Inspiration for AUs and Headcanons

[fleurviolette]

 Where do you find inspiration for an AU or a headcanon?

Maybe it could be from an elaborate plot of a book, movie, or even tv? Or maybe the inspiration comes from a youtube video of someone eating an entire menu in a moving truck?

I'm just curious to find out, because sometimes inspiration can be found somewhere unexpected. 

Comments

[doranwen]

My AU fics are all either canon divergence or apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic - sometimes even both (as in the case of one series I started for Alphas). Mostly I notice specific places where they had things turn out really well by coincidence, and it feels too perfect or neatly tied up, or I think someone made a stupid decision and I want to see what would've happened had they done the logical thing, or I'm just simply curious about the path not taken. In one case (a Rookie Blue WIP that's on hold), I think the scenes as depicted would involve the character in question dying from their wounds, but they have them being still alive when found, surviving surgery, etc., and I just don't think that's plausible - so my WIP is fixing the implausibility.

[fleurviolette]

Post apocalyptic aus are interesting. Is yours more the conventional post apocalypse or like 'Into the Badlands' kind of deal?

[doranwen]

Lol, it really depends on the fic, what kind of post-apocalypse it is. I wrote a post-apocalyptic Boxcar Children fic for Yuletide but it was really just a modern reinterpretation of the whole story with "the kids are on their own because virtually all the adults died of a plague" (and it was what the recip had requested - when I saw that prompt, I had to write it, even though it took ages because it ended up 17k, lol).

For Alphas I combined canon divergence with AU - because the final episode of the show (total cliffhanger, btw) had them trying to stop "the end of the world" (had to do with killing off much of the population of the US, I won't spoil the show by saying how). And if one or two things had happened otherwise, it *would* have happened, too, so it was easy to just diverge along that path and end up with them trying to survive. I only got about seven short stories into the series, though (only about a week after the apocalypse), so I hadn't gotten to them seeing other survivors yet.

I honestly have no idea what you mean by "Into the Badlands" - never heard of that.

[fleurviolette]

Those are neat apocalypse aus. I'm surprised there is fanfic for Boxcar Children. I remember reading those books when I was a kid.

Into the Badlands is an AMC show that has a post apocalyptic setting, but the aesthetic consists of Western feudal and Eastern mystic styles.

[doranwen]

I never thought to look for it (it's not a fandom I'm really fannish about) but when I was looking for fandoms to offer I thought "hey, I could write that" (whether I love the fandom or not is generally not my consideration when it comes to offers - as long as I can write it without going nuts, I offer it, because I have so few fandoms I really know well enough to write). Didn't think my fic would end up so long but it was worth it - my recip LOVED it (commented on each of the six chapters) and it was well-received by others so I'm very pleased with the result.

Huh, interesting. I'd say my fics are more traditional, I guess? I'm not into Eastern media at all so I'm not sure what "Eastern mystic styles" are. Mostly I just try to be realistic about all the details and just go with what the chars would do or not do in a given situation and see how it turns out.

[fleurviolette]

That's awesome! Good stories can come from unexpected things.

I meant mystical as in mystical powers? The show blends the post apocalyptic world with fantasy and action. It's based on a Chinese novel. Anyway, so it's post apocalypse but the aesthetic is like run down modern era instead of reverting the past afterwards. I hope that makes sense.

[doranwen]

Ah! Well, Alphas is sci-fi so it's got something *like* magic but it's all brain-based skills (like stuff you see on Youtube but x1000) - and the show has some action, my fics probably would get there if I continued the series. And in that one, it only affects US and Canada, pretty much - the rest of the world's OK, so that creates some interestingness as far as politics and war goes. But I'm probably misinterpreting the meaning of the word "aesthetic" so who knows, lol. Can you tell I'm not used to describing stuff like that? :)