evil either. And no relationship à la "bad gang leader loses heart to innocent girl/guy and suddenly turns into a good person" - no. Not at all. Which is a good thing.
I think they're fine. I enjoy some of them and some of them I don't. I think what makes a good gang!AU is research, though. Because I feel like a lot of times they end up being less. The gangs feel more like a group of young men doing making a little trouble, maybe smoking some weed. And I miss what really feels like a gang in those stories. Or maybe that's more related to mafia!AU's but nonetheless, people use those two as interchangable.
Other than that, what's really cliché with the gang!AU's specifically is the "hot, strong, assasinator tomboy OC and the hot gang leader who's also really cold", the "two boys from two different gangs fall in love" and the "innocent girl falls in love with the cold gang leader". Or at least, that's what I see all the time. It's tiresome. Find something else. >.<'
(Also, if someone makes a warm, kind gangleader that knows how to run a business, please direct me to that story because I would love to read that..)
"What's your opinion on gang fics?"
Personally I really like them! I a bit into stories where the two main pairing start off from being wary of each other.
"Do you think they're cliche, interesting, or boring?"
That solely depends on the plot. The story could start with a really cliche gang component; the OC patching up a member of the gang of her future love interest. Or maybe she is patching up the love interest? It doesn't matter. As long as the following plot isn't a rip off of any other gang story, it won't get boring.
"What makes a good gang au fic?"
The same with any other story. Originality, the use and turn of cliche's. A nice pace, which ensures that the OC and the Male lead don't instantly fall in love.
Maybe a hidden enemy? The person they believed was their enemy is actually being framed? Or used, or is undercover to get the real enemy?
There are a lot of variation you can include to give your story a whole different feel.
Don't make the OC a damsel in distress and also not a natural born hero. Remember that every character is still human and has fears like any other normal human being who is not involved into their mess.
Maybe even completely to your back on the cliche points of gangs and search for another way where the main character gets into the whole mafia/gang world.
I was now talking about an OC as the main character because I am more of a female OC reader then or yuri. I hope this helped? :)
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