Why AUs don't work for me
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Why AUs don't work for me |
| Creator: | zebra363 |
| Date(s): | 2005-02-15 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | multifandom |
| Topic: | Alternate Universes |
| External Links: | on LJ (archive) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Why AUs don't work for me is a 2005 meta essay by zebra363 that lists reasons they don't find alternate universes compelling. Specifically, in this case, zebra363 seemed to be talking about AUs that aren't canon divergences, as in the comments they wrote, "Yes, I'm using the due South meaning of AU here. I don't mind stories which depart from the canon mid-series or, in the right hands, change some details"[1]
Excerpts
I really like the universes my favourite pairings inhabit. Take them out of those universes and you take away much of the appeal. Law enforcement, space travel and ::guh:: staying alive via swordfighting are interesting occupations. Ordinary professional fields, academia and trades are not. I've been there, done that and don't want to read about it.
If I want to read about characters in an original setting, I can go to the library. There are thousands of interesting novels about relationships between men. I don't even have to go as far as the library [...]
I think I might be a fairly lazy reader in that I usually find it tedious to absorb the details I need to know to follow a story. When I'm reading novels, I almost always find the first few chapters a real chore. [...] Fanfiction generally circumvents that for me, since I already know who everyone is and how they got there. As soon as you make it an AU, though, I have to study what you're saying and memorise all the basic facts. (Yes, lazy, as I said.) I can't just go straight to the enjoyment part.
Comments and Reactions
[kyuuketsukirui]
[...] one thing I like about AUs myself is that it gives me a chance to see what the characters I like might have been like in this or that situation. Of course there are many AUs where really the only thing about the characters that stays the same is the name (and sometimes not even that!) but with really good AUs, the characters are recognisably themselves.[2]
[zebra363]
one thing I like about AUs myself is that it gives me a chance to see what the characters I like might have been like in this or that situation.
I can see how that could be interesting. I guess I'm just deeply attached to the existing universes, and I love the fact that the canon supplies the visuals I need to go with the fic (I'm an FPS-only person so far). When I feel like a change of setting, I generally pick up a new fandom rather than follow an old pairing into AUs.[3]
[cupidsbow]
I feel quite ambiguous about this issue, actually. In RPS, cannon is a much more flexible thing, and as I've said before, I consider it to be a bit like "casting" the actors, so an AU (in which they aren't actors), isn't such a stretch. You can make them tough guys, space explorers, sports pros etc. In fact, the best writers do that and make connections to the actor's film roles as well as what is known about them in real life.
But to get away from RPS, I find FPS a much more fraught proposition. Like you, there is usually something about the show's premise and the characters that I vibed on, and I want more of it in the fanfiction. [...]
When they are done well, though, no matter the fandom, I do love AUs. But "well" is more subjective for me when it comes to fanfic than original fic--because I'm expecting fanfic to do quite heavy emotional work, and if I don't get that "kick" as well as a good story, I'm not interested. As you say, I can go to the library for plain old original fic.
Perhaps the main difference between us is that I can get that kick from AU stories quite often in some fandoms--where I'm very invested in the characters and the permutations of their interactions. But the more I think about it, the more I think the main attraction of AUs is due to my love of meta-narratives. I love stories that have multiple layers and that expect you to read with those echoes in mind. That type of reading is at least as big a kink for me as friendship fics.[4]
[zebra363]
I'm coming to the conclusion that or some of my fandoms, I might actually be *more* interested in the universes than the characters.[5]
[cathexys]
[...]
and what i was trying to say is that i'd argue that AUs and ARs are ultimately about trying to define a particular character...as well as play with the question of how much/how little their environment affects them. this is most obvious in parallel universe fics and still pretty clear in ARs. AUs, i argue, must be read as parallel universe fics against canon and fanfic. in other words, we read the AU guys against the way they are in the source text and the various fannish incarnations.[6]
References
- ^ zebra363, here, February 16th, 2005.
- ^ kyuuketsukirui, second comment, which is now deleted on the live version of the page. Posted February 16th, 2005.
- ^ zebra363, here, February 16th, 2005.
- ^ cupidsbow, here, February 17th, 2005.
- ^ zebra363, here, February 17th, 2005.
- ^ cathexys, here, February 18th, 2005.