Snowflake Challenge #3

[komadori]

Challenge #3

In your own space, put some favorite characters into an AU, fuse some favorite canons together, talk about your favorite AU/fusion tropes, or tell us why AU/fusions aren’t your cup of tea. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I know that AUs aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I love them. Phantom of the Opera was one of my earlier fandoms about ten years ago (Ten years old... does anyone get this reference?), and it basically ran on AUs. If you were any kind of Erik/Christine shipper, you pretty much neede AUs for any fic given how the original musical/book both end. Plus, it was fun to see how people could make the story work in a modern setting. My favorite AUs back in the day were written by Quiet2885, but I haven't read any of them in years.

I think my favorite kind of AUs are the canon divergent ones, though. It's fun to imagine how the story and characters would be different if just one thing changed--or many things! It reminds me of that wonderful time when I am in the middle of a new canon and my mind is flooded with possibilities of what could happen next--like when we were all reading HP for the first time and tons of theories were floating around. It feels like the possibilities are endless, but eventually, the canon must settle on one.

Also, I wanted to write a Fallen London/Night Vale fusion back in the day, but I was intimidated by the scope of Fallen London canon.

ETA: As for crossovers, I really want to read some Good Omens/The Good Place crossovers. If you know any good ones, please rec them! I'm interested to see how to reconcile the different approaches to the afterlife/deity/religion.

Comments

[paulamcg]

This challenge is teaching me so much about AUs that I'm starting to appreciate them more. I've clearly preferred canon-divergence. And I just miss that time in the HP fandom before the canon was closed. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

[peaked]

The theories are definitely why I love canon divergence! Considering the canon can't incorporate all of the theories (it just doesn't seem feasible at all), I love getting to read fics that explore theories that were left uninvestigated.

I imagine Harry Potter would've been a great fandom to be in when it was in its prime. I don't remember any of the theories (I kind of sat on the sidelines and in my niche corner), but that canon would've had a plethora of delicious canon divergence opportunities.

[jajalala]

I love a good canon divergence! Usually just one detail change that butterfly effects things is enough for me, sometimes when an author throws in fifty different headcanons and different scenarios it gets a little overwhelming. I still like to have the general guidework of canon, and if it goes off the tracks I still like it to be going in the same general direction.

Full AUs (like Fantasy AUs or Modern AUs etc) are risky business, I feel like if I already trust an author then I'm almost always down, but if I don't know the author's style I'm a lot more hesitant.

I've read almost no Phantom of the Opera fic, but a friend of mine recently wrote a female!Erik AU, which I found added some new dynamics/changes that I liked, even though most of it followed the movie version of the story.

[komadori]

Hm, I have often wondered how the story might change if Erik were female. So many Beauty and the Beast type stories insist that the beauty must be a woman.