DPP: Would You Like Fries With That?

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

So pressdbtwnpages is new to the fandom and was wondering recently where all the AU fic is. Though we have a lot of fix-it and Academy variations of AUs, her inquiry was: Where are the Barista!AUs? Where are the office-setting fics? 

We've talked before about how there isn't a ton of slash for this fandom or even a lot of kinkfic for pilots (Angst is their kink, baby). But why do you think there hasn't been a lot of Earth/reality-based AUs? Where's the silly stuff like pilots trying out for American Idol or wing!fic or the like? What tropes do you see other fandoms doing a lot of that we don't have for pilots? What would you like to see? 

Comments

[pressdbtwnpages.livejournal.com]

Heeeeeeee! I'm so curious to see the results of this discussion (and maybe hopefully more AUs too)!

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

I hope you do write the Barista one!

Some different AU recs

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

The Breakfast Club (http://alissabobissa.livejournal.com/51270.html) by alissabobissa - Movie Crossover with Kara as Bender (natch)

The Forbidden Zone (http://coffeesuperhero.livejournal.com/212228.html) by coffeesuperhero - Punk Music pilots! (sorta)

Two I wrote: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Kara? (http://taragel.livejournal.com/149362.html#cutid1) -- Snippet of a Sound of Music crossover/AU thingy.

If a Tree Falls (http://taragel.livejournal.com/149189.html#cutid1) -- Kara's the best lumberjack in Portland, Oregon, and Lee's the pesky but pretty environmental law student who's trying to roll her log out from under her. ;)

Also check out this AU fic thread: http://community.livejournal.com/no_takebacks/120280.html

[kdbleu.livejournal.com]

I don't know enough about other fandoms to know what else it out there, but I do think that the heightened in environment created by war and strife is a big part of the bog emotions in the relationship between Lee and Kara. I know that I have a hard time picturing Kara and Lee just dropped into any universe.


There are definitely AUs that I enjoy that have enough intensity for Kara and Lee. taragel's Ice!Pilots is a really good example of a realistic universe that has the pressure emotions that work for Kara and Lee.


Although I'm kind of liking the angst filled lives of baristas.

Comment!Fic One Morning in The Coffee Shop

[angelicalangie.livejournal.com]

Comment!fic was a bit long - but here is a link to the story. Comments are welcome - and appreciated!

http://aangie-fanfics.livejournal.com/6890.html

[eridani8.livejournal.com]

I've trawled a few different fandoms over the years, and I did notice quite early on that this one is quite different from others. For starters, the average quality of fics is really outstanding (maybe that's a product of the type of viewers the show attracts?), whereas I've always found in other fandoms the majority of what's written tends to be pretty mediocre with a central core of good writers keeping everything churning. Pretty much all fic here is in 3rd person omniscient narration- in other fandoms I've come across greater variety of narrative approaches. Some would argue though that the focus on 3rd person narration is what makes the quality of BSG fics higher than others in the first place.

Personally, I think the very things that attract us to the K/L pairing are the same reasons it is difficult to have a plethora of AU/All Human fics. In a lot of ways K+L are an unconventional couple, as pop culture depictions of love go (gender roles subverted, highly specific and unusual obstacles to a romantic resolution of the plot, genuine degree of doubt over whether they should in fact even be lovers), and this aren't as easy to reimagine in a normal AU framework. I've always thought that most AU fics in just about every fandom I've visited tend to read like romantic comedy plots, and I'm not sure that the angst and obstacles that we would associate with K+L really translates well into those sort of stories. Not to say it couldn't be done- maybe it's just harder.

It probably also has to do with the scifi genre that BSG falls into as well. Other scifi fandoms I've hung around in have had few AU/Human stories. The point of scifi (as I've always thought of it) is to create circumstances beyond the norm that push the characters into unfamiliar territory- and seeing how they cope is a key part of the interest in the story. So if that's what attracted fans to BSG in the first place, I guess writers of fic might be a little less inclined to bring their characters back to the more 'mundane' plot challenges in everyday life.

[eridani8.livejournal.com]

NB: Anyone who wants good AU-Human fic should probably check out kag523's story Intaglio. Both Kara and Lee feature as fine arts students in this brilliant story. She's currently pulled it for the purposes of an original character re-write (as happens to many really good AU-Human fics), but says she can email copies of the K/L version to interested readers.

kag523's Fic Master List (http://community.livejournal.com/kag523fic/1514.html)

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

I agree with all of this! Very well said.

I especially like the part where we are smarter/more sophisticated than other fandoms. ;) LOL. But no, I do think, from what little I've seen of other fandoms, that the high quality here is incredibly rare. And appreciated! So I can't say I'm sorry there isn't more terribly OOC Kara's-a-prostitute!fic or what have you

[angelicalangie.livejournal.com]

"Kara's-a-prostitute!fic" ew ew ew ew ew, no this is not a thought I ever wanna see. Late for her job, partier, but a good heart and down for the people she loves yes these are the reasons I fell in love with Kara/Starbuck, she is a frak up, she sometimes is a rabbit running scared - but if she is your friend - she is down for you. She is vulnerable and human and you can see that through her angsty mcangstypants.

I think that is what you have to take through to AU's - her personality and her traits and then tailor them to whatever world you are creating.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to dash by and add a word for some of my favorite AUs in this fandom, innibis's fairytales and hobviously/rawles' Caprica High series. Sorry, I will try to come back later and add those links :)

[(Anonymous)]

Livejournal user leiascully has her AU:New York fics which are awesome but sadly still in progress.

I wrote a very small AU fic on fanfiction.net called dreams of another life.

[(Anonymous)]

I heard a song on the radio that started with
"I miss your blue eyes"

and immediately thought of a certain Adama...

[(Anonymous)]

oops this was an error I meant to comment elsewhere and don't know how to delete my comment - sorry