The AU: two thumbs up or snoozing viewer
May. 4th, 2008 02:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sweetprinceIt's very true that every fanfic writer has their own take on what Sam and Dean are, what character space they embody, perhaps even what goals they are trying to accomplish. The thing about Supernatural is that we get really only two views of the characters, "Life during wartime" and "the goof troop" and even the goof troop episodes show Sam and Dean's life during wartime. So I think it's easy to give characters a lot of leeway in that sense. I even think that Sam-girls and Dean-girls view the characters on the show differently (oh, fuck it, I know this). However, I still think it's possible for us to identify what is out-of-character, and what is an in-character move.
Which is why when you write Supernatural AUs for movies or comics or books, not everything will work.
I've done a lot of thinking about this, mostly because I was attempting to write my own SPN movie AU, in Hackers. It was a hard to choice to make, who was going to be Sam, who was going to be Dean, and I had to radically alter parts of the backstory to get it to work. But I felt an affinity in Kate in Dean, however, Dade still remains a problem. Sam doesn't have the same hapless attitude in the least, so to fit him in that space, and I had to reprogram Dade a little. It worked, because it was only minor adjustments, and what I really wanted from Hackers was the concept, and not the character nuances, then I overwrote the whole story by accident anyway, so it's not like anybody is ever going to contest me on that.
But...
There are some movies where I don't think that's going to work. I fully realize the desire to take movies and write out their slashy impulses with our favorite characters. I have, at some time or another, considered this with all movies. However, I realize that this isn't going to work for some movies, especially where salient character traits are part of the concept. The notion of me taking Real Genius and attempting to AU it to Sam and Dean, while attractive, ultimately seems like a disservice to the movie, because just about the only thing that could remain the same is the age difference between Chris Knight and Mitch.
I do make exception though, alot of these movies while not Sam/Dean translatable, can be fit to RPS. It would be complete crack if I stuck Jared and Jensen into Real Genius, because I'm pretty sure Jared would have to be Chris Knight, and I'm not really sure how Jensen would work as Mitch...ah well, let us discard that one, that's more ridiculous than being snubbed by beauticians.
Okay, take Center Stage. The only character that Dean could play in that (EEE, DEAN AS A BALLET DANCER), would be Cooper. And since we all like Charlie better anyway, HELLO, TALL, THOSE CRAZY BLUE EYES, THAT SLOW GRIN, where's the fun in that? I suppose I could make Dean be Cooper, and Sam be Charlie, and then have Jo be Jody, but Charlie and Cooper have zero interaction and no chemistry beyond the one time when Charlie was attempting to put Cooper in his place with his little dance contest bit. Also, then I'd have to figure out all that dynamic with Maureen and BLAH. NOT WORTH IT.
And while we all enjoy AUs that do not automatically copy the movies, I think that mostly has to do with plot, rather than character, because I know I certainly get very excited to see how an author has applied each person. So yes, that one, not going to work for Sam and Dean, but J2 it would be amazing, and I'm not just saying this because I am in fact writing it and am attempting to pimp it out. Jared as Charlie, Jensen as Jody--YES AMAZING RIGHT? I thought about making Chris Kane Cooper, but then Jensen and Chris would have to have sex, and ewww. I DO NOT SUPPORT THAT.
But going back to my main point, there are some concepts that are simply too big, there's too much riding on it for it to make a good AU. I wouldn't make Dean Bruce Wayne and Sam Dick Grayson even though cannon events to work for that rather nicely simply because Dean is not Bruce Wayne, and HELLO, Sam? Dick Grayson? and if not Dick Grayson, Tim? Selina Kyle?
No that just doesn't work for me, and while I might read your Sam/Dean Batman AU out of curiosity, trust me it's the gawking at a two-headed goat effect. I feel like you simply can't AU such things. They embody too much of a world of their own, too many stories can be told within that. Similarly, since it just struck me over the head as hilarious. Sam and Dean in Lord of the Rings? WHO WOULD BE WHO? I guess we break all the rules if it comes to crack.
[Poll #1182425]
ps. Dean is Mav, and Sam is Ice
Which is why when you write Supernatural AUs for movies or comics or books, not everything will work.
I've done a lot of thinking about this, mostly because I was attempting to write my own SPN movie AU, in Hackers. It was a hard to choice to make, who was going to be Sam, who was going to be Dean, and I had to radically alter parts of the backstory to get it to work. But I felt an affinity in Kate in Dean, however, Dade still remains a problem. Sam doesn't have the same hapless attitude in the least, so to fit him in that space, and I had to reprogram Dade a little. It worked, because it was only minor adjustments, and what I really wanted from Hackers was the concept, and not the character nuances, then I overwrote the whole story by accident anyway, so it's not like anybody is ever going to contest me on that.
But...
There are some movies where I don't think that's going to work. I fully realize the desire to take movies and write out their slashy impulses with our favorite characters. I have, at some time or another, considered this with all movies. However, I realize that this isn't going to work for some movies, especially where salient character traits are part of the concept. The notion of me taking Real Genius and attempting to AU it to Sam and Dean, while attractive, ultimately seems like a disservice to the movie, because just about the only thing that could remain the same is the age difference between Chris Knight and Mitch.
I do make exception though, alot of these movies while not Sam/Dean translatable, can be fit to RPS. It would be complete crack if I stuck Jared and Jensen into Real Genius, because I'm pretty sure Jared would have to be Chris Knight, and I'm not really sure how Jensen would work as Mitch...ah well, let us discard that one, that's more ridiculous than being snubbed by beauticians.
Okay, take Center Stage. The only character that Dean could play in that (EEE, DEAN AS A BALLET DANCER), would be Cooper. And since we all like Charlie better anyway, HELLO, TALL, THOSE CRAZY BLUE EYES, THAT SLOW GRIN, where's the fun in that? I suppose I could make Dean be Cooper, and Sam be Charlie, and then have Jo be Jody, but Charlie and Cooper have zero interaction and no chemistry beyond the one time when Charlie was attempting to put Cooper in his place with his little dance contest bit. Also, then I'd have to figure out all that dynamic with Maureen and BLAH. NOT WORTH IT.
And while we all enjoy AUs that do not automatically copy the movies, I think that mostly has to do with plot, rather than character, because I know I certainly get very excited to see how an author has applied each person. So yes, that one, not going to work for Sam and Dean, but J2 it would be amazing, and I'm not just saying this because I am in fact writing it and am attempting to pimp it out. Jared as Charlie, Jensen as Jody--YES AMAZING RIGHT? I thought about making Chris Kane Cooper, but then Jensen and Chris would have to have sex, and ewww. I DO NOT SUPPORT THAT.
But going back to my main point, there are some concepts that are simply too big, there's too much riding on it for it to make a good AU. I wouldn't make Dean Bruce Wayne and Sam Dick Grayson even though cannon events to work for that rather nicely simply because Dean is not Bruce Wayne, and HELLO, Sam? Dick Grayson? and if not Dick Grayson, Tim? Selina Kyle?
No that just doesn't work for me, and while I might read your Sam/Dean Batman AU out of curiosity, trust me it's the gawking at a two-headed goat effect. I feel like you simply can't AU such things. They embody too much of a world of their own, too many stories can be told within that. Similarly, since it just struck me over the head as hilarious. Sam and Dean in Lord of the Rings? WHO WOULD BE WHO? I guess we break all the rules if it comes to crack.
[Poll #1182425]
ps. Dean is Mav, and Sam is Ice
no subject
Date: 2008-05-04 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-04 06:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-04 06:54 pm (UTC)I clearly shouldn't have included that poll, because nobody is paying attention to what I'm attempting to say, and is rather going on about stupid Sam and Dean in Lord of the Rings. *jumps of cliff*
no subject
Date: 2008-05-04 09:38 pm (UTC)I guess my overriding problem here is that I am not truly a fan of movie AUs. Not when it comes to Sam and Dean, anyway. I like ceteris paribus type AUs in the Supernatural world. What if the boys were raised apart. What if Mary didn't die. What if Sam didn't date Jess, what if Dean was the one who left, what if there were no demons, what if... Those are questions I like exploring, because it's always interesting to see how the author brings the boys back to being the Sam and Dean we know (or not quite the Sam and Dean we know), or how much the entire world changes or does not change based on one single different detail. Throwing a movie plot into the mix jars me, unless that movie plot is somehow part of a case Sam and Dean are working on. Like, if, for example, Sam and Dean are going along, doing what it is they do, and get cursed to relive the curse of, idk, Ladyhawke.
With J2, I find the movie plot adaptations much more palatable, because I can just treat them like roles the guys play, since they are already actors. Like a movie remake more than an AU, I guess.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 08:26 am (UTC)