As you probably expected, this 1920s au is an alternate universe where Lafayette and Dmitri meet and become friends in the 1920s. It takes place in an ambiguous location in America. :Y You can see what they look like in this AU here and here.
Btw when I talk specifically about the Lafayette and Dmitri in Nerdy and Jock, I'll call them "canon Laf" or "canon Dmitri".
Names/Ages/Rating
Even though Lafayette and Dmitri are Nerdy and Jock characters, they're the only two Nerdy and Jock characters that carry over into this AU. Dmitri's name is the same in this AU, but Lafayette is known by his Japanese name Ritsu in this AU. (I'm gonna call Laf "Ritsu" for the rest of this post since I'm talking in the context of the AU. But yeah, Ritsu = Lafayette. I also use gender neutral pronouns for Ritsu, which I'll explain below.)
Ritsu and Dmitri are a older in this AU than they are in Nerdy and Jock. The story primarily takes place while they're in college. Idk if they're older freshmen or just upperclassmen, but I'm currently imagining them in their early 20's in this AU (like 20-23 years old?). Because of their older age, stuff I draw for this AU may potentially have more mature themes than what I draw with their canon counterparts. That said, I don't anticipate I'll draw anything toooooo matureeee............ one because I'm too lazy to actually draw comics or wahtever and two because I'm a baby hahaha;;;
Idk, I'd give the story a PG-15 rating. :Y
General Plot
Much like canon Laf and Dmitri, the basic plot surrounds the friendship between Ritsu and Dmitri and how they balance their differing preferences for affection. Gender's also a pretty big theme, too (probably moreso than in canon, even.) Since Ritsu and Dmitri didn't meet as kids in this AU, this AU is probably less about power dynamics in their relationship (whereas power dynamics play a big role in the canon universe).
In this AU, Ritsu and Dmitri become roommates at some college. Ritsu moves from Japan to America sometime before 1924 (because that's the JAPANESE IMMIGRATION EXCLUSION ACT WOW!!!), and their first language is Japanese. Ritsu and Dmitri don't really connect at first (partially because of the language barrier, partially because Dmitri's an awkward fool, and partially just 'cause they have different interests.) Early in the school year, the two of them end up going to a nightclub(/SPEAKEASY??? IDK ANYTHING) with a couple of classmates to get some drinks and watch some Hot Chickz dance and sing and whatnot (/VAGUE 1920'S PARTY LIFE IDK). It's not really Dmitri's crowd, but going there gives Ritsu the idea of becoming a singer/performer presenting as a woman.
Ritsu does start working at a nightclub as a female singer, which Dmitri inevitably finds out about. Since Dmitri finds out their secret job, Ritsu becomes more open around Dmitri about their genderfluidity (sp?) and starts presenting as female outside of their job. How Ritsu perceives gender versus how Dmitri perceives gender--and how their viewpoints contrast and effect one another--is one of the major topics explored in the AU. Dmitri's growing feelings for Ritsu and how his feelings play against (?) Ritsu's asexuality and gender is also explored. (? I feel like I said this already.)
In essence: it's the early 1920s, Ritsu and Dmitri are in college, and Ritsu works at a night club as a female singer. I feel like it's a little Ritsu-centric atm, I'm trying to think up more stuff relevant to Dmitri;;;;
In terms of stuff besides Ritsu working at the night club, Dmitri plays football (like he does in Nerdy and Jock, but WITHOUT HIS GOOD NERDY AND JOCK BROS... ALAS...!!) and Ritsu's more or less into photography. I'm also kinda interested in including stuff with ~new 1920s technology~ (photography is one of them, but also like cars and movies and radio (I think?)), though idk how it'd play a role story-wise. I'm also interested in talking about Ritsu being Japanese and somehow incorporating Japan's modernization and American attitudes toward Japan in the story, though my history is NOT GR8 so idk how much I'd emphasize this. (It's interesting to think about how technically this story takes place only a couple years before World War II/Japan's colonial experiment begins... By the 30's Japan antagonizes the "west", but I think in the 20's Japan was continuing "western modernization" in trying to be recognized as modern and an equal power to the "western world." Though I think the common American was largely unaware of Japan...? Or thought of Japan as an exotic place in Asia. Idk. Maybe this is all wrong, but that's my understanding of things.)
But yeah, that's the basic premise for this AU. If I ever draw stuff for it, it'd just be little vignettes and stuff because I'M BAD AT PLOTS.
Ritsu vs. Lafayette/Ritsu's Pronouns
WOW it's time to talk about gender. I'm not the best at talking about gender because it's 2 KOMPLIKATED and I get frustrated by the fact that everyone has different definitions for terminology/etc, but I'M GONNA TRY ANYWAY. Please bear with me. And sorry if this is confusing, I know gender topics aren't as heavily-discussed here on theO like they are on tumblr and elsewhere. But yeah. I just feel like I should talk about this b/c Ritsu has a major difference from Canon Lafayette regarding their gender.
In terms of biological sex, things are largely the same between Ritsu and Lafayette--Ritsu and Lafayette are intersex, and both are AMAB (assigned male at birth). However, Lafayette over the course of his storyline learns he's intersex when he's 13 or 14 years old, while Ritsu is never "officially diagnosed" as intersex.
I've kinda mentioned this before in his character profile, but I'll just briefly mention this again: Canon Lafayette considers himself non-binary, but he prioritizes being intersex over being non-binary. Of the gender conceptions that fall under the non-binary blanket term, Lafayette is probably closest to "agender," (in the sense that he doesn't exactly "believe" in gender)--but that's not what he refers to himself as, he calls himself non-binary if questioned about gender. More than anything he considers himself kind of indifferent about how people perceive him and is fine with whatever pronouns a person decides to use for him (he's actually not too comfortable choosing pronouns for himself).
However, terms like "non-binary" or "agender" or whatever didn't exist in the 1920's, so Ritsu doesn't ID as non-binary. I'm also guessing that a person's gender was more thought to be linked to how a person present themselves (as in if someone AMAB is a woman and wants to be perceived as a woman, she would present herself in feminine clothing--which isn't necessarily common practice in the present). Because Ritsu has a deeper connection between clothing and gender than Lafayette does, Ritsu considers themself to be whatever gender they're currently presenting as. So if Ritsu feels like a boy, he'll wear masculine clothing; and if Ritsu feels like a girl, she'll wear feminine clothing. I think the modern-day terminology for this is "genderfluid."
Since Ritsu's gender identity changes a lot more than Lafayettes, I'll try to use neutral pronouns (they/them/their/etc) when I'm referring to them (though I guess I'll change depending on the situation/context I'm speaking in SORRY FOR CONFUSION;;). I won't get hung up on what pronouns you use for Ritsu, but neutral pronouns are probably your safest bet in terms of being respectful. (but again, I'm not too particular about these kinds of things)
Notably, no one in-universe uses neutral pronouns for Ritsu because intentional neutral pronouns weren't really in common usage in the 20's. When Ritsu presents as male, he wants to be referred to with male pronouns; and when Ritsu presents as female, she wants to be referred to with female pronouns.
This whole pronouns stuff isn't really talked about in-universe the same way that it's talked about in the present day (ie: Ritsu would never say "my pronouns are ~~~~"), but Ritsu's gender is something that ends up being discussed a lot in-universe between Ritsu and Dmitri.
THAT SAID, searching through the internet tells me that the 1920s were actually pretty positive/lenient toward LGBT+ attitueds and atypical gender expressions. The ~trendiest~ look for women at the time was mimicking a more masculine silhouette (not form-fitting or emphasizing the bust/waist), women were likely beginning to wear pants, and I think cross-dressing performances were more or less common in some bars or whatever. I don't think Ritsu's ever really ostracized by her audience/boss/coworkers when she's presenting as female at the club or elsewhere, but people tend to see her as "a man dressed as a woman" when she'd rather be perceived just as a woman during performances.
BUT UH... IN CONCLUSION!! The biggest difference gender-wise between Lafayette and Ritsu is:
Lafayette = gender doesn't have inherent meaning, ID's as non-binary/agender/gender-indifferent
Ritsu = gender has inherent meaning (feminine clothing = female, masculine clothing = male), would ID as genderfluid (if terminology existed in the 20's).
Sorry this whole thing on gender is really long;;; I'm sure it's confusing but I feel like laying this all out right off the bat would be less confusing than trying to explain things along the way.
WELP. Now that all that explain-y context stuff is out of the way, LET'S MOVE ON TO SOME PICTURES!!! (thank u for reading my blob of text.........)
