[ SECRET POST #5298 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5298 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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[Ferris Bueller's Day Off]



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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 06 secrets from Secret Submission Post #756.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

03. https://i.imgur.com/OTsYI0n.png

[(Anonymous)]

You have a point, but there are two things I want to point out about AUs.

First, there's the fact that in some (especially historical media) fandoms, a lot of AU writers do it because they aren't able or willing to learn the details and background of the original canon and so they aren't really up on who the characters really are. In which case, they are creating OCs with canon names slapped on them. There's a ton of this in Les Mis fandom, and it's gotten to the point where the completely original fan-created characterizations have overtaken the canon characterizations in some aspects.

Second, and somewhat related to the first point, an AU where the characters are genuinely themselves as they would be in different circumstances are rare as FUCK, because most writers just don't put in the work and analysis to genuinely stay in character when that character is shaped by somewhat different forces and circumstances. but holy shit can AU fics be great when they're done right. I hate AUs with a burning passion when the characterization isn't done well, but when I find one where that's done well I usually really like it. But there are so few of those out there (and I've looked) that I mostly just say I don't like AUs.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think either of those things is unique to AUs! Or even really notably worse in AUs.

[(Anonymous)]

True,but it's easier to see the character as being a version of their canon original when the setting's the same. It's harder when they're a french political revolutionary from 1832 in canon and, idk, an American werewolf in space from the year 3000 in the AU fic.

[(Anonymous)]

Especially Les Mis because being a french political revolutionary from 1832 is their thing.

[(Anonymous)]

So then at that point aren't you just against AUs per se?

[(Anonymous)]

The problem with that is that it's very essentialist about what makes a person who they are. If you believe people are born with certain traits inherent to how they'll act, then such fanfics can be considered in-character. But really, if someone grows up in completely different circumstances, they will in fact most likely become a completely unrecognizable person from the one you know. Any similarities are just coincidence. It also depends on how early in the character's life the canon divergence happens. If they've already been through some canon events, then some if their personality has probably been formed and a canon divergence could be interesting. But if it's like "they were born to different parents in a different time and place and..." Like sorry, that is an OC.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, like you could convince me to read a "What if this orphaned character actually had a mother while going through this other canon event" AU but once you give them a mother, put them in a different time and possibly a different country it's nearly impossible to keep that in character.

[(Anonymous)]

Counterpoint: I like AU fics where say, Dean Winchester grew up in a loving home with his mom. Of course his history and some of his personality would be different, but some things would be the same.

Having moved a lot as a kid and having had a lot of different jobs, I kind of enjoy this what if sort of scenario.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, but if Dean was born in Sweden to a completely different mother in a universe in which there were no monsters, Sam didn't exist, and he had a different personality as a result... would you still consider that character to be Dean? Or an OC that had Dean's name slapped on it?

[(Anonymous)]

Exactly.

[meadowphoenix]

there were very illegal studies done about this, and I think ultimately there's reason to believe that some things would remain the same about you in different circumstances, but i don't think there's anyway to determine what those things would be that we know don't already have some known gene expression, like handedness.

that said, i think characters (fictional or even based on real people) have core characteristics because that's how narrative works, and therefore AUs that have none of those core characteristics will feel like OCs to a lot of people who outline a character in those core qualities.

[(Anonymous)]

Not much to add, just saying I get the Ref! (and it made me feel nostalgic)

[(Anonymous)]

I think changing backstories can be done well but so often it seems like they don't care about the fundamental aspects of the character. To me it's like slapping the character's name on an unfamiliar OC.

[(Anonymous)]

I think often people just have different ideas of a) what those core characteristics are vs traits they think of as incidental and b) sometimes have radically different ideas not only of what character traits are important, but of who a character actually is.

Like if one fan watches a movie and thinks "fuck villain X, they're a horrible person and I cheered when Hero A kicked their ass," and another fan thinks "I'd like Villain X to fuck me, they're so woobie and sensitive and hot and Hero A is a horrible bullying asshole," those two fans are gonna write very different fics in general and AUs in particular.

There is a sort of a balance to that sort of thing.

[(Anonymous)]

Since I believe personality comes about both due to nature and nurture, the character can (and should) have some recognizable traits, but things that came about due to their canon circumstances can be different. However, some traits can come about due to many different circumstances (like, say, anxiousness). So it is possible for the character to be really close to their canon personality, even in a very different AU.