Alternative Universes and Rewriting Installments

[author_by_night]

So I saw another fic for a fandom I'm in, and it was an AU for the last installment, which admittedly the fandom almost collectively hated. (I think there's a few people who liked and even loved it.) I'm definitely in the "hated it" camp.
However, I'm not a big fan of "if book X hadn't happened" fics. I never used to mind them, I even tried to write one, but that may have been around the time I decided I didn't like them.

I'm not a big fan of AUs altogether, not because I have issues with the concept, but because the execution often ends up being more wistful than purposeful. Let's use Harry Potter. There were many AUs where Harry was Sorted into the Slytherin House. This opens up all kinds of possibilities; the problem is, fanfics that did this were usually more interested in opening up the possibility of a Harry/Draco pairing and maybe a bit of general Slytherin love. So it's not really about exploring the "what ifs" so much as it is a slightly more plausible way for Harry and Draco to get together. The same is true with AUs of the book the writer didn't like; it's a matter of wish fulfillment, as opposed to a look at what could have been.

I think my other problem with them is that the way I see it... certain installments, awful though they may have been (at least to you), happened. It's like the embarrassing Grandpa - you cringe at his old fashioned humor (sometimes not so funny) and ideas, but he's still your Grandpa and he still gets invited to Christmas dinner. There's no point in pretending he's not there.

I don't mind AUs by themselves. I don't even mind retellings, exactly - as long as they're about a true alternative perspective, as opposed to wish fulfillment.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

(Also, because this post is public, I'm omitting the name of the fandom in question as it's small. Although to many of you it'll probably be fairly obvious...)

Comments

[chocolatepot.livejournal.com]

Hmm, you know, thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever read an AU fic that's primarily about exploring the change rather than having a scenario you want to write and making it able to happen. But it makes sense to me because in my own experience, trying to write an AU based solely on the change is awkward and not rewarding. It's deliberately ham-stringing yourself, or else not preparing enough.

But also, I'm not sure I'd be that excited to read an AU that didn't have an angle - if someone doesn't have an emotional connection to the story, it's not liable to be that compelling. Promises Unbroken is wonderful, but if Robin was really just wondering about Sirius being taken by Voldemort instead of Peter defecting, there wouldn't be so much brother-loyalty and Sirius manpain. And, going strictly on logic and canon, it's very likely that if baby Harry didn't take down Voldemort, so many more people would have died, possibly even James and Lily in battle. (UGH now I want to read this AU, much like PU but with 10x the angst.) He probably would have just won, period, and killed all of the Order. Which could make for a good story, but again, only if you want to read about eg. the Weasleys growing up under Voldemort and can create reasons for them to be able to do what you want to have happen, which is the same sort of wish-fulfillment. Does that make sense?