#but AUs require that you strip things down to their bare essentials and really hone in on what's FUNDAMENTAL to these characters | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cinematicnomad · 1 year ago

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#literally this isn't why AUs are bad it's why AUs are hard (via @explorersaremadeofhope)

in general i would say that “it’s not fun if they’re totally unrecognisable” is my fandom thesis. like the point of fanfic etc is putting your favourite little guys in situations. where’s the appeal if they’ve been through so many fanon spin cycles that they’re barely even your guys anymore

#THIS!!#flawless tags are flawless #the point of fic is to have the joy of experiencing MORE and DIFFERENT story from what canon presents #all those canon divergent fics and missing scene fics and AU fics and everybody lives fics etc etc etc #but like op said: it's not fun if everyone is totally unrecognizable #if i wanted to read about characters i don't already know i'd go and read one of the many books on my shelf waiting to be read #which is TOTALLY VALID and i do it as often as i can #but that is not what i want to do when i'm reading fic #ESPECIALLY when i'm reading AUs #and i don't hate AUs but i am PICKY about my AUs #for the exact reason mentioned above: they're soooo much harder to get right #other fics have the benefit of having all the trappings of canon and the setting etc to help dress it up as 'close enough'#but AUs require that you strip things down to their bare essentials and really hone in on what's FUNDAMENTAL to these characters #the more extreme the AU the harder it is to get it right #but when you DO get it right??? holy fuck it's SO good

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